Italy - Chromlech, French manufacturers of the award-winning Gleamer low-voltage dimmer, the Jarag range and the new Elidy LED matrix projector, have announced the appointment of Clay Paky as its new exclusive distributor for Italy.

With immediate effect, Clay Paky is solely responsible for the distribution of the full range of Chromlech products across Italy, backed up by comprehensive technical and after-sales support.

"The distribution of Chromlech in Italy is a great opportunity for both companies," states Pio Nahum, Clay Paky CCO. "Chromlech products are of excellent quality, and are well suited to the image of our brand. The target markets are very similar, but we have the advantage of offering different and complementary products. In this way, we can suggest to our clients creative solutions, mutually reinforcing both company proposals."

Chromlech

World - Audiotech Services Ltd is supplying One Direction's 120 date Take Me Home tour with an AV control system built around Blackmagic Design infrastructure, including the Blackmagic Design ATEM 2 M/E Production Switcher with ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Panel, Broadcast Videohub router and SmartView Duo monitor.

The concert tour consists of 120 shows in Australasia, Asia, Europe and North America, which broke records by selling more than 300,000 tickets in a single day, and includes a huge amount of video at each show. All of this is managed through a rack mounted AV control system supplied by Audiotech, providing full HD monitoring and recording, eight live camera inputs, stills playback and live HD web streaming.

Situated at the heart of the AV control system is Blackmagic's ATEM 2 M/E Production Switcher, operated using the ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Panel, and a Blackmagic Des

USA - Just six days. That's how long it took Blake Shelton's benefit concert for Oklahoma tornado victims to go from idea to live televised event.

North American rental company Christie Lites had even less time when they got the call to help. And it was during a holiday weekend. But thanks to Christie Lites' business model, they were able to quickly prep equipment and do their part in pulling off the show.

Shelton's Healing in the Heartland: Relief Benefit Concert featured a coming together of performers and concert production vendors to help raise money for those affected by the recent storms. The telethon aired live 29 May on NBC from the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.

Christie Lites provided the complete lighting and rigging package for the concert. Christie Lites Rental Rep Robert Roth said, "When we were asked to step up and help in this humanitar

USA/UK - Tait has provided a variety of staging, rigging and scenic elements for the Rolling Stones' 50th Anniversary worldwide tour, continuing a long-standing relationship, spanning nearly three decades, since the artists' 1994 Voodoo Lounge tour. Mark Fisher was at the helm of the set design; a visually striking stage concept with a pert sense of authenticity for the artists' famed emblem.

Tait constructed a rolling MagDeck main stage that measured 25.6m wide by 12.1m deep, which provided full utilization of space underneath for storage of backline and band gear.

A custom, tongue-shaped MagDeck runway offsets the inflatable lips and teeth that are suspended above the band. Automated by 22 Tait Smart Winches, the massive lip is made from an inflatable printed fabric and measures 24.4m wide by 3m deep by 9.1m high and weighs 270 kg.

Scenically carved, painted lip she

UK - The show, which is made by 12 Yard Productions and filmed at BBC Glasgow, Pacific Quay, sees four players, known as 'usual suspects' compete for a £1,000 jackpot by achieving absolute perfection. All they have to do is separate fact from fiction.

Richard Martin Lighting (RML) provides the lights for the show, designed by LD Martin Kempton. As part of an ongoing relationship, the show is supported (whilst in Glasgow) by Tony Kennedy and his team at TSL (Technique Systems Limited).

The rig includes MAC 700, MAC 500, VL1000TS, Stage Zooms, Alpha Beam 700s, Chroma Strips and Chroma Banks.

Perfection was an instant success after it first aired in January 2011 and has now become a day time favourite in many homes.

(Jim Evans)

Turkey - Organizer - a versatile, high profile event management, planning, production and technical solutions company based in Ankara, Turkey - has just made a substantial investment in new Robe moving lights ... involving 150 fixtures.

The company has a reputation for excellence, quality and delivering imaginative shows and events and this is their first purchase of Robe.

The units were delivered by Robe's Turkish distributor Atempo, and will be used to service Organizer's vibrant client base on a wide variety of productions in Turkey and internationally.

In keeping with the company's reputation for innovation and forward thinking, they wanted to invest in cutting-edge technologies that offered the most inventive and flexible possibilities both now and in the future ... "So we chose Robe," state directors Sermurat Kucukgul and Yildiray Yildiz.

