Business

Details
USA - The 2016 Behind the Scenes Holiday Cards are on sale now. Three card ordering options are offered: personalized cards with a company logo and custom message, card packs of 10 with a standard greeting, and electronic versions for delivery by email. Orders will be taken until September 12, 2016 to arrive by late October.

All proceeds benefit the Behind the Scenes charity which provides financial assistance to entertainment technology professionals who are seriously ill or injured. View and order cards at www.behindthescenescharity.org/holidaycards. For more information, please contact 212-244-1421 or holidaycard@behindthescenescharity.org.

For the last several years, the BTS Holiday Cards have included a design by a student at the Fine Arts Academy at Mt. Vernon Senior High School in Mount Vernon, Indiana. The student designs have proven to be so popular that this year

Details
USA - Maryland is known for its beautiful beaches, splendid shellfish and rich nautical history. In recent years, however, another item has been added to this notable list, as the 'Old Line State', the place that gave birth to the US National Anthem, is becoming known as an epicentre of metal music.

Every Memorial Day Weekend, the state hosts Maryland Deathfest (popularly known as MDF), the country's largest metal music festival. This year, the 14th annual edition of the festival, drew black leather clad metal fans from around the world to downtown Baltimore to see bands like Venom, Testament and Mayhem perform on a main stage that featured a blisteringly intense light show anchored by Rogue R2 Washes and Strike 4 multi-formatted warm white LED fixtures from Chauvet Professional.

Zack Bunner, lighting designer at Showtime Sound (Frederick, Maryland), selected the fixtures

Details
Australia - Elite Sound and Lighting based in the Australian capital Canberra is one of the country's fastest growing rental and production companies. Headed by owner and founder Darren Russell, Elite made its first Robe investment in 2011 and in 2013, Darren made the conscious commitment to Robe as their 'house' moving light brand. "I simply wanted a premium brand that was reliable and had a diverse enough range to cover all requirements for rental, staging and installation applications."

The purchases have been constant and steady since that time, and they were the first in Australia to purchase Robe's signature BMFL series, with 32 x BMFL Spots joining the rental inventory as soon as they became available.

The latest BMFL WashBeams were then added to that count at the end of 2015.

More LEDWash 600s have also recently been added to the inventory - in fact, every time

Details
UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians Theatre Awards 2016 took place on Wednesday evening (22 June), after the first day of the ABTT Theatre Show at Alexandra Palace, London.

An experienced jury of working practitioners and industry peers considered entries for the ABTT Awards. Both previously submitted nominations and items brought to their attention on the day, which satisfied the entry criteria were reviewed.

Commenting on the event, ABTT CEO Robin Townley said, "The Awards ceremony, held in the Petrus Bertschinger Studio (PBS), was again a great opportunity for exhibitors and visitors to gather and celebrate good technology and excellent technical practice. It was also very good to be able to welcome the Association of Lighting Designers' for the presentation of their Bursaries.

"There was a great atmosphere in the PBS which clearly conveyed the congr

Details
UK - PLASA 2016 has announced the line-up for its ever popular Rigging Conference, which this year is supported by Unusual Rigging as Platinum sponsor. The conference is being curated for the seventh year running by Total Solutions' Chris Higgs, with a keynote presentation by Rocky Paulson, founder of Stage Rigging Inc.

Held on the first day of the PLASA Show (London Olympia, 18-20 September), this unique conference looks at the issues that are specific to rigging for the entertainment industry and regularly attracts over 150 practitioners, managers, engineers, safety professionals and policy makers from around the globe. "With 30% of its delegates attending from 20 different overseas countries, it has a truly international flavour," say organisers PLASA Events.

During Rocky's keynote presentation, he will talk about his career as a rigger and the influences from his early

Details
USA - Describing his five years as FOH engineer for ZZ Top, Joe Keiser calls it "The never-ending tour - they work harder than any other band I know". The group's 2016 season began in March, playing arenas and large theatres across North America.

Dubbed the Hell Raisers tour, the group decided to travel light, renting a sound system at each venue, exposing Keiser to a wide variety of products. One that stood out for both its sound quality and ease of use was the Electro-Voice X2 line-array loudspeaker system supplied by NLFX Professional for the tour's date at the Sanford Centre in Bemidji, Minnesota. The X2 is the high-performance member of the new Electro-Voice X-Line Advance family.

