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UK - The 21st century revival of the legendary Isle of Wight Festival once again launched Europe's season of summer celebrations, with this year's edition benefiting from relatively hospitable weather and the auspicious debut of a new Meyer Sound Leo Family system at the main stage.

Supplied by Wigwam Acoustics of Heywood, the new system effortlessly powered performances by headliners like The Who, Faithless, Stereophonics, and Queen + Adam Lambert for crowds of up to 60,000. Equally important, the linear characteristics of the system coupled with precise directional control kept the festival grounds rocking while significantly reducing bleed into nearby residential areas.

The Leo Family system's control and apparent loudness was appreciated by Vanguardia Consulting, responsible for assuring adherence to festival license conditions. "Isle of Wight has been quite tough over

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USA - Robe once again had a big presence at Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) in Las Vegas, another high profile event on the US EDM calendar - following spectacular performances for the brand at ULTRA Miami and Coachella.

Staged at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it was EDC Las Vegas' 20th anniversary, and nearly 350 Robe fixtures - 212 Pointes, 83 x BMFL Spots and 38 x BMFL WashBeams - graced Steve Lieberman's epic design for the circuitGROUNDS stage.

As the main production stage of the event, the star-studded line up included Armin van Buuren, Martin Garrix, Afrojack, Eric Prydz, Kaskade and numerous others.

Steve and the team from SJ Lighting presented a completely new visual concept that incorporated lighting, video and set / structural design. The architecture was based on an enigmatic 360 degree coliseum look - classical lines with industrial attitude - a provocative,

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UK - The seventh full-length tour of their 20-year career, Coldplay's A Head Full Of Dreams boasts one of the year's most acclaimed productions and marks the third time the band has hit the road with Stageco Staging Group.

Designed by the celebrated Misty Buckley, following her work on Coldplay's appearance at the NFL Super Bowl 50's halftime show in February, the latest stadium tour sees a lavish explosion of colour accompanying the crowd-pleasing performances by the Chris Martin-fronted fivesome.

This time around, Stageco is building the sub-structure for the 65m wide x 25m deep main stage, the 30m long B-stage runway and a C-stage on which the band play a short, intimate set amongst the audience at the rear of the stadium. The company is also responsible for the steel structures that support the central video wall and side screens, the rigging points, PA and spot towers

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USA - Garth Brooks' maverick Man Against Machine tour continues, now using a full Kinesys automation system which was specified by Atlanta Rigging Services (ARS), brought on-board by production to take care of all rigging requirements.

Seventy-one axes of movement feature a variety of CM Lodestar motors, 29 of which are fitted with Kinesys Elevation 1+ vari-speed drives and these move two (out of 10) chevron-shaped trussing pieces; four individual sides of a large video cube plus assorted other scenic metalwork elements like 'the claw' which flies in and out over 'the Orb' drum kit.

The other eight chevron trusses are flown on fixed speed motors that are controlled with Kinesys DigiHoists.

All of these are controlled via Kinesys' powerful and stable Vector control platform.

The tour kicked off in fall 2014 and is still going - such is Brooks' popularity as a live a

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UK - Tuesday night saw Coldplay headline the first concert at Kensington Palace, a benefit for Sentebale, Prince Harry's HIV/Aids charity, in front of 3,000 people.

Fresh from Glastonbury Festival, the band performed on a Star Events' 15m by 12m SAM platform, the largest single truck mobile stage in Europe.

Since 2006, Sentebale has been helping children in the south African kingdom of Lesotho affected by HIV/AIDS and Coldplay's 11-song set culminated in current single Up & Up accompanied by the Basotho Youth Choir and the charity's founder.

"Please drive home safely and carry on the work of Sentebale," Prince Harry said afterwards. "And thank you to Coldplay, you've rocked the palace."

Working to the tightest deadline, in on Sunday night, show on Tuesday, out first thing Wednesday, Star Events fitted the SAM stage with extended wings to accommodate Coldplay

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South Africa - A new auditorium, which will serve as both a theatre and meeting point for assemblies and award evenings, has been built at The American International School of Johannesburg (AISJ). Theatre consultant Denis Hutchinson was on board both architecturally and for the technical specifications.

On the theatre lighting side, DWR Distribution was responsible for the supply of all the cabling and the data network for the equipment which includes an MA Lighting dot2 console, Philips Strand Lighting 6 Pack dimmer, two Strand Relay Racks and 10 Robe Robin DLX Spots. Further, DWR's Rob Young and his team designed and installed a flying system, retractable seating for the Orchestra Pit and two hand operated curtain tracks.

