France - Capping off a year of marking the company’s 40th anniversary, L-Acoustics has announced another significant milestone with the addition of its 1,000th team member. Kevin Gouriou joins the company as a prototypist in R&D, marking a milestone that showcases four decades of growth from the company’s European roots to its current position as a global leader in professional audio.

This milestone comes during a remarkable period of growth for L-Acoustics, which has seen a 40% increase in its workforce over the past two years. With global hubs in Paris, Los Angeles, London and Singapore, the company has strategically expanded to support its worldwide network of partners and clients while maintaining its commitment to innovation, with 20% of its workf

UK - The University of Manchester's Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama has long been a cornerstone of the institution’s performing arts and education programmes. Home to two key performance spaces, being the Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall and the John Thaw Studio Theatre, the Centre recently underwent a significant AV upgrade to meet evolving teaching and performance needs.

The project was led by Stage Electrics, a trusted audiovisual partner of the University for over two decades, in close collaboration with British loudspeaker manufacturer EM Acoustics. The focus was on integrating high-quality audio systems tailored to each space to improve the audio experience for students, faculty, visiting performers and audiences alike.

Stage Electrics was tasked with upgrading the trusted existing EM Acoustics audio systems to match current standards and

UK - A heartwarming Christmas story told through projection-mapped animations in the run-up to Christmas is being driven by tvONE's Green Hippo brand of Hippotizer Media Servers onto the façade of The Queens Hotel in Leeds.

The animation, To Leeds, With Love, is brought to the city by LeedsBID (Leeds Business Improvement District). It is a reimagining of The 12 Days of Christmas song, featuring a cheeky gingerbread man who is on a mission to decorate the hotel for a festive party.

Two Hippotizer Karst+ MK2 Media Servers are powering video onto the front of the historic hotel via seven Panasonic projectors – five RQ50K, one RQ25K, and one RZ21K, with one other RQ50K backup being stored off-site in the event of a hardware issue. They are positioned in two 7.5m tall towers constructed in Leeds City Square, in front of the hotel buil

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Case Study: Hans Zimmer Live

When award winning film composer Hans Zimmer brought his smash-hit tour Hans Zimmer Live to North America fall 2024, the show's audio team sought out to bring infrafrequency bass to the show to add new depth to the show's audio experience. The team chose Danley Sound Labs.

UAE - Prolights fixtures shone brightly over the Swan Lake on Ice performance by The Imperial Ice Stars, held at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation. The award-winning show captivated audiences, blending Tchaikovsky's timeless music with breathtaking visual displays on ice. Lighting, designed by Level Production, played a crucial role in creating a visually stunning atmosphere on the skating rink.

For the lighting setup, Level Production collaborated with Pro Lab, the Prolights distributor for the MEDA region, selecting a range of fixtures that included Astra Wash19Pix, Astra Hybrid420, and RA2000HB Profiles from Prolights. These fixtures were chosen for their exceptional versatility, delivering the perfect balance of lighting power, colour precision, and creative flexibility. This ensured a uniform illumination across the entire rink, enhancing the v

USA - The Latin Grammy Awards celebrated its 25th anniversary in a big way on 14 November, putting on a glittering show that was impressive even by the exalted standards of awards festivals. Every genre in the galaxy of Latin music shined at Miami’s Kaseya Centre, which resonated with performances by Marc Anthony, Pitbull, Eladio Carrión, Becky G, Sivia, DJ Khalid, Luis Fonsi, Jon Bon Jovi, and multiple other artists.

For Tom Kenny and the rest of the lighting team (LDs David Convertino, Felix Peralta and Joseph Vineyard), creating distinctive looks that reflected the individual musical personas of all these performers in the three-hour live broadcast show represented a challenge.

"We had to come up with a lot of looks over the course of the show, so the flexibility of our rig was key," said Peralta. "We usually end up doing 18 to 25 music perform

UK - With a capacity of 700 and located in the heart of Bilston, The Robin is one of the West Midlands’ premier live music destinations. Opened in 1998 and staging more than 20 shows a month, the popular venue hosts a varied programme of artists, including well-known names, up and coming original bands, and leading tribute acts.