"That is one show that stands out for me as trouble-free," recalls Keiser. "I remember walking in and thinking the system looked small for a sold-out arena show, but once I powered up and di

Details
UK - Event lighting designer John McGuinness of Just Lite Productions chose a carefully tuned mix of Avolites products; Sapphire Touch, Tiger Touch II and Fader Wing, Quartz, Ai Infinity media server and ART2000 48" Dimmer racks, to control his erising show design for legendary dance event Cream Tours at Belfast's T13 warehouse.

Event promoter Notorious Parties welcomed the return of the event with its cast of DJing elite including; dance music giant John O'Callaghan, Bryan Kearney, Will Atkinson, STANDERWICK, Agnelli and Nelson and Anthony Probyn.

McGuinness, who put his Avolites Sapphire Touch console, featuring Titan Version 9, to work says, "The great thing about the Sapphire Touch is it's very simple and fast to programme and I can achieve the looks I want in seconds. I am a huge fan of the Key Frame Shapes feature - it adds another dimension to what I can create, tur

Details
Germany - Full service production company satis&fy provided the entertainment technology and decorative atmosphere for the 2016 Duftstars Awards in Berlin, the German perfume industry's premier accolade, and used their new stock of Elation Professional Platinum FLX hybrid moving heads on the event.

The Fragrance Foundation of Germany announced the winners of the awards at a presentation ceremony held on 12 May at Kraftwerk Berlin. Held under the motto 'The Power of Fragrance!' and actually one of the top galas in the German-speaking world, personalities from German TV, film, business, politics and the media walked the purple carpet with a dinner and after-show party music by Culcha Candela.

satis&fy equipped the awards ceremony as technical service provider for event company Vaterblut GmbH. On the ground floor, satis&fy rolled out 1,000sq.m of purple carpet and set up a 12

Details
Spain - La 57, a modern nightclub in Valencia recently upped its sound game with the installation of a brand-new D.A.S. Audio professional sound system. La 57 is the city's biggest Latin music club and has quickly turned into a hotspot for both the locals who love salsa, bachata, merengue and mambo music and the large South American community living in Valencia.

The venue owners called in Telesonic Valencia to design a new sound system that would offer the club's guests top-of-the-line sound quality. Francisco Planells, a local sound professional whose extensive experience in projects at a range of venues makes him well acquainted with the qualities of D.A.S. professional sound systems, headed the project.

Because La 57 serves a dual purpose -the space is dedicated to dance classes in the mornings and afternoons and turns into a nightclub at night and on weekends- a versat

Details
Italy - Electropop artist, Francesco Gabbani, recently took Allen & Heath's ultra-compact Qu-Pac digital mixer on tour, selected by FOH engineer, Fabrizio Fruzzetti.

Gabbani is a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, and recently released his award-winning second studio album, Eternamente Ora, which includes the hit single, Amen. The tour supports the album release and includes dates across the country.

Fruzzetti is sound engineer for many top artists and festivals in Italy, including Primavera Jazz Festival, Stadio, Dolcenera, Nina Zilli, Grignani, and has managed sound for several TV commercials.

"Qu-Pac is a great mixer offering dynamic management control options, which can be accessed via the iPad app or the mixer's touchscreen. This enables very fast operation, and the possibility to include several operators or places, such as monitor or FOH

Details
South Africa - After a successful inaugural event in 2015, the SA Guitar and Music Instruments Expo returns in 2016 at the Wanderers Club in Johannesburg.

Wild & Marr, one of South Africa's leading importers and distributors of professional sound equipment will be exhibiting at this year's Expo.

"A number of our brands have products that are well suited for retailers and people interested in pursuing a career in music," says Andrew Sorrill, marketing manager at Wild & Marr. "We will be showcasing some of these products that are perfect for guitarists, musicians and those interested in doing home recordings and podcasts. We encourage you to come hear, play, buy or try the latest and greatest gear that we have to offer."

Wild & Marr will have some demonstrations and performances by artists at their stand, which will be situated in the Wanderers Ballroom at Stand F.

T

Details
USA - High End Systems' Hog Factor 2016 competition is open for enrolment to all qualifying college and university students, and Phase One of the contest will close on 30 June 2016.

All information, rules and most importantly the programming package can be obtained by going to www.highend.com/hogfactor. Just as in the inaugural 2015 competition, all students are able to take part by downloading Hog 4 PC and the special Light Converse show file by registering at the above link, and there is no charge for participation.

