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Germany - Lewis Hamilton unveiled the latest Mercedes supercar on the eve of the Frankfurt International Motor Show with a laser display featuring tarm Showlaser products.
Six full-colour 25W Phaenon X AT lasers, five full-colour 12W Phaenon N X Mini laser and lots of mirrors with different shapes and customised mounts formed an imposing laser grid, effectively showcasing the new features of the Mercedes-AMG Project ONE.
The two-seater supersports show car brings the very latest and efficient, fully-fledged Formula 1 hybrid technology from the race track to the road. The show car marks the highlight of the sports car and performance brand´s 50th anniversary year.
(Jim Evans)

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UK - Cambridge-based co-educational boarding and day school The Leys has recently upgraded the drama technical facilities of its purpose-built theatre and performing arts centre with the latest energy-efficient Spotlight Green Line white LED Fresnels.
As part of the lighting upgrade of the school’s 337-seat performance venue, theatre manager Paul Durose contacted A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd. (AC-ET) to replace the existing conventional Fresnels / PC white lighting fixtures with energy-efficient LED equivalents.
Paul had previously worked with AC-ET to upgrade the theatre and main drama studio's PAR and Profile fixtures to full colour-changing LED versions, so he approached them again to recommend several suitable white fixtures from their extensive portfolio of theatrical LED solutions.
The company's specialist lighting sales division arranged for an on

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UK - A Yamaha sound system was specified for the new Crossway Christian Centre in London’s Elephant & Castle.
The church, which had existed for over 150 years, recently moved to a new building and required an adaptable audio system was needed to serve its numerous congregations.
Rev. Dr Peter Stevenson, Minister at Crossway Church, consulted with Daniel Cunnings of Cunnings Recording Associates and chose an audio system based on two Yamaha MRX7-D and one MTX3 matrix processors. The system is controlled by six surface-mounted DCP4V4S panels, with Yamaha’s ProVisionaire Touch iPad app for Peter and church music leaders.
“A key factor in the choice of equipment was that the system had to be complex enough to cope with everything from tiny meetings to large congregations with music. It needed to handle different congregations meeting in different rooms at t

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Germany - Absen recently expanded and upgraded its showroom setup at their European HQ in Rüsselsheim, Germany.
In the new set up, the company is showcasing its bestselling models and a number of new LED solutions developed for a number of industries including corporate, retail, rental staging, OOH and sports.
The majority of the LED screens in the showroom are fed content from an AV Stumpfl Wings Engine Stage media server. The Wings software interface gives Absen technicians the ability to quickly change and replace professional audio-visual content, depending on the profile of the showroom visitors.
Oliver Straub, the Absen technician in charge of the showroom comments: “Since we opted for the Wings Engine media server, handling content has become a lot easier for us. We now have one main system interface, that we know is reliable and can easily be adjusted.

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USA - On 23 June 2018, a dedicated group of music industry professionals will embark on a 12-day, 500-mile bicycle ride along the California coast to raise awareness and funding for spinal cord injury sufferers.
The event, produced by non-profit organisation Celebrate Overcoming, is inspired by the physical and spiritual journey of spinal cord injury survivor and musician David Francisco. In April 2016, David’s life changed forever, in a split second.
While the 24-year-old was riding his bike home from his recording classes at Nashville’s Blackbird Academy, a distracted driver ran a red light and crashed into him at 40 miles per hour. The impact was catastrophic: He shattered his spine in three places, and was told he’d likely never walk again.
After a year of intense physical rehabilitation, David has defied the odds and learned to walk, and this past Ju

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Belgium - The band at the heart of popular Belgian TV series Ghost Rockers – produced by Studio 100 and syndicated throughout Europe – hits the road for a series of gigs around Belgium this autumn, complete with a fresh lighting design by Belgian design studio Painting with Light’s Paco Mispelters.
One of Paco’s starting points was the practical consideration of different sized venues on the tour, so from the outset, the look and the lighting rig had to be scalable.
The audience is young and the music is lively pop-rock, so he needed lots of dynamics, colour and vitality. Added to that, there is a narrative to the set – the show is directed by Tijl Dauwe so some strategic tricks were required, including a classical touch of theatrical magic - a Pepper’s Ghost.
With no set as such, apart from some low stairs and a couple of risers, Paco also n