Given its packed schedule, it is essential that the venue’s audio provision is of a high standard in order to cater for the variety of styles on stage and cope with the rigours of prolonged daily use. With this in mind, events manager Chris Meddings keeps all the venue’s technical requirements under constant review, and recently took the decision to upgrade and modernise the Robin’s amplification, choosing XTA amplifiers to replace the existing units:

“Our house rig is an excellent, tried and trusted EAW system, com

USA - The Liberty Public School District (LPS) is a cornerstone of the Liberty, Missouri community, dedicated to providing a high-quality education that prepares students for success in college, career, and life.

The school district has a rich history with STEM programs like Project Lead The Way, winning numerous accolades. However, LPS is also renowned for its commitment to the fine arts. For example, the high-school broadcasting programme operates cable channel 18 under the non-assigned call letters KLPS.

The district initiated an innovative programme three years ago to install mobile AV racks in every fine arts classroom, complete with speakers, an amplifier, microphones, a mixer, and a CD recorder so that teachers could record and send home CDs of student performances for parents and extended families to enjoy. Over time, district staff

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OPUS X4 PROFILE – the most powerful LED moving head from Cameo to date

The OPUS® X4 PROFILE is the new flagship model from Cameo and is among the most powerful LED moving heads on the market. Equipped with a 1,400-watt LED white light engine, this spot profile moving head produces an enormous light output of 50,000 lm, providing powerful spot and gobo projections on even the largest stages and much more.
www.cameolight.com

UK - To mark the company’s 100th year, Celestion has been honoured by Vox Amplification with the presentations of a special limited-edition Hand-Wired VOX AC30HW60 Amplifier. 

The special VOX AC30 was originally created for Vox’s 60th anniversary, and the particular unit features a congratulatory plaque to Celestion, presented by Vox’s managing director Ian Doggett to Andy Farrow, Celestion’s global director of sales.

Since the late 1950s, Vox and Celestion have worked in collaboration to mark some key moments in the history of guitar tone. Most notably, the pairing of the Vox AC30 and Celestion Blue, creating a unique sound that was used by the likes of The Shadows, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

The partnership dates back to 1959, when Vox started using a modern variant of the original Rola G12 radiogram speaker in their AC15

UK - Overlooking the Tetris skyline of London, SushiSamba is an opulent rooftop restaurant and bar that takes diners on a culinary journey. Located on the top three floors of the Heron Tower – the second tallest building in the capital’s financial district – SushiSamba offers panoramic views of London through floor-to-ceiling windows. A full sensory experience, the restaurant sought the help of Cosmic Electronics to elevate its offering through an upgraded audio system. KV2’s ESD loudspeakers were chosen to bathe diners in high-quality sound. 

“SushiSamba has been a client of ours for a few years now and it’s a magical place,” begins Mark Damon, CEO of Cosmic Electronics. “They wanted a system that wouldn’t take away from the splendour of the restaurant – it needed to blend into the surroundings whilst sounding amazing and consistent acr

USA - TobyMac, MercyMe and Zach Williams, three of Christian music’s most popular acts, teamed up for a concert tour illuminated with Bandit Lites.

“When we had the dream of bringing these artists together, we knew it would be big, but we had no idea just how big,” shares Dan Fife, president and founder of Awakening Events. “The response was unprecedented and the demand from fans for more dates was impossible to ignore.”

“Being a huge fan of all three of these acts made a challenging opportunity a lot of fun,” said client representative Allen Deneau. “All three camps are absolute professionals and very easy to work with, which made the process much easier. Putting together a great lighting rig to accommodate three headline acts, on the same stage, is not always easy but, their willingness to entertain options and suggestions was just

USA - Robe Lighting enjoyed the pre-holiday buzz in the air at LDI 2024 in Las Vegas, ‘wowing’ crowds with a new live performance stage production, The Fifth Dimension, which helped win the Most Creative Use of Light Award at the show.