Following Phase 1 of the competition, three teams will be whisked away to the Live Finals, slated to be held on Friday, 21 October at 5pm on the High End Systems booth at LDI in Las Vegas. The finalists will compete to win a $20,000 scholarship and Hog 4 for their University as well as each a HedgeHog 4X for themselves.

(Jim Evans)

Details
Canada - AIMS has announced that Coveloz has joined the alliance. Coveloz offers technology solutions to address the time-sensitive networking of audio, video and control signals. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, Coveloz is focused on developing programmable embedded technologies, with a specialty in deterministic networking. Combining proprietary new hardware and software solutions with world-class engineering services, the company accelerates and lowers the cost of new product introduction in broadcast, pro-AV and Industrial markets.

"Coveloz is a technology vendor of media networking and processing solutions," says president, Nestor Amaya. "We firmly believe that these solutions should build on open standards, such as those promoted by AIMS. The goals of AIMS align with our vision of how to best serve a market seeking the flexibility and affordability of a COTS packet-based

Details
USA - When American Idiot hit the Broadway stage in 2010, theatregoers were treated to more than just the punk-rock sounds of Green Day's rock opera; they experienced the visual impact that lighting can bring to storytelling. When Pace University staged American Idiot in 2016, lighting designer Zach Blane took an approach with his lighting rig that - like punk rock - broke the rules.

As Blane's design required getting a wide range of colours from his rig, his choice of units was critical. "I selected an assortment of ETC [Source Four LED] Lustr [Series] 1s and Lustr [Series] 2s, because I definitely needed endless colour options, plus it is a rock show, so I knew there was going to be a lot of haze, meaning I needed something that would look great in the air and great on the floor. Also, the director [Leslie McDonel] wanted the entire rig to be able to strobe. Th

Details
USA - Some buildings seem destined to become obsolete before their concrete has even dried. Such was the case with the Austin Downtown Post Office, an ungainly grey and white structure built in 1996 and closed only two decades later. Derided by a local scribe as an "urban disaster", the luckless building on Block 51 never delivered much mail, but for three nights earlier this year, it did deliver a lot of eye-popping visual excitement, thanks in part to a collection of ÉPIX Strip 2.0 RGB linear fixtures from Chauvet Professional.

Bryan Azar of ILIOS Lighting Design used 300 ÉPIX Strip 2.0 units with domes to create a stunning impression inside the abandoned building for Samsung Galaxy Life Fest during SXSW 2016. Most of the 1m strips were mounted on the ceiling to form a chevron pattern over the dance floor. The remaining strips were used to created lines and bor

Details
UK - KV2 reports that the Rolling Stones exhibition Exhibitionism is relying heavily on KV2 Audio loudspeakers to invite audiences in to the rock n' roll world of the band.

Set in London's Saatchi Gallery, Exhibitionism takes visitors through the sprawling history of the band via nine individually themed rooms ranging from an immersive and realistic reconstruction of their first shared flat, culminating in a backstage and 3D surround sound concert experience.

A total of 30 products from the passive ESD range and active EX range were deployed throughout all primary playback areas with seven ESP 2000 amplifiers powering the ESD products.

Sound designer Carolyn Downing's decision to specify KV2 products came on the back of KV2's recent and high-profile successes within the theatre market, where many noted sound designers have moved away from traditional line array solutio

Details
France - Fineline supplied lighting for two venues - Main Stage and Club XX - at the six day 2016 Snowboxx Festival staged in the spectacular French Alpine ski resort of Avoriaz. The event now in its fourth year, is a week of activities culminating in three days of music in an intimate 4000 capacity boutique festival for lovers of snow sports, dance music and great vibes.

It was the first year that Fineline has been involved as a technical supplier. Stu England designed the rigs for both areas, which were based on being flexible to give all the artists as many options as possible for their sets to look individual and interesting, delivering excellent 'bang-for-buck'.

The Main Stage was outdoors on the slopes and comprised a 12m roof system beneath which Stu and the Fineline crew sub-hung four finger trusses running upstage / downstage.

With limited space and weight loa

Details
Italy - Leading Slovenian lighting designer Crt Birsa specified 87 x Robe moving lights including Pointes, MMX Spots and MMX WashBeams for a special fifth anniversary concert by Croatian superstars 2CELLOs, staged at the beautifully atmospheric Verona Arena in Italy.

The cello duo of Luka

Details
UK - Over 100 bands performed on Serious Stages in front of 80,000 rock fans, as Serious supplied staging and ancillary structures to Download Festival for the first time, 10-12 June 2016.

