USA - Respected rock lighting designer Tom Kenny is harnessing the versatile power of Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 Spot luminaires to create a dramatic and evocative, 'Quadrophenic' experience for fans attending The Who's mammoth US tour this winter.

Kenny, sometimes referred to as "lighting designer to the stars", brings a theatrical and beautifully crafted design to the 37-date tour, which visits almost every major city in North America.

"I used the VL3500 Spot luminaires on this tour primarily for their reliability and excellent output. Also it's a no smoke or haze tour, so I needed a source that can effectively cut through our clever and powerful video system. I've designed the show, like all my shows with high video content, to ensure lighting and video is convey

South Africa - Traction Sound has announced iLED as its new distributor for South Africa. iLED first met Traction Sound during September's PLASA trade show in London, where Traction was co-presenting one of the show's seminars. After initial meetings, the team from iLED took the train to Traction Sound's seaside home in Brighton to have a listen to the products.

"It didn't take iLED's Justin Mamulis long to understand the benefits of Traction Sound's SDS Horn," says the company. "When listening to the loudspeakers he was soon searching through his music collection to see how good his favourite tracks could sound.

This is a similar reaction Traction received when initially demoing at the English branch of the prestigious Roedean School. The school theatre now has a full installation of Traction Sound loudspeakers."

Traction Sound's Billy Wood explains: &qu

UK - FBT Audio UK Ltd, the UK distribution subsidiary of the Italian pro audio manufacturer, is pleased to announce the appointment of Andrew Podmore as area sales consultant for the North of England and Scotland. In his new role, Podmore is responsible for all sales activities to MI, DJ and pro audio installation dealers and contractors within the area.

Commenting on Podmore's appointment, Mark Parkhouse, MD of FBT Audio UK Ltd, said: "Having set up the company a little under a year ago, we have been delighted with how quickly the UK dealers have taken to the brand and its products. As we move into the second stage of our plan, we knew we would need to expand and I am delighted to have someone of Andrew Podmore's experience join the team and very much look forward to our continued growth."

Podmore joins FBT Audio UK Ltd with over 20 years' experience of working with

Croatia - Croatian pop star Nina Badric kicked off her latest tour with a gig at the Drazen Petrovic Hall in Zagreb in front of 5000 enthusiastic fans.

The lighting rig was designed by Dalibor Radic and included 24 Robe MMX Spots were central to the look and feel of the show. They were supplied, along with the rest of the technical production package, by leading creation rental company Eldra, based in Bregana.

Over 200m of trussing was installed for the show to provide positions for lighting, PA and LED screens.

It was Dalibor's first work for the artist and her 11 piece band, and his brief was to make the stage as dynamic as possible with lots of colour and movement to cover the lively largely up-tempo performance.

He specified the ROBIN MMX's because off their massive light output, the fabulous dual graphics / animation wheel and other effects, the low weight and speed..

World - Lighting designer Paul Normandale has field tested Martin Professional's new 1500-watt MAC III AirFX moving head on Jason Mraz's current Tour Is A Four Letter Word world tour and found the luminaire to be a highly versatile lighting fixture.

"It's worked really, really well on Jason Mraz," he says. "It's bright and has a good range of gobos for a wash light.

"The MAC III AirFX gives you all the advantages of a highly capable hybrid fixture which means you can place one light where you used to have two."

"The MAC III AirFX is a great aerial light that can really add some dimension to a lighting rig. Their brightness allows them to cut through nicely while in a gobo and helps texture an otherwise static look," commented tour lighting director Joel Reiff, a talented operator who often busks parts of the show.

Predominately a M

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USA - Along with mistletoe and eggnog, KIIS-FM's pop star-studded Jingle Ball concert, now in its 13th year, has become a December tradition. Known for a line-up of marquee performers that reads like a playlist from the Top 40 radio station, this year's Jingle Ball -- the first two-day version of the event -- featured sets from Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Ne-Yo, One Republic, Jonas Brothers, Ellie Goulding, Flo Rida, Ke$ha and will.i.am, to name a few.