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UK/Ireland - Unusual Rigging are no novices when it comes to the technical ins and outs of Miss Saigon. The company worked on the original show when it opened in the West End nearly three decades ago and again in 2014 when the show re-opened to rave reviews at the Prince Edward Theatre in London. Cameron Mackintosh's production of Boubil and Schonberg's Miss Saigon began touring this summer – and once again Unusual Rigging have been brought on board to ensure the success of the musical as it tours the UK and Ireland.
The show is currently running at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin until the end of November when it moves to the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. Helen Guest, production manager explained: "The tour itself is based on the version of the show which ran at the Prince Edward Theatre but with some additions that were introduced in the Broadw

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USA - Special Event Services (SES) used Outline loudspeakers to craft the live sound of the Avett Brothers during their three-night stint at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver.
The 9,525-capacity mountain venue lies over 6,000ft above sea level and presents some unusual conditions to visiting sound reinforcement companies.
SES president Jason Farah comments: ‘Red Rocks is a challenging venue, as it is very long, very steep, and the PA is at the bottom of the hill with limited trim height. I employed a few innovative techniques to overcome these challenges, and the results were nothing less than remarkable - in fact, the Outline GTO / C-12 / Mantas design I deployed provided the best outcome of all the PA systems I've ever used there.”
Farah continues, ’Because the Avett Brothers’ music ranges from the very lively to tender moments, it was amazing to

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Sweden - A sound system from d&b has been installed at Stockholm’s historic Maria Magdalena church as part of the building’s renovation.
SoundCop Consulting, who provided consultation and installation services for the project, had initially chosen another system, but switched d&b’s xC-Series column loudspeakers after attending a demo by d&b’s local partner Arva Trading at another Stockholm church, Stefanskyrkan (Saint Stephens church).
SoundCop Consulting decided to go with a combination of d&b’s xC-Series 2-way passive column loudspeakers, xS-Series loudspeakers, and B4 cardioid subwoofers along with the 10D four channel amplifier.
Natanael Lyckelind, sales and support AV/pro audio, at Arva Trading explains: “The passive cardioid function of the xC-Series column loudspeakers results in excellent dispersion control, which makes them p

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UK - Creative technical event production company Hawthorn constructed a 4,830sq.m set for eSports company ESL Gaming at the UK’s biggest games trade fair, EGX, held at NEC Birmingham in September.
Hawthorn delivered the vast custom-made set and supplied lighting, sound, rigging and staging, with five artic lorries needed to transport their kit - three of which were used just for the mammoth set.
The company created two large gaming stages, the ESL Premiership stage and the Twitch stage, both of which designed by ESL. Hawthorn custom built each set to ESL’s specifications, including the creation of custom gaming desks for the high-octane competition over the four days.
“With the ESL Arena covering nearly 5,000sq.m of space, this was a demanding job for us in terms of scenic creation” says Hawthorn senior project manager Ryan Grant who led the project.

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UK - SGM moving heads are used for an art installation currently projected on the facade of Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London.
Wall of Dreams by Danish poet and artist Morten Søndergaard is being showcased from 18 October to 1 November as part of the Centre’s year-long Nordic Matters programme and aims to raise awareness of the refugee crisis in Europe.
The projection is realised by the deployment of 16 SGM G-Spot LED moving heads mounted on existing poles surrounding the building. Special gobos have been designed containing the textual messages with each moving head containing several of these custom-made gobos making it possible to alter the building facade over night for a changeable appearance through programming. The bright output of the G-Spot produces razor-sharp effects for spectators to see and read from a distance.
“The li

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Romania - Acclaimed DJ David Guetta used the Claypaky Scenius Spot as the exclusive lighting fixture in his festival rig at the launch of Romania's inaugural TimeShift held at Bucharest's Romexpo arena in July.
Guetta's set design comprised four pieces of automated truss forming a large diamond shape that was rigged with 24 Scenius Spot fixtures.
"TimeShift's main stage rig was an adaptation of Guetta's touring rig," says Bogdan Gradisteanu, technical manager of Marbo Trade, Claypaky's official Romanian distributor. Marbo Trade worked alongside rental house Bivolul and ASC Systems to supply the festival's entire lighting package.
Providing keylight from the sides of the main stage were 16 Claypaky B-EYE K20s. "We selected the K20s because of the fixture's advanced versatility, beamshaper and CTO," explains Gradisteanu. The award-winning LED hybrid