The fixture list i

UK - With only a week to go before the ABTT 2013 Theatre Show opens its doors on 12 June, all aspects of this year's show are off the scale compared to previous years, say the organisers.

The number of visitor registrations is greater than previous years; exhibitors have been on waiting lists to get the chance of occupying the last few remaining stands; the seminar programme has almost tripled in scale and required two separate spaces accommodating almost 150 people with sessions every hour from start to close on both days of the show. And the organisers have been overwhelmed by the exhibitors' news of product launches and the introduction of new products and services across the board.

Show director Roger Fox said, "We set out to make this a landmark 'theatre' exhibition for 2013, and we have been delighted with the support for the idea from the widest span of theatrical

Monaco - Used to being in front, Infiniti Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel was one of the first to try out the innovative new LSP 500 PRO PA system from audio specialist Sennheiser. The early trial of the soon-to-be-released wireless PA solution at Sebastian Vettel's Monaco Grand Prix press conference on 22 May is the latest joint activity between Infiniti Red Bull Racing and Sennheiser, which was named the team's first Audio Supplier for the 2013 Formula One season.

Infiniti Red Bull Racing, one of the first customers to try out the LSP 500 PRO, found the speed of set up and ease of use of the wireless PA system to be striking. The team deployed two speakers for the pre-race press conference, both connected seamlessly via wireless links. Commenting on the performance of the solution, Alan Peasland, head of technical partnerships at Infiniti Red Bull Racing, said: "Every

USA - Established in 1861 and one of the San Francisco Bay Area's first Jewish organizations, Temple Emanu-El describes itself as "a vibrant, musical and diverse Reform community offering meaningful worship services, lively holiday celebrations, and inclusive and affirming life-cycle events".

Temple Emanu-El's current building, dedicated in 1948, includes the Temple House social hall. Temple House activities include worship service overflow, Rock Shabbat services, wedding receptions and a variety of other events.

In the past, the Temple House suffered from poor acoustics and an aging sound system. Contractor Joe Orlando of Commercial Media Systems in Atwater, California, says the shoe-box shaped room had a half-oak floor, hard walls and stucco ceiling. Its reverb time was over two seconds and "you couldn't understand a conversation from three feet away.&q

UK - Peterborough-based Pearce Hire has reported an excellent response to their first time participation at PLASA Focus last month. This year was the first time Pearce Hire had taken part in the highly successful regional event in Leeds, presented on an annual basis by PLASA.

Over recent months, the company has committed to a bold growth strategy, which has already been set in motion with an expansion of their warehouse facilities, a considerable investment in their equipment inventory and an increase in the number of staff to facilitate the anticipated business growth.

"Our expansion plans include re-establishing lapsed contacts, as well as reaching into regional markets beyond our traditional strongholds," explains Shaun Pearce, managing director.

"A regional, cost-effective trade show such as PLASA Focus allowed us to take advantage of a well-attended netwo

UK - Surrey-based AV designer and manufacturer, Smart-e Limited, has standardised on Stardraw.com's award-winning design and documentation software, Stardraw Design 7, in order to provide a free design service to all their customers.

Smart-e specialises in the design and manufacture of high quality switching and distribution equipment for a wide range of applications including corporate communication, interactive learning, digital signage, marine, entertainment and security/monitoring. Their solution-based approach means that Smart-e is constantly looking for ways to add value for their customers and make it easier to integrate Smart-e products into their designs. Standardizing on Stardraw's SD7 to provide free block schematic installation and maintenance diagrams complete with full wiring configurations and input/output connections is a key part of this process.

Smart-e produ

UK - London's Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre (QEIICC) is one of the UK's leading corporate venues. Hosting over 400 meetings and events per year, its conference facilities have been significantly enhanced by the installation of a pair of DUGAN-MY16 automixing cards in Yamaha M7CL-48 digital mixing consoles.

Located a short distance from the Houses of Parliament, the Government-owned venue is self-funding - actually returning a dividend to the Exchequer each year. Yamaha already has a significant presence in the area, with high profile installations at nearby Westminster Abbey and Central Halls, and the DUGAN-MY16 is enjoying an equally enthusiastic reception at the QEIICC.