Rocking the massive stage at L.A.'s Nokia Theatre alongside these mega-artists was Elation Professional's Platinum Beam 5R. An extreme ACL moving head beam effect, the Platinum Beam 5R was chosen by Todd Roberts of Visions Lighting (Brea, CA) as a defining light for illuminating Jingle Ball, which by its nature is a very challenging event to rig.

"Each of the performers brought their own lighting designer with them,"

South Africa - The Johannesburg Theatre took delivery of its 20 new Robe MMX Spot fixtures from Robe's South African distributor DWR just in time for them to go into action on the annual pantomime, which this year is Jack & the Beanstalk, by special arrangement between the Theatre and Qdos, the world's largest panto producer.

The MMXs were specified by the Theatre's technical manager Enos Ramoroko together with production manager Simon James and senior lighting technician Patrick Mbatha, all of whom were "Hugely impressed" by what the lights had to offer.

The Theatre already owned 18 Robe ColorWash 700E ATs which have been a big success with all the various productions. The units have worked reliably and needed very little attention, so it was a logical decision to choose Robe again when it came to adding moving spot fixtures to the lighting inventory.

(Jim

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With an LED life of 50,000 hours and low power use, the P6 cuts energy costs and supports the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ goals for climate neutrality by 2050. It also meets updated eco-design rules for lighting.

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The Netherlands - After putting DPA Microphone's new hand-held d:facto Vocal Microphone through its paces on her recent tour, Dutch singer and vocal coach Margot Giselle says she is delighted with the natural sound it gave to her voice.

"For the first time ever I was able to hear my voice as it really sounds because the microphone only amplified the sound - it didn't change my voice in any way," Margot Giselle says. "It was bright, clear and warm - and by allowing me to create all the vocal colours I wanted, the DPA d:facto microphone made singing really easy."

During her recent tour of the Netherlands, Margot Giselle worked with sound engineer Roel van Zeelst, from Dutch rental company IDAK, which has a large stock of DPA microphones. In conjunction with DPA's Dutch distributor Amptec, van Zeelst arranged for Giselle to test the new DPA d:facto Vocal Micro

Taiwan - Originally used as a town hall, Zhongshan Hall in Taipei City, Taiwan has continued to host a series of important functions since it was built in 1928. From serving as a venue to presidents such as Richard Nixon of the United States, and Syngman Rhee of South Korea, to the signing of the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty and other governmental ceremonies, Zhongshan Hall has earned its designation as a Class Two National Historical Site. Today, the hall is used as a traditional art and culture centre.

First renovated in 2001, the main hall, Zhongzheng Auditorium, seats over 1,000 people and these days it serves mostly as a venue for cultural performances. In 2012, the building decided to upgrade its sound system, using d&b audiotechnik loudspeakers. With help from system integrator WeiShin Co., Ltd, co-designers Alex Poon (d&b China) and audio consultant Mr. Liu of Top

USA - Acoustic Technology Group has announced a strategic alliance with Knitting Factory Entertainment to upgrade all existing sound systems in their venues as well as installation in future Knitting Factory venues worldwide. The alliance was forged after extensive listening tests at a recent ATG demonstration of their LS1000 system in Los Angeles.

The alliance will provide continuity of equipment and sound quality throughout the chain. The first venue to upgrade to an LS1000 system is in Boise, Idaho followed by The Federal in Los Angeles. These venues will be replacing EAW and Meyer systems respectively.

"The alliance with The Knitting Factory venues is much appreciated recognition of the superiority of our LS1000 system and the technology we have developed over that of the competition." said Wilfred Norton from ATG.

(Jim Evans)

Nepal - Investment in Alcons Audio systems is being made by cinema owners in an ever-increasing number of countries across the globe. The company has recently broken yet more new territory with the installation of systems in Nepal.