Over three action-packed days, Robe launched two new products – the LedPointe and the T.5 Profile – and showcased several other new lighting fixtures for the first time at a US trade show, including iBolt which has just been approved and is available for US and Canadian markets.

Additionally, the company, its friends, colleagues, and team members celebrated the life and legacy of industry icon Craig Burross in a special tribute hour after the first day.

In addition to LEDPointe and the T.5 profile, four other new Robe products – the iForte Fresnel, the Painte Fresnel, the Svopatt, an

USA - From a showstopping light show that attracted eager crowds to Elation’s next frontier booth experience, to product debuts capped by a Best Debuting Product Award for Paragon, the company’s new class of LED profile luminaires, LDI 2024 was a major success for Elation.

Elation welcomed lighting professionals to Experience Tomorrow at LDI in Las Vegas through an immersive journey that spanned from the show entrance to the retro-futuristic Elation booth and the dynamic Battle of the Busk stage, all enhanced by an interactive digital campaign.

“LDI 2024 was a defining moment for Elation,” stated Eric Loader, global vice-president of sales at Elation. “We showcased our commitment to innovation and the future of lighting like never before, and the response was phenomenal. From the stunning debut of the Paragon Seri

APAC - Powersoft is expanding its reach in Asia with the appointment of new distribution partners in three key territories. Qorsys AV Technologies is now the official distributor for Powersoft in the Philippines, while Universal Procurement Systems (UPS) will represent the Italian brand in both Singapore and Vietnam.

The new partnerships mark a significant step in Powersoft’s ongoing expansion in the APAC region and bring its audio solutions closer to local integrators and end users.

Universal Procurement Systems, headquartered in Singapore, has built a reputation for its professionalism and strategic approach to pro audio distribution in south-east Asia. Christian Liebenberg, senior consultant at UPS, comments: “Powersoft has always focused on developing technologically advanced solutions beyond amplifiers. Their work on projects like Sphere in

USA - Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band are continuing their energetic performances and monumental live sets decades after their inception. On their current tour, which began in 2023, fans are enjoying the music of an extended 19-member E Street Band through a Cohesion PA system, provided by Clair Global. 

Led by tour director George Travis and production manager Sean Magovern, the touring audio team is a close-knit affair, and the synergy and respect seen on-stage – thanks to the professionalism of Springsteen – is reflected in this crew.

The tour’s three-hour set list has been hand-picked from an extensive music catalogue, built around their 2020 album (and Springsteen’s 20th studio album), Letter to You. The creative process to put this production together is revealed in Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band,

Finland - The rock-band sound of Finnish favourites Apulanta met the sweeping strings of the Sinfonia Lahti for a series of special concerts recently – with a stage-wide, wraparound LED backdrop powered by tvONE's Green Hippo brand of Hippotizer Media Servers.

Taking place at the city of Tampere’s 15,000-capacity Nokia Arena, the two-night extravaganza drew fans of Apulanta – one of Finland’s most popular groups – to experience the fusion of rock and symphony. New-kid-on-the-block Avantrum Visuals designed and delivered the visual elements of the show, including stage, lighting, video design and live camera feed storyboarding, and lighting programming and operation.

“At the very early stages, when designing the looks for each song, we were already imagining how we could utilise Hippotizer’s possibilities to deliver something special for

UK - Alton Towers Resort hosts its annual end-of-season fireworks extravaganza every November.

This year, lighting designer Olly Suckling, now in his eighth year working on the Alton Towers Resort Fireworks, elevated the display to new heights with a bold and vivid lighting design. His creation not only supported the pyrotechnic display but also built a cohesive visual architecture, connecting the spectacle more intimately with the large and appreciative audience.