"We used an analogue automixer system on a few events with our older consoles, with varying degrees of success. It was quite fiddly to set up and operate," says Dan Cecchini, head of sound at

Australia - A landmark new Anolis lighting scheme has been installed to illuminate Melbourne's iconic 'Red Sticks' urban sculpture on CityLink. It is 80% more energy efficient ... and also ensures that the installation looks fantastic and crystal clear to all using the city's Tullamarine & Flemington Road Interchange.

Denton Corker Marshall's Melbourne Gateway (originally completed 1999) is described as the 'Mother of all architectural interventions' on the city's freeways.

A massive 70m yellow steel beam cantilevered at precarious angles traverses eight lanes of freeway and 39 elegant 30m high steel and concrete red sticks run north / south either side of the road over 420m, depicting the city's panache and freedom for design, style and ideas.

Transfield Services - the primary Maintenance Contractor for CityLink - approached Anolis' Australian partner, The ULA Group, with a

USA - Astera LED-Technology now has an office in the United States of America. The office is designed to better serve Astera's US and Canadian customers, and it offers the full range of wireless products, controllers and accessories.

North American customers will benefit from better customer service and improved payment options. Previously, Astera products were only available through select dealers, but now with the unveiling of their new US office, customers can order from the official Astera brand and have complete peace of mind in doing so. Customers will also benefit from the Astera after-sales service. Repairs and spare parts will be available through their online warranty system, the Astera Portal. Customers will be able to register their faulty product and communicate with their nearest service center to repair the issue.

Tom Meyer, general manager of Astera USA, commen

UK - Based on a vast site in the UK's North West, Electrovision has plenty of space to grow, and that's exactly what they're doing as they continue with their expansion plans, most recently marked by a move to new offices at the group's Electrovision Campus in St. Helens.

With investment in the ongoing project now standing at £2m, including fitting the new offices and beginning work to convert the old offices to extra warehousing space, the directors are delighted with the response from staff and customers to their new 'home'.

Richard Fox, managing director of Electrovision Ltd, comments, "The move to a new building on the existing St. Helens site was planned for several years and we couldn't be happier with how smooth the transition has been with very few issues. It's given our staff a real boost, which is a great way to reward the team here for their efforts. Cust

UK - S+H Technical's new 12 mm lightweight LED screen was specified by video and visuals designer Ian Holmes for the recent UK and European leg of guitarist Steve Hackett's 2013 Genesis Revisited II world tour.

Ilfracombe, Devon-based drapes, starcloth, LED and visual effects specialist S+H has invested in a large quantity of these new LED panels which are very light in weight at just 4.5 Kgs per panel and 9.5 Kgs per square metre, which is made up from two panels. They are also quick to deploy and exceptionally user-friendly.

This multi-purpose 12 mm pitch product has been specially developed for S+H and is manufactured in China to their spec.

Holmes first used the S+H screen last year, just after the first batch was delivered, for the Kim Wilde tour, and was so impressed he decided to use it again when Steve Hackett went out.

The current Steve Hackett tour design

UK - Effervescent contemporary circus troupe, No Fit State, recently welcomed the latest super agile, high performing member to its troupe: The Avolites Tiger Touch. The console combines hands on control with sophisticated cueing. So whether LDs are lighting on the fly or building sophisticated, precisely programmed shows, or even a combination of the two, its now easier than ever.

Originally conceived by lighting designer Adam Cobley, the tour lighting is taken care of by lighting programmer and re-lighter Leif Le Page, who says that fast, on the fly access to the lighting is crucial for this latest production - Bianco.

The show, inspired by José Saramago's novel The Elephant's Journey, is primarily a production staged in the air. Performers make use of all dimensions using everything from trapeze, ropes and tight wires to trampolines. Not only that the s

Romania - With the On Air Music Awards, the Romanian music industry started a new show intended to recognise and reward the best of Romanian music. The award ceremony, taking place in the Great Hall at the Bucharest National Theatre, featured a lighting design by Sergiu Ardelean who used the cost-free grandMA2 onPC software for pre-programming, and ran the show on a grandMA2 full-size. Alin Popa was the head of lighting.

Ardelean commented: "For big and complicated set-ups and productions I always request a grandMA2. The grandMA2 full-size is a brilliant console, powerful and extremely stable. My luck was that Five's, the lighting equipment supplier, owns one. After I saw the stage design and came up with an idea about what I'd use, I did the pre-patching and pre-programming on grandMA2 onPC in conjunction with the grandMA 3D visualiser.