Located in the Sundhara district of the capital Kathmandu is QFX Civil Mall, the country's largest shopping area, covering a total of 25,000sq.ft.This houses a new three-screen multiplex cinema, the QFX Cinemas, which are capable of seating up to 939 viewers at any one time. This is Nepal's first truly world-class Cineplex and is one of a trio of cinemas owned by QFX in the city.

QFX is the brand name of Quest Entertainment (QE), which was launched in Nepal a decade ago with the QFX Jai Nepal Cinema. The company is also involved in film distribution and production and as such has a thorough understanding of how important high quality sound is to mod

USA - Meyer Sound is helping SoundGarden Hall, Philadelphia's newest live music concert venue, deliver an all-encompassing experience. Since its September opening, the 2,100-capacity live event space has been serving the local nightlife scene with electronic, alternative, rock, pop, and R&B music to great acclaim. Artists who have performed here include Paul van Dyk, Cosmic Gate, Super8 & Tab, Nadia Ali, and Tritonal.

Ian Hoffer of Aurora Sound and Light Design LLC provided design, sale, and installation for SoundGarden Hall, which was handled by several personnel who also worked on the Meyer Sound-equipped Rumor nightclub one year earlier. Rumor's UPJ-1P VariO loudspeakers were a hit with management, so when the time came to design SoundGarden Hall's system, the choice was clear.

Hoffer says, "The people involved in SoundGarden Hall were so impressed with the UPJ-1Ps I u

USA - X Factor, the popular UK television competition that migrated across the pond, is now in its sophomore season in the U.S. The series debuted this past September on Fox with snarky Brit personality/producer Simon Cowell at the helm with a pair of pop mavens (Britney Spears and Demi Lovato) and industry stalwarts (LA Reid) judging a slew of hopeful singers vying for a five million dollar purse.

The Los Angeles-based production took a bit of a different tact this year for its audio footprint, adopting one of the newly released DiGiCo SD5 consoles and a pair of SDRacks at FOH, with an SD10 for monitors - provided by ATK Audiotek - connected via an Optocore fibre optics network. [The six-city audition tour also employed DiGiCo SD8 and SD9 consoles.] ATK, the company that handled the Grammy production, successfully made the switch to DiGiCo for the elite music awards show

UK - Production Resource Group is continuing its relationship with producer Michael Rose Limited. MRL's general Manager, Dave McNeilly contacted PRG back in the summer of 2011 with regards to PRG providing them with a temporary flying system for the production of Aladdin at a purpose built theatre at the London Piazza in the O2 Arena. PRG supplied a custom Flying System, rigging and lighting for the production.

The theatre structure consists of a ground support tower supplied by Star Events and positioned over the stage with an arena tented structure forming the auditorium and connected to the ground support.

PRG designed and installed a 44 x bar Flying System into a Star Events ground support structure, this was managed by PRG's senior account manager, Jay Call. It was 20m high and designed to mimic a theatre fly tower. The system is almost entirely automated using bot

UK - PR Lighting has added the new, super-bright XLED 1037 to its popular XLED moving head portfolio.

Characterised by the use of 37 x 10 Watt RGBW LEDs (containing four colours in one), another key feature is its wide linear zoom, with beam angle ranging from 12° to 54°.

Additional features include a linear CTO from 3200K to 10000K, linear colour mixing with macro function, , 0-100% linearly adjustable dimmer and an electronic strobe (0 to 25fps).

In terms of movement, the XLED 1037 offers speed adjustable pan and tilt (with pan angle of 0°-540° and tilt of 0°-270°) with auto position correction function. It also enables auto speed adjustment of the fans, brightness and contrast adjustment and boasts an advanced cooling system, with LED lamp overheating and DMX512 control display statuses.

There are various control options, since the XLED 1037 is W

UK - Immersive teamed up with Tait Technologies and Universal Music to deliver video pixel mapping for the X Factor's Final, broadcast, live on 9 December from the MEN Arena, Manchester.