Whilst in the United States on another project, Denis came across something that triggered the idea of making the theatre a completely LED lighting ins

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South Africa - Thankfully no one was injured in a massive fire, which burnt down Durban Christian Centre in Mayville, KwaZulu Natal on the evening of 8 June. Three days later, the sky was lit up by 12 Clay Paky Mythos, all pointed towards a star, as the congregation met together for a service held in their parking lot.

One of the largest churches in Durban, the 5,500 seat auditorium known as the Jesus Dome, was a house of prayer for all nations and a place where miracles happened.

Having regularly lit events in this venue, lighting designer Michael Broderick along with his friend in the industry, Brandon Bunyan of Black Coffee, came up with an idea to use the Mythos fixtures in an act of compassion for the church's loss.

"When we told DWR's Duncan Riley about our idea, he insisted that the globes in the Mythos be 100% new and that the lights be freshly serviced," said

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USA - Clearwing is a full-service production company and systems integrator with offices in Phoenix, Arizona and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Clearwing's Production Division provides pro audio, lighting, staging and rigging, backline and video equipment rentals for clients ranging from concerts and music festivals to corporate events.

The company recently added an Allen & Heath dLive S5000 digital mixer to its production rental inventory along with eight ME-1 Personal Mixers, an ME-U Monitor Hub, a Qu-Pac and an AR2412. The dLive is equipped with a DM64 MixRack and a DX32 Expander with Dante card.

"Our systems integration division regularly installs the dLive and other Allen & Heath mixers for their clients," said Clearwing's Nick Dressler. "Now", he noted, "tour designers have taken to this desk."

Dressler explained, "The dLive was something we needed in our rental inventory

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UK - The Rose Theatre Kingston in South West London has added to its rigging inventory four 1t Loadlink Plus units from Straightpoint, which were most recently used during installation of sets for a production of Shakespeare's King John.

The famous play, directed by Trevor Nunn, was performed during a three-week run at the theatre. It required an elaborate set that included a large raised floor with an automated lift, two 9m-high towers and three platforms connected via numerous staircases and walkways. Any remaining empty space between those towers and walkways was finished with wooden cladding. Elsewhere on set, two large sliders concealed a throne.

Wayne Parry, head of production at the Rose Theatre Kingston, explained that the load cells were used only for set installation, not during performances. He said: "Large steel sections were lifted using several motors

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UK - dbn lighting from Manchester supplied lighting, LED screen and crew to the main stage and four other performances spaces at the 2016 Lost Village Festival, plus site-wide scenic and environmental illumination highlighting hundreds of organic artworks made with natural materials found on the site.

It was the second year of this boutique festival staged by Lost Ventures with site and production management co-ordinated by Andy George, Jay Jameson and Ben Atkins with whom dbn enjoys a creative synergy. dbn's Nick Buckley project-managed for them, commenting, "A huge increase in production values this year underlined Andy, Jay and Ben's commitment to the event, and making it among the best alternative festivals of the UK season."

Staged in the beautiful Lincolnshire countryside in a low key location, replete with pastures, woodland, a small lake and a properly magical feel

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USA - Journalists from far beyond New England are used to coming to Westin Copley Place, Boston, to cover news. US presidents and Supreme Court justices have frequently given speeches here, and one would-be Commander and Chief, Mitt Romney, used it as his primary election night headquarters.

Recently, though, members of the fourth estate visited the elegant hotel on the banks of the Charles River to make news, rather than cover it, by participating in the 39th annual Boston/New England Emmy Awards. The high-profile event, which has helped propel many careers to national stardom stature, draws journalists from six states. Setting an appropriately elegant tone for the evening ceremonies was a glitzy video wall and lighting display created by Darren Lussier of Image Production Services, using an array of Chauvet Professional fixtures and video panels.

"This is the big night f

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Germany - System integration and event technology company Kuchem Konferenz Technik has added 110 of Elation Professional's SixBar 1000 LED battens to its inventory. The Elation SixBar 1000 is a colour-changing batten featuring a six-color LED multi-chip that can be used for a variety of purposes such as general purpose wash/strip lighting, uplighting, cyc wash, accent lighting or as a pixel strip.

"Our growth over the last few years has meant more customer requests for flexible color-changing lighting so we looked at the SixBar 1000 and decided to add them to our inventory," stated Kristina Kuchem, CEO of Kuchem Konferenz Technik.

"Our technicians compared the product to other manufacturers and the SixBar fulfilled our needs completely. We can use them in many different applications and in a great number of the projects that we normally equip. We chose it for the six-colou

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South Africa - LD Christopher Bolton from Johannesburg based Keystone Productions used 180 Robe fixtures for the 2016 Ghoema Music Awards, staged at the Jo'burg Theatre in Braamfontein, the city's lively downtown.