Running his light show on two ChamSys MagicQ MQ250M Stadium consoles and a Mini Connect system, Suckling delivered a design that complemented every step of the fireworks display. By arranging much of his rig in horizontal rows of fixtures, he was able to create sweeping movements of light that extended from the main stage out to the larger left and right structures.

“The story beh

India - Martin Audio’s versatile loudspeakers have been tasked with reproducing many musical genres to optimum effect over the generations. But one of the most demanding must be the spirituality of Indian Sufi music, as performed by one of the leading exponents, Bismil ki Mehfil (Mohd Asif).

His recent concert outdoors at Delhi Technological University (DTU) was a spectacular showcase of Sufi fusion music. Having been studying since the age of five under the tutelage of maestros from the Moradabad and Delhi gharanas, he captivated an audience of between 8,000 people with soulful renditions, including his hit single Tere Bina and his popular cover of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s Kali Kali Zulfon Ke Phande. To capture the concert’s deep emotion and electrifying energy, leaving the audience spellbound, required all the powers of Martin Audio

USA - Chauvet Professional built its LDI exhibit around the theme of Revealing Our True Colours. And true to form, evidence of the company's colour rendering prowess was everywhere in its immersive booth, which featured a design by Gigi Pedron. A pair of notable examples of this capability could be seen in new additions to the successful Maverick Storm and Strike series of fixtures.

The Maverick Storm 1 Flex and Strike V both build on the highly regarded reputations of their namesake series in terms of output and performance. Both fixtures also incorporate impressive new features that made them much talked about on the LDI show floor.

With the Maverick Storm 1 Flex, designers can enjoy the flexibility of a multi-functional unit alongside the reliability of advanced LED technology. Sharp beams and dynamic effects, CMY+CTO colour mixing, a tig

Austria - 80 of Robe’s most powerful moving light fixtures – iBolt, iForte and iForte LTX – were used to great effect for a lighting scheme designed by Thomas Maier from event production company NoiseGate Eventtechnik to illuminate a special performance show celebrating the completion of the 305m-wide Danube Valley suspension bridge – Donautalbrücke – in Linz, Austria.

NoiseGate was working for event creative agency Brandmood who produced the show for its end client, ASFINAG Bau Management, the organisation that manages the country’s nationwide autobahns system. The artistic director was Beda Percht.

The steel-reinforced concrete composite bridge is part of a new four-lane western bypass on the A26 autobahn spanning the Danube, railroad tracks and two main roads while circumnavigating the city of Linz. Its main cables are 500m long, and

UK - At the Annual Lighting Lunch held on Monday 16 December, the Association for Lighting Production and Design (the ALPD) awarded four new fellowships to Peter Hunter, Steve Huttly, Nick Peel and Alan Luxford.

Introducing the new fellows, chair of the ALPD, Johanna Town, said: “This year our ALPD fellowships go to four very dedicated lighting individuals, who have spent a lifetime’s career in our amazing industry.”

Peter Hunter: After training at LAMDA Hunter spent a season at Chichester, before moving to the Redgrave Theatre, Farnham, where he rose to become chief electrician. In 1980 he moved to Salisbury Playhouse as lighting designer and chief electrician. Now retired, he continues to be generous with his time, knowledge and support of the next generation.

Steve Huttly: Huttly started his career i

Saudi Arabia - Renkus-Heinz has announced a distribution partnership with Hasoub, a premier regional distributor specialising in Extra Low Voltage (ELV) systems and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions, based in Jeddah.

This collaboration marks a pivotal step in Renkus-Heinz’s expansion in the Middle East, where the demand for professional AV integration solutions is rapidly growing.

“MEA is one of the most promising yet challenging regions when it comes to delivering best-in-class professional solutions,” says Karan Kathuria, director of sales and development for Asia at Renkus-Heinz. “Renkus-Heinz is committed to offering the best customer experiences in the region via its advanced engineered solutions.

“With recent shifts in customer expectations, both pre- and post-sales, we wanted to restructure our go-to-ma

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