The 13th Download Festival boasted headline performances from Rammstein, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, with Serious providing the stages to house rock royalty and structures to house their production equipment.

A Serious designed and manufactured 25m x 30m Tower Roof was the main stage, which was renamed The Lemmy Stage in memory of the late Mot

Details
UK - GLS Lighting in Southampton, UK, part of the HSL Group family, has made a significant investment in over 200 new fixtures from leading manufacturer German Lighting Products (GLP), adding to its already extensive hire inventory in the South.

The new equipment will be based at and available from GLS's facility - conveniently around one hour from the M25 London ring - and will also be available from all the HSL Equipment Banks across the UK and Ireland - currently Blackburn, Belfast and Dublin - in addition to Southampton.

"The large investment is a direct result of increased trading during the first half of the year, and a strong order book taking us through into 2017," states GLS's Ian Turner.

The new GLP stock will be added to the existing ranges of Robe, Martin, Vari*lite, SGM and Chauvet, adding to cutting edge technologies that now include Robe's BMFL and DL4 r

Details
Stayin' Alive - Coldplay gave Glastonbury's grand finale with a little help from the Bee Gees. Barry Gibb joined the band for two Bee Gee covers - To Love Somebody and what Chris Martin called "the greatest song of all time", Stayin' Alive. Gibb was meant to play Glastonbury's "legend" slot this year, but pulled out when a family member fell ill. The Bee Gee tribute came towards the end of a set that defied the pouring rain. "This is our favourite place in the world!" declared Chris Martin.

Judgement Day - Led Zeppelin did not copy the opening chords of Stairway to Heaven from the US band Spirit, a US jury has found. It said the riff Led Zeppelin was accused of taking from Spirit's 1967 song Taurus "was not intrinsically similar" to Stairway's opening. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant said they were grateful to "put to rest questions about

Details
USA - From a bible study group started in 1936, Old North Church Canfield, OH has grown to over 1,300 members and atendees. The church's modern new building includes a 1,000-seat sanctuary, a library, classrooms, and a family life centre (gymnasium).

Executive pastor Chris Drombetta says the church's worship gatherings prioritize Biblical preaching and teaching, supported by music, and a blend of traditional and modern expressions of the gospel. Many of these expressions utilize new dynamic technologies, such as the recently installed loudspeaker system.

Drombetta emphasized, "The message must be crystal clear." Yet, the church sanctuary has multiple reflecting surfaces and the church's original loudspeaker system was forty feet in the air. Thus, despite the addition of front-fill and delayed loudspeakers above the balcony, it was difficult to hear and understand the spoke

Details
UK - A long-standing tradition in Cambridge, May Ball Week, which this year ran from 13 June, marks the end of the academic year for the University of Cambridge. With each of the colleges hosting their own celebration, the lavish formal affairs see the students celebrate in style. Providing full technical production for two of the balls, Trinity College and St John's College, Hawthorn was on hand to make sure this year's celebrations were more spectacular than ever before.

Celebrating its 150th year anniversary, expectations for The First and Third Trinity Boat Club May Ball were high, with attendees not being left disappointed. Hawthorn provided lighting, sound, staging, rigging and power distribution for the all-night event which saw revellers partying until dawn.

A big change for the Trinity Ball this year involved moving the main stage onto the South Paddock and puttin

Details
UK - A.C. Special Projects Ltd. (ACSP) has provided a tailor-made, media responsive, colour-changing solution which introduces a complementary lighting scheme to the rear support structure of Storm Cromination London - the digital canvas in West London and one of Europe's longest digital advertising billboards.

Consisting of six screens and stretching 72m in length, Storm Cromination London is situated at a prime location on Cromwell Road, the main artery running from Heathrow Airport into the capital. Its owner, media giant Clear Channel UK, digitised the original traditional series of billboards in the autumn of 2015 to offer brands dynamic, data-driven advertising opportunities at this unmissable site.

In the spring of 2016 Clear Channel UK approached ACSP with a desire to upgrade the site by adding a dynamic lighting scheme that would respond live to the dominant colou

  1. Clay Paky lights On Stage Awards 2016
  2. D.A.S delivers dynamics at Twelve Miami
  3. Rogues deliver varied looks at Wichita Riverfest
  4. NEXT at the double at Rock in Rio Lisboa
  5. White Light returns to Garsington Opera
  6. Aurora enjoys the festival spirit at Glastonbury
Page 380 of 1813

Latest Issue. . .