"A visualiser is very helpful

UK - A premier arts and culture club featuring live music, arts events and casual dining, East Village Arts Club in the student district of Liverpool, captivates big crowds with a variety of Chauvet gear.

Converted from the building of the old Royal Institute of Arts & Science, the 700-plus capacity venue is the latest addition to the expanding MAMA Group. Lighting and rigging design company Utopium London permanently installed the Chauvet LED gear throughout the club's four rooms: a restaurant, club space, loft area and chill out room. TRUSST trussing makes up the ground support system on each of the two stages and for the front of house trusses.

"Our main priority was to use lighting technology which bought the re-developed venue into the 21st century. After predominantly using LED fixtures from Chauvet's range throughout the installation, we made a conscious decision t

UK - West London based rental company Entec is supplying lighting and rigging equipment and crew to the UK and European legs of singer songwriter guitarist and music producer Mark Knopfler's 2013 Privateering tour, with lighting designed by the also illustrious Simon Tutchener.

Entec made a major investment in the latest Clay Paky moving lights - buying 38 Alpha Spot QWO 800s and 20 Sharpy Washes - to ensure that Tutchener had exactly the creative tools he wanted for the tour, which plays 72 concerts in 65 cities and has already included a six night sold-out run at London's Royal Albert Hall.

It's the first time that Entec has worked with Knopfler, but Tutchener has designed his lighting since 2000. He and production manager Kevin Hopgood have both used Entec before on various projects and decided that they were the right company for delivering a classy lighting solutio

Korea - Nexo's STM modular line array has made its first public appearance in Korea, in the hands of new owner Way Audio. STM debuted on the main stages of the Green Plugged Festival in Seoul, in front of 45,000 people.

Nanji Hangang Park in Seoul was packed for the two-day Green Plugged Seoul 2013 festival, an event designed to raise awareness about the environment. The bill featured some of the most famous indie rock and underground bands in Korea.

There were five stages at Green Plugged, each named after an element of nature in line with the event's concept - namely Wind, Sun, Earth, Moon, and Sky. Nexo's new STM modular line array was deployed as the primary PA system for Moon and Sky, the two main stages, featuring well-known Korean artists such as Diablo, Pia and Yoon Band.

In the hands of system design engineer, Yun Cheol Lee from Way Audio, supported by Nicolas Poitr

USA - Wybron, a leading stage lighting supplier has announced that the company will close its doors on 30 June 2013.

The company is best known for transforming entertainment, church and architectural industries with its innovation of cutting-edge lighting products.

"For years, the stage lighting industry has been led by companies with three-letter names," said president and CEO Keny Whitright. "PRG, ETC, ELS, TMB, and BMI are just a few of these. For 35 years Wybron struggled through with the burden of a six-letter name," Whitright said laughing, "We finally realised we have too many letters in the company name. It was time to close the doors."

Whitright said that closing the Wybron manufacturing plant is bittersweet. "I will miss the business that I know and love. But, I am looking forward to scaling back and becoming an FTD man. Fishing,

UK - The London Coliseum Theatre - home to English National Opera and a London base for numerous visiting ballet companies - has just received a new, highly versatile production dimming system, installed by specialist entertainment electrical contractor Push The Button Ltd.

The new dimming system uses ADB's Eurodim Twin Tech modular system that allows each way to be freely switched between being a dimmer and a true non-dim under software control; the 10 racks, housing 894 3kW and 213 5kW DimSwitch modules, were installed over a five week period while performances continued un-interrupted on the Coliseum stage.

"We've been planning this project for a number of years," explains ENO's head of lighting, Kevin Sleep. "From the time our existing dimmers, installed less than 10 years ago, started flashing randomly during a show we knew they had to go, and that we had t

Australia - The small Australian town of Wee Waa (population 2000) made the headlines last month by hosting the official global launch party for Daft Punk's Random Access Memories at their annual agricultural show. After the pet show, dog-jumping, the crowning of Wee Waa's Miss Showgirl, and a firework display, Give Life Back To Music burst out of the speakers, and the party was well and truly on.

The event was presented but not attended by Daft Punk, whose aforementioned album is set to become one of the fastest-selling in history - although in Wee Waa it played to a crowd of 4,000.

Daft Punk's production house Daft Arts conceived and designed the space, which lived up to its description as a cross between Saturday Night Fever and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. The eye-popping circular dance-floor, with a giant disco ball hanging overhead, was

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