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UK - Belfast-based AV presentation system specialists, Niavac, have upgraded their rental inventory by investing in AKG's CS3 conference system. According to MD, James Conlon, this 'plug and play' solution is already proving extremely popular with their customers, particularly in the educational and healthcare segments, which form part of their core business.

Although Niavac - who have been in operation for over 50 years - have run AKG previously in their hire fleet, they canvassed the market to look for the most suitable options before readopting the brand.

"We were recommended to AKG by a third party," stated Conlon, "but we also looked at the offerings of the other market leaders. I did a complete trawl and then contacted distributors Sound Technology Ltd, placing an order for a 30 station system."

The old AKG system, he said, had served the company we

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Australia - Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the Broadway musical that was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, is wowing audiences throughout Australia and garnering rave reviews wherever it plays.

The lighting design is by Nicholas Rayment with Kyle Bockmann programming his lighting with a brand new Eos Titanium, ETC's flagship lighting control console.

Ti features large-format, articulating multi-touch displays with substantial programming surface. It also offers a dedicated multi-touch encoder display, 20 user-definable buttons, a backlit keyboard, motorized faders, multiple USB and video ports.

Kyle is no stranger to the ETC range of lighting consoles and he described stepping up to the Eos Ti as awesome.

"I really like the direct selects as you can now have 5 x 20, as opposed to 5 x 10, and just having that extra layer makes programming on the TI much more efficient,&qu

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UK - London-based lighting and visuals rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment supplied lighting and projection to the recent UK tour by US rockers A Day To Remember, with a lighting design created by Steve Stemac.

It was the first time that Stemac had worked with Colour Sound whose project manager Fletch comments, "We really enjoyed this tour. the design was refreshingly different and a lot of fun and Steve and his team were a joy to work with."

The tour included the presentation of the band's renowned 'House Party' show at London's Alexandra Palace.

The focus of attention is a large scenic house onstage - a concept originated by the band's lead singer Jeremy McKinnon and developed by him and Stemac in 2013. The show opens with a video intro onto a drape completely covering the stage, which is jettisoned by electric kabuki to reveal the house, the band and a hug

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Israel - Noted front-of-house engineer Andy Meyer (Justin Timberlake, Guns N' Roses, Janet Jackson, Mötley Crüe, Rage Against the Machine) is part of the ongoing trend of live engineers turning to WavesLive tools. Meyer chose Waves plugins for Timberlake and Jay-Z'sLegends of the Summer stadium tour, which travelled across the U.S., Canada, and the UK.

"I first started working with Waves plugins in 2007, near the end of Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds tour," states Meyer. "Moving forward, I have created an arsenal of very useful tools that I simply cannot do without. On the Legends of the Summer tour, the big challenge was managing 128 inputs and all the dynamics that come with it."

To achieve this, Andy ran Waves plugins using the integrated MultiRack SoundGrid and two Waves SoundGrid Server One units (for processing redundancy) wi

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Canada - When the second season of Big Brother Canada returns on 5 March, the setup behind the scenes must be ready for a perfect technical performance. The much more elaborate production setup for this season led Insight Production Company (Insight), entrusted with the shooting of the show, to go with Lawo technology to handle their audio production needs.

The setup for this second season includes two Lawo mc²56 digital audio mixing consoles with fibre-connected stage boxes which allowed for completion of the technical installation in one day. The consoles, fibre cabling and analogue breakouts were provided by Broadcast Systems & Equipment Inc. (BSI) and Lawo North America as a rental package, with configuration, training and setup support provided by Lawo North America's Engineering Manager Doug Smith.

Crucial reasons driving Insight's decision to go with Lawo were b

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Czech Republic - The 2013 Sportovec Roku (Athlete of The Year) Awards were staged at the TOP Hotel in Prague, broadcast live on Czech national TV channel CT1 and enjoyed by an audience of 400 guests and VIPs who amassed to honour the very best of Czech athletes present, past and future.

Freelance lighting designer Pavel Jelinek - one of the country's top television LDs - was asked to light the show - for which he specified Robe moving lights, including 18 x Robin Pointes together with four Robin LEDWash 1200 and four Robin LEDWash 600s.

The stage was limited for space, and the time in which to get everything rigged, focused and ready was tight, so this defined some elements of the lighting design. Jelinek wanted high quality lightweight fixtures that were bright and above all fast and easy for the crew to rig.