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UK - Adlib has become an authorised Allen & Heath dLive sales partner.
The company has also invested in two dLive S7000 surfaces (fitted with Waves v3 audio networking cards) with DM64 MixRacks for its rental offering.
“Integration was an important consideration for Adlib, who configured the systems to run perfectly with their existing fibre infrastructures. Support was also crucial to the company, which is why we provide our ‘red carpet’ package with dedicated 24 hour phone support,” explains Audio-Technica’s dLive specialist Rich Soper.
As a certified dLive reseller, the company is also able to deliver expert after-sales back up and service for the S Class and new compact C Class dLive surfaces, associated MixRack and networking options and accessories.
Dave Jones, from Adlib’s rental division says, “We did some field tests with dLive p

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Everybody’s Talking - A new musical about a teenage boy who wants to be a drag queen has scooped two theatre awards. Everybody's Talking About Jamie won best musical production at the UK Theatre Awards, with its star John McCrea named best musical performer. The UK Theatre Awards reward the best stage shows outside London. The musical has songs by Dan Gillespie Sells, lead singer with pop band The Feeling, and a script and lyrics by writer Tom MacRae.
The show's West End transfer begins at the Apollo Theatre in London on 6 November. Other UK Theatre Awards winners included Narvik by Lizzie Nunnery, which was named best new play; and Joseph Millson, who won best performance in a play for his role in the Royal Shakespeare Company's The Rover. The Who's Tommy picked up the prize for best touring production, while Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse ar

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UK - More than 45,000 music fans attended this year’s Wild Life Festival and Digital Insanity used Hippotizer Media Servers to help direct visuals throughout the two-day run. The resulting ‘all-LED wall’ seamlessly integrated with performances from acts including Fatboy Slim, Hannah Wants, David Rodigan, Disclosure, Maya Jane Coles and Gorgon City.
Launched in 2015 by Disclosure and Rudimental, Wild Life has quickly become one of the South East’s most highly anticipated music gatherings. Occupying the open expanse at Brighton City Airport – formerly Shoreham Airport – the venue offers the organisers plenty of space in which to create, as well as host thousands of revellers.
Digital Insanity secured the welcomed task and for a third year provided playback for the festival. The UK-based video solutions provider called on Hippotizer’s playback power

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UK - HSL supplied lighting, trussing and rigging equipment to the two main arenas at the 2017 Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) for event producer and artistic director Nadia Raibin and her company, The Production Team.
Nadia and The Production Team have been involved with HOYS for over 20 years, bringing together the best imaginative and technical solutions. Their brief to HSL included providing theatrical lighting for a number of equestrian-based entertainment and display acts as well as lighting for the main international show-jumping competitions, working hunter and driving classes.
Nadia explained that when she first decided to bring a rock ‘n’ roll atmosphere and ‘entertainment experience’ to the main International Arena – there was some trepidation from the horse fraternity!
“This is the pinnacle of the horsing calendar so the idea of addin

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Europe - Robert Juliat’s Lancelot followspots are joining Ed Sheeran for his 187-date world tour.
Supplied by UK-based lighting hire company Lights Control Rigging (LCR), the two Lancelot followspots were specified for the tour by production designer, Mark Cunniffe, who has worked with Sheeran as lighting and production designer since the star first broke onto the music scene in 2011.
Robert Juliat’s Lancelot is a 4000W HTI followspot designed for very long throw applications, with a 2°- 5° zoom and an innovative optical train that delivers an extremely flat beam and improves on the power of its smaller counterparts. It was clear Cunniffe needed a quality fixture to pick out the singer to his best advantage against the massive, video-heavy set that surrounds him.
“I chose the Lancelots for a number of reasons,” says Cunniffe. “Firstly, I love the opti

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UK - Audio-visual integrator Design AV Europe cooperated with AMS Acoustics and sound reinforcement manufacturer Nexo on the new sound system for the recently-renovated Winter Gardens Pavilion in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
Design AV Europe was contracted to provide audio and video technology in four areas of the Pavilion: the ballroom, the adjacent bar and restaurant, the reception, and the College reception. Damien Orritt of Design AV approached Nexo to supply the audio system for the ballroom/concert hall, designed to work in any one of five audio scenarios: speech, dinners and table-seated events; live band and concert-type events; a ballroom mode with sound only on the dancefloor; and a full DJ mode with sound on the dancefloor and the promenade.
The central space of the Pavilion is the unusual oval-shaped ballroom, with a raised promenade encircling the sunken f