The Ghoema Awards recognises exceptional achievement in the SA Afrikaans Music Industry. Chris was appointed by Joshua Cutts of Visual Frontier to light and programme the 2016 awards for their client, creative production company, Idea Candy.

The show was recorded for Afrikaans TV channel KykNET so Chris also worked closely with stage director Barry Pretorius and camera director Eugene Naidoo.

The Robe count included eight BMFL Blades, 24 x Pointes, 12 x LEDWash 800s, 12 x LEDWash 600s, 12 x LEDBeam 1000s, 21 x LEDBeam 100s, 22 x MMX Spots and 70 x LEDForce 18 RGBW PARs.

The BMFL has become one of Chris's go-to fixtures for major shows. "Both Josh and I sp

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UK - Eamonn Holmes' new panel show It's Not Me, It's You, explores the world of dating and relationships and moving light specialists Richard Martin Lighting (RML) are on hand supporting lighting designer Roger Williams.

It's Not Me, It's You sees Holmes joined by team captains, model and actress Kelly Brook, and the reigning Queen of the Jungle Vicky Pattison as they set out to prove who's the top dog when it comes to dating.

With a seductive and contemporary feel to the set, Roger has employed an old favourite, the MAC Aura, using over 30 to compliment the look.

"It's a striking new set from designer Alex Craig, the original idea was for it to be against a white cyc," says Roger. "After discussions it was decided to set it against blacks and, as I'm desperately trying to avoid using smoke and beams where I can, Auras were the perfect choice to fill in l

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Italy - Summer is here and with it sun-seekers are heading to beaches across Europe. The location and open-plan layout of beach bars and restaurants can make it a challenge to entertain those who want to drink and dance while keeping other patrons - and the neighbours - happy. But at Italy's Bazzano Beach, a Yamaha audio system has solved the problem.

Located in the tourist resort of Sperlonga, between Roma and Napoli, Bazzano Beach is a bar and restaurant located on the beach of the same name. Founded 12 years ago, it is a popular destination for those wanting to relax by the sea with good food and good music.

Its audio system comprises two main elements - fixed loudspeakers for the venue's restaurant, terrace and the beach in front of the building, plus a movable dance system which covers a bigger area of the beach for the summer weekend events Spiaggia Italiana, which f

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UK - JHS & Co. Ltd., the international trade distributors, now has a fresh new logo and branding for 2016.

With a new management structure, JHS have taken the opportunity to freshen up with a more modern logo - as featured for the very first time on its recently released catalogue.

Company founder Mr John Hornby Skewes, who stepped down from his role as chairman of the board of directors along with his wife Madge on 30 June said, "We retire leaving the company in the sound hands of our daughter Linda Drumm and son-in-law Dennis Drumm, who head up an experienced board of directors and a dedicated team of employees. All will continue to serve the trade in the JHS tradition of excellent service and dedication to the needs of customers and suppliers."

The logo joins the successful new-format JHS Event 'On The Road' - which has proven to be very popular with dealers across

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China - Audio rental and production company Neuro Tech Asia is currently providing some of the most successful and comprehensive AV solutions and designs for projects and events across China and the Asia Pacific. With three strategic main offices in Singapore, Shanghai and Beijing, Neuro Tech Asia has diversified into areas of expertise including technical consultancy, AV design implementation, and permanent installations.

As part of their commitment to providing first-rate technical solutions, the company recently decided to partner up with Chao GanGuan, exclusive distributor of D.A.S. Audio products in China, by expanding its inventory into D.A.S. Audio professional sound solutions. Neuro Tech Asia has made a massive investment in an army of D.A.S. systems, including the first full Aero 40A Advanced Line Array System (ALASTM) in China.

Neuro Tech Asia has purchased 24 of

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South Africa - For 10 consecutive weeks, Blond Productions provided the full technical for the Big Brother Extremo Live Eviction Show. This consisted of the opening event, weekly evictions and the recently hosted finale all hosted at Red Pepper Studios in Linden, Johannesburg with Robe lighting the way. The new set was designed by Toni Van Oostenrijk from SpaceCadet and built by Dream Sets while Touch Media were responsible for the striking 3D Mapping.

Endemol Shine Africa produces the Angolan version of the Big Brother Reality Television Franchise for DSTV. This is the seventh consecutive year that Blond has worked on the series.

"It's a privilege to be part of an on-going production which has consisted of various countries and formats," said Christiaan Ballot, owner of Blond. "It's one of the shows that has helped us grow through the years."