In addition to the awards presentations, the show featured live p

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Sweden - Wireless Solution Sweden AB's award-winning W-DMX is celebrating a major milestone - 10 years on the market.

Wireless Solution Sweden was founded in 2003 and the first W-DMX product to market was debuted in March 2004 at the SIB Show in Rimini. Later that same year, Wireless Solution won the Innovation Award at PLASA. The success story continued at LDI in Las Vegas where Wireless Solution won the LDI Award as the first manufacturer to launch an IP65 Solution for Wireless DMX.

In 2005, W-DMX got Honourable Mention for the W-DMX Outdoor Solution at Lightfair in Las Vegas. In 2007, Wireless Solution was awarded a "Venture Cup" as most interesting company for venture capital, but as a part of the growing success story, the company continued on their own legs and chose not to bring in external money. In 2008, Wireless Solution was in a management buyout by its Co

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Denmark - Fran Healey, the lead singer of UK band Travis, and Marti Pellow, the lead singer of Wet Wet Wet, are the latest in the growing list of vocalists to switch to DPA's d:facto Vocal Microphone. In both cases the artists made the change on the recommendation of their live sound engineer, Tom Wiggans.

"I have no problem recommending DPA's new d:facto microphone because I'm so impressed with the results it has delivered for Fran and Marti - and for Dougie Payne, Travis' bass player, who is also using one for his backing vocals," Wiggans says. "Before I tried d:facto, I had tried quite a few new vocal microphones that made big promises, but always ended up going back to the microphone that people have been using for over 40 years.

"However, the d:facto's clarity and ability to capture the true sound source without extraneous background noise has made a r

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Canada - CAST of Toronto has launched The CAST Forum at http://forum.cast-soft.com. The forum is open to everyone and aims to serve both CAST product users as well as the entire entertainment & event production community, it is not just about CAST products. Forum members can post projects, ask questions, get technical support from the Community or just browse to see what others are doing.

The Forum is meant to bring members together regarding everything from design and programming for lighting, multimedia, audio, to new technologies, to working in other countries, to sharing tricks of the trade, and leveraging each other's knowledge and experiences.

CAST president Gil Densham explains, "We want the forum to focus on the important issues; the collaboration of creativity + artistry + technology, from the design process to execution to wildly successful projects. This is not

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USA - The Super Bowl Halftime Show always glitters, and Bruno Mars' and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' performance at Super Bowl XLVIII was no exception. This year a grandMA2 light took command of the media. Lighting designer Bob Barnhart opted to have "a more rock 'n roll vibe in the rig than the stylised, choreographed shows that we've seen in the past. Bruno wanted this to be more of a live rock show."

Barnhart was challenged to capture that rock 'n roll sensibility as well as prepare for winter weather conditions that might envelop the open-air MetLife stadium in New Jersey. "It was a question of what we could design that could survive severe weather," he says. "Another factor was the limitations of rigging positions in the building and how we could symmetrically lay out the rig. We had to cover as much of the full stadium with the stage pushed back agai

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USA - Rising 14 stories above the Hudson, Manhattan's Canoe Studios offers some classic New York views. On Super Bowl Sunday, the famous video studio and event venue also hosted one of the city's top Super Bowl parties. Sponsored by Heineken, Esquire and All In magazine, the jam-packed event had the requisite large screen TVs showing football, but it also offered something you weren't likely to see at other Super Bowl gatherings: a spacious "game free" party area where the only videos running were those on some PVP S7 panels from Chauvet Professional.

"This was a non-football room sponsored by Heineken," said Jeffrey Kwan of Canal Sound and Light (New York), which did the lighting and audio for the event. "The other sponsors had other rooms in Canoe Studios where you could watch the game, but the Heineken room was party centre, where people came to dance

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Belgium - The Start Up Club in Anderlues, Belgium is the latest in a long line of prestigious venues relying upon KV2 Audio to enhance the experience of its customers.

The venue, boasting a sleek and stylish aesthetic, required an audio upgrade to bring the sound system up to the same exceptional standard as the furnishings and its lighting.

The task of finding a solution fell to Kick Music's Marco Pesetti and he believed that KV2 Audio's ES System was the perfect solution.

Despite Start Up having a capacity not much under 1000 people the complete system specification for the dance floor comprised of just two ES 1.0 mid/high cabinets and four ES 2.6 double 15" subwoofers, with associated EPAK 2500R amplification / control units. Commonly (and incorrectly) held beliefs would suggest that this many cabinets could not offer the required coverage and output however reports

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South Africa - As South Africa mourned the loss of former President Nelson Mandela, Event Hire supplied a ground support, screen, sound and lighting for some of the many memorial service broadcasts held across the country.