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Thailand - Mahajak Development recently installed a multi-zone distributed audio system by Harman Professional Solutions at Vana Nava Jungle Water Park.
Located on eight acres outside of Hua Hin, Thailand, Vana Nava is Asia’s first ‘water jungle’ and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the region.
In order to provide excellent sound quality for background music and announcements across a wide range of facilities and attractions, developer Proud Real Estate hired Mahajak Development to design and install a complete Harman networked multi-zone audio solution throughout the entire park.
“The project required a great number of loudspeakers, and the Harman constant-voltage speakers enabled us to extend the number of outputs and minimize power loss over long speaker cable runs,” said Roengrith Jantarima, project manager, Mahajak Development.

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USA - Canadian superstar Celine Dion’s lighting designer Yves Aucoin has added Robe’s new MegaPointe multi-purpose moving light fixtures to the rig for her popular Celine show at the Colosseum, Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas. This is the first live concert show for MegaPointe in North America.
The Grammy Award-winning artist plays around 70 shows a year in Las Vegas in a series of three-week stints, and tours other territories in between.
Yves has worked with her since 1989, and Montreal based lighting supplier Solotech, represented by Richard Lachance and François Desjardins, has also been involved since Celine’s shows first started carrying a production.
Yves jumped at the chance to add MegaPointes to the Vegas spectacle! He likes to keep the long running residency looking fresh by introducing new elements.
The 4,296 capacity Colosseum was in

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USA - KDKB 93.3 radio celebrated alternative music with a star-studded Dia De Los ALT show at the Mesa Amphitheatre.
Featuring Top Ten alternative recording artists from around the world, like New York’s Bleachers, London’s Bishop Briggs, and Denmark’s New Politics, the event served up a nightlong smorgasbord of music done in a seemingly endless array of quirky and highly individualistic styles.
John Garberson of Creative BackStage reflected this quixotic music in light as it wove its way through a free-flowing stream of creative interpretations. Aiding him in this undertaking were his assistant LDs Rita Assi and Chris Brodman, as well as a very flexible rig that featured Chauvet Professional fixtures.
Key to creating this immersive visual flow were the rig’s eight Maverick MK2 Spot moving fixtures. Flown four apiece on midstage and upstage truss,

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UK - A 48-channel Audient ASP8024 Heritage Edition console has recently been installed at the University of Huddersfield, where students of Music Technology & Audio Systems BSc(Hons), Popular Music BSc(Hons) and Popular Music Production BA(Hons) courses are already putting it to work.
Music Technology technical team leader Ben Evans was part of the team that specified the supersized desk, which comes complete with patchbay and producers desk, and appreciated it from the start. “The integrated patchbay took a lot of the hassle out of installation and is really well laid out. This meant we had the desk up and running very quickly after delivery,” - an important factor when the beginning of term looms. “Staff and students have all been impressed when they see the console,” he adds. “It really has the wow factor.
“Students love the work flow of the desk, an

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Belgium - Manufacturer of flame retardant fabrics, drapery and stage engineering solutions, J&C Joel has appointed of Luxillag as its new bronze dealer in Belgium.
Luxillag was established in 1986 and supplies lighting equipment and tailor-made installation solutions to stage, cinema, television, photography and architainment professionals.
Over the last 20 years, the company’s primary focus has been in theatre and broadcast with an expansion into architainment and entertainment. The business has been involved in major projects including lighting design and full installations for the theatre and photographical and broadcast Industry as well as stage and studio scenery.
Luxillag’s owner and managing director, Gianfranco Galli, said: “We are very pleased with this new partnership. J&C Joel’s extensive range of products and impressive achievements

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UK - The Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) has announced its 2018 sponsored student scheme is open for applications. The scheme offers students, who have not previously been members of the ALD, the opportunity to enjoy free ALD membership until the end of March 2019.
Student members benefit from the increased opportunity to network with lighting and video production professionals at insightful events organised by the ALD, such as their monthly members’ socials and visits to shows and theatres. Membership provides vital interaction and connection between established figures in professional lighting and video design, and the next generation of talented designers, programmers and technicians.
Member benefits for students also include complimentary copies of the ALD magazine, Focus, as well as full access to the ALD web site and the members’ own micro-site. Memb
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