Lighting designer Mauritz

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Germany - Allen & Heath's dLive digital mixing system has been out on tour with German band, Brings, culminating in a gig staged at the 50,000 capacity Cologne football stadium.

The band is based in Cologne, so the home-coming gig was the largest of the tour, supported by three local bands. The setup included two dLives at FOH, several expanders, and digital splits for the monitor console and OB Van for a live stream and recording.

The dLive system comprised S7000 Control Surfaces with DM64 MixRacks and DX32 expander racks. Dante and MADI network cards were fitted in the MixRack, where the Dante card was provided for the support acts, who were using a GLD-80.

"The Allen & Heath dLive system sounds amazing, the design of the surface is perfect, easy to arrange and also to operate. I've always had the impression that everybody at Allen & Heath knows their job and they kn

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UK - Situated on the University of Kent's Canterbury Campus, the popular K-Bar recently underwent a major design overhaul, with the addition of a juice and smoothie bar, and boasting a new state-of-the-art AV system, designed and installed by Penguin Media Solutions. This includes end-to-end Martin Audio CDD loudspeakers.

Notes Dylan Thompson, project manager and system specifier, "With the arrival of CDD I don't need to look elsewhere, which is a nice position to be in. CDD has been a revelation - it's well priced, sounds great and I can spec it for just about anything."

Penguin were awarded the contract by Kent Hospitality, which manages all the university's bars and leisure facilities, having worked for them previously. "We met Keith Williams, head of trading at Kent Hospitality a few years ago now, and he really liked our ideas and approach."

The brief this time wa

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Germany - When freelance LD Rick Kay (of the CORE Berlin collective) joined forces with local rental company Lautwerfer at the end of 2014 to help deliver the inaugural Alternative Fashion Week it was to mark the start of a rapidly evolving journey. Today, the event has expanded from its origins at local techno club E-Werk to the Postbahnhof former railway station.

"AFW originally came to us via a small event company in Berlin but has grown into something really special," said Kay. "Today it is probably one of the world's most cutting edge fashion shows."

Having recently completed his fourth and most ambitious AFW design, the LD credits GLP's market leading LED fixtures for having provided much of the dynamic throughout. "When I put together the first fashion show Lautwerfer brought along the impression X4 S as a wash light, which was the first time I used it. I was very s

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Australia - The City of Playford north of Adelaide, South Australia, which encompasses suburbs such as Elizabeth and Munno Parra, has a solid musical heritage. Jimmy Barnes, Glenn Shorrock and John Swan are all alumni of its streets, and AC/DC cut their teeth in its venues. In 2007, the city opened a ground-breaking facility, Northern Sound System, with the express objective to provide youth with a platform to learn and perform music, as well as live and studio production skills. With a 400 capacity venue and extensive teaching and recording spaces, the NSS is an incubator for the performers and technicians of the future.

"Our focus is everything music related; live shows, recording, and technical and musical training," explained Ross Read, Northern Sound System's head technician and venue coordinator. "We offer music tuition, teach kids how to DJ, how to record, and how to do

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UK - Veteran American sound engineer Ken Newman carried on where he left off in the States when Barry Manilow's One Last Time tour arrived in the UK on its trip around the globe - with Martin Audio's premier MLA providing the arena sound.

Making his MLA debut with Delicate Productions' system on the North American leg, the sound engineer was adamant that he wanted the same production rider in the UK - and his first port of call was Martin Audio rental partner, Capital Sound.

Capital supplied the rig, but unlike the previous dates, the 10 UK shows had the advantage of being run digitally. With MLA tech Russ Cunningham and PA/stage tech Nick Cook in support, the main PA comprised 11 x MLA and an MLD Downfill each side, while the side-fill component started with hangs of 12 x MLA Compact per side but increased to 16 for the larger 20,000-capacity O2 Arena in London.

Flown

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UK - A single media server - the powerful Ai S8 from British manufacturer Avolites - drove the entirety of the video and graphic element on trance act Above & Beyond's recent international tour.

The band, who have been voted into DJ Magazine's 'Top 100 DJs' six times, started their Acoustic ll tour on 5 May at London's Royal Albert Hall and finished on the 6th of June at the Sydney Opera House. The tour included two sell-out dates at the Greek Theatre, Los Angeles. Its spectacular visuals, designed by Neil Marsh, featured a mix of video, graphics and live camera footage from six on-stage robotic cameras.

David Kyle, video operator for the tour, made good use of the compact Ai S8 to run Marsh's multi-sourced design.

Kyle explains, "My role was to look after all video elements of the show and make sure we delivered what was required in terms of Neil's design. Ai provided

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