Event Hire Network set up three stations in Mthatha as well stations at the Lusikisiki College of Education, Matatiele and Port St Johns. Rain over large parts of the country made these points less populated than anticipated, but a seed has to die to create life, and one can only believe that the showers would promise renewal and growth.

Right through December, Event Hire Network never lost their drive, and their Avolites Tiger Touch and Robin 300 LEDWash and Robin 600LEDWash fixtures worked as hard as the rest of the team, under the helm of Victor Pienaar.

Event Hire Network supplied the technical for Jimmy Dludlu, an African Jazz and Fusion musician, who

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South Africa - Following the major investment in Philips Showline's high-output SL NITRO 510s by two of South Africa's most established rental houses, Gearhouse and MGG Productions, the super bright SL NITRO 510 strobes have proved a popular choice for some of the country's biggest events.

The punchy and dynamic SL NITRO 510s, which offer an output of 68,000 lumens and six programmable zones, facilitates a multitude of looks. Gearhouse recently invested in 140x SL NITRO 510 units and immediately supplied them to the Johannesburg International Motor Show where they were used to light Tata trucks and buses on the Tata commercial vehicles stand.

"The SL NITRO 510 is an innovative unit in that offers all the functionality of a strobe, but can also be used as a static white wash," says Gearhouse's lighting operations manager, Stuart Andrews. "It also has programming

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Record Breakers - London's major commercial and subsidised theatres have reported their 10th consecutive year of record box office takings, with more people visiting theatre in the capital in 2013 than ever before. Figures published by the Society of London Theatre - whose membership includes the 52 principal commercial and not-for-profit theatres in central London - revealed that gross box office returns rose to more than £585m, up 11% on 2012; attendances also increased, by 4%, up to 14.6m

According to SOLT, the results were down to the popularity of the shows on offer, with theatres reporting an improved percentage of tickets sold across the year. Average theatre capacity achieved was 72.7% in 2013, up from 69.21%.

Closing Number - Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest musical, Stephen Ward, will close in the West End following a run of less than four months.

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China - Guangzhou's Hyper Club launched in the summer of 2013 and pitched itself as China's most high-end consumer entertainment venue, with the perfect blend of traditional values and modern culture, anchored in some stunning interior design.

The club has set itself apart from the competition, not least with its audio contribution. Comprised of a d&b loudspeaker system with a TiMax2 SoundHub providing real time audio show control for live shows and DJs, the audio design alone teeters this club on its leading edge.

Hyper, originally a western style house, is designed as a European Baroque palace and occupies around 3,500sq.m over four floors. The main club area is situated on the ground floor and moving up, the second houses the VIP bar; the third, the Lounge Bar; until the Outdoor bar is reached at the very top.

System Integrator, Dragon Studio, worked with Hong Kong distri

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South Africa - Ultra Worldwide, the massive premier electronic music festival, hit Cape Town and Johannesburg on 14 and 15 February. While the main technical was supplied by Gearhouse, Travis Yeatman controlled certain elements of the pyrotechnics for this event using his Avolites Tiger Touch.

Fireworks for Africa were commissioned to incorporate awesome pyro effects to create the wow factor. They asked Yeatman to be part of their team for the performances held at the Ostrich Farm in Cape Town and at the Naserec Showgrounds in Johannesburg.

"On the Pyrotechnics side we ran the Avolites Tiger Touch for the control system," explained Yeatman. 12 Channel Red Back Dimmers were used for controllable hot power channels to trigger the CO2 jets and Stadium Shot streamer canons and the 6m flame units come with integrated DMX. "The Avolites allows for a variety of functio

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UK - XL Video supplied LED screens for two high profile stands at the 2014 ICE Totally Gaming international business gaming exhibition, which attracted record visitor figures from the world of pro gaming for three days at London's ExCeL Centre.

The stands involved were Aristocrat and Microgaming, and the delivery of the LED screens, processing and control was handled by two XL project managers, Jacqueline Rice (Aristocrat) and Andy Mayneord (Microgaming).

Working for stand designers Expoteam, XL supplied a curved Pixled F-11 screen that formed a dynamic back wall to this stand for slot machine and gaming systems specialist Aristocrat's prominent stand.

The screen was 43 tiles wide by eight tiles high - approximately 19m wide by 3.6 high - and ensured that there was plenty of drama and visual excitement, which was great for attracting people onto the stand.

The back screen

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UK - The story behind the re-launch of UK live event health and safety provider Stagesafe is one that could happen to any of us, at any time. In 2012, after nearly 35 years in event production and health & safety management, Stagesafe founder Chris Hannam began his struggle against cancer. The award-winning pioneer whose contributions to live production include introducing the risk assessment concept, as well as numerous other major safety initiatives, Hannam had previously been plagued by a string of illnesses, and soldiered on through all of them. But his cancer diagnosis slammed on the brakes.

He says, "As I was losing my strength, both physically and mentally, my business began to suffer. Being unable to travel meant that work became increasingly difficult to the point where I had to stop. Losing clients affected my income so acutely that I've almost been living on thin

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UK / Czech Republic - Robe Lighting s.r.o., the Czech-based entertainment lighting manufacturer, has announced the acquisition of the complete range of LiteWare portable battery LED products from UK company Global Design Solutions (GDS).

With immediate effect, the sales, marketing, manufacture and support for this award-winning range will be transferred to Robe, and be available through both the company's subsidiary offices and extensive global distributor network.

Robe CEO Josef Valchar comments: "We had planned on entering the battery LED market for some time, so when the opportunity to acquire the market leading brand came along, the die was cast!"

"GDS has done a great job in establishing the product range and I know we can develop it further and add to the global sales through our network. It's also great to instigate this at a time that fits in with the

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Brazil - Spectrun Design e Iluminação are the design masterminds behind the Brazilian TV show on Rede Globo named Clip Vem Aí. With the challenge of providing a cyclorama screen as a background, the design team previously spent many hours and multiple lighting units to obtain the right atmosphere, but by introducing the SGM P-5 LED wash light their troubles were solved.

Lighting designer from Spectrun Design e Iluminação, Marcos Olivio, quickly saw the creative potential of the P-5s, delivered by SGM's local distributor LBO, and realised this was the right fixture for the job. "We now have a lot of light - even without spots on the show. The P-5 creates perfect light uniformity around the white screen," he states.

Olivio explains that for TV recording the P-5 worked amazingly with the ARRI Alexa cameras, which displayed the colour nuances and intensity to

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USA - Swedish heavy metal act Sabaton are currently preparing to head stateside in April to join two other bands - American metallers Iced Earth and the Dutch metal band Revamp - for the Worldwide Plagues tour which takes them to all four corners of the US and Canada.

Sabaton will be using the tour to support their latest DVD, Swedish Empire Live. Filmed in front of 600,000+ enthusiastic fans at their headlining festival appearance at Poland's Woodstock festival, Swedish Empire Live captures the band's high-energy live stage show celebrating the triumph of the human spirit.

Sabaton, who perform with a full complement of Sennheiser microphones and wireless systems, will be returning to European soil at the end of May where they will be headlining at some of Europe's biggest heavy metal festivals.

Formed in 1999, in Falun, Sweden, the band's massive popula

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The Netherlands - The historic Pieterskerk building in the Dutch city of Leiden recently installed 70 of the new, multi-purpose Chroma-Q Inspire LED fixtures to provide energy efficient, flexible lighting for the former Church's huge nave.

The Pieterskerk is a landmark of Leiden and can be seen from afar. Construction on the venue, which is a basilica in the late Gothic style, began around 1390 and continued at various intervals until the 1560s.

The deconsecrated building now serves as a major venue for TV recordings, corporate events, concerts or education, and since 2001 has undergone major restoration to convert it into a technologically advanced space.

The venue's directors wanted to upgrade the building's lighting facilities, enabling them to create a multitude of atmospheres reflecting its varying usages. To achieve this, they approached Netherlands-based Harry de Kort

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UAE - Two partnering agreements have helped leading event specialists, Spendlove increase their service offering for clients across the Middle East.

Spendlove's 'Smart Partner' programme sees the company enter agreements with European based businesses operating in the events industry that are looking to win work internationally. Spendlove's COO, Mike Smith has announced the company's latest 'Smart Partners' as temporary inflatable structure suppliers, Evolution Dome and temporary water and waste management specialists, MTD.

"The idea behind the Smart Partner programme is to not only encourage collaboration between the event industry's leading suppliers but also to create viable business opportunities for both partners," explains Mike. "Having been operating in the Middle East for 5 years, we have seen the growth of the live event production sector and are keen t

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