With a live audience of 12,000 the X Factor's dramatic and nail biting final between James Arthur and Jahmene Douglas was hosted by Dermot O'Leary alongside a panel of judges that comprised Gary Barlow, Nicole Scherzinger, Tulisa and Louis Walsh.

The show saw Immersive's multi-skilled team collaborate with production designers Florian Wieder and Matthias Kublik, along with lighting director Dave Davey, to deliver an ever-changing, visually exciting televisual spectacular.

Video was mapped across the entire upper tier of the X Factor audience by way of hand held pixel tablets, which ultimately formed an organic moving video screen as the shows special guest, Grammy Award winning

Greece - Turbosound loudspeakers are a key part of the ambience in Athens's luxury Catwalk Café-Bar. The bar, situated near the seafront in Greece's capital, invited local suppliers Metro Audio Systems to install ten Impact65T two-way loudspeakers and two TSB-110 sub-bass speakers.

"Catwalk Café-Bar features a warm, inviting, but timelessly classy atmosphere," comments Pavlos Symperas from Metro Audio Systems. "The bar is open day and night so the flexibility of the Turbosound speakers are an important part of this changing feel. They help to set the tone with their clear, high quality sound reproduction."

The biggest challenge for Metro Audio Systems was to deliver powerful quality sound, yet ensure that the system had an elegant and distinctive design. "We believed that the Impact series was the best fit for the project," continues

USA - Encompass Technologies has completed a major sound and video installation for the sizeable new restaurant/sports bar/nightclub, John Barleycorn River North in downtown Chicago.

The fast-growing integrator had worked on a host of other venues for owners Sam Sanchez and Michael Gonzalez. As Tim Pickett, principal for Encompass, explains, "There are four John Barleycorns and we've been involved with all of them, two from the ground up and two complete rehabs. Sam and Michael also own two Moe's Cantina clubs that we worked on.

"For John Barleycorn River North, they definitely raised the bar several notches with a substantial budget of $285,000," adds Pickett. "Unlike the club in Schaumburg where there was a focus on live sound, John Barleycorn North functions as a sports bar and restaurant during the day and becomes a nightclub with a DJ upstairs that can

The Netherlands - SGM has kept up its domination of major European dance spectaculars this year by putting on an awesome display at the GelreDome football stadium in Arnhem.

Promoted by Dutch entertainment specialists, Q-dance, Qlimax is considered to be one of the leading hardstyle events in the calendar and contains some of the most sophisticated production values of any one-off spectacular.

Lighting/production designers Jonas Smith, Tamil van Draanen and Marcel Binnenmarsch chose a total of 24 SGM Six Pack (SP-6) blinders, operating from the VIP decks, 28 powerful SGM P-5 washlights and 25 x X-5 white strobes flooding the stage for a crowd of more than 30,000 who attended Qlimax last month.

The promoters remarked on how impressed they were with all the SGM effects, but singled out the P-5 as being the best product they had used in any Qlimax show - according

USA - The progressive Bloomington Centre for the Performing Arts (BCPA) in Illinois recently carried out a technical upgrade that has seen a number of GLP's impression Spot One and Volkslicht Zoom LED fixtures replacing traditional tungsten heads.

These were supplied by GLP dealer, JR Lighting Design, Inc. following an experiment by the venue's technical manager Rodney Stickrod to see whether the new generation of LED lighting was technically capable of providing a full theatrical alternative.

BCPA had wanted to make the upgrade in its newly renovated 1,200 seat main performance auditorium. Having seen the GLP fixtures at LDI in Orlando, he was introduced to Jason Reberski, President of JR Lighting Design Inc., who set up a demo.

The traditional tungsten wash system, used primarily in saturated colors, consumed thousands of watts of electricity. "Aside from energy savin

Norway - German media and broadcast specialists Studio Hamburg MCI have followed up the installation of four independently-configured BroaMan automatic routing systems for Swedish national broadcaster SVT, by specifying the same brand for an OB van fit-out at NRK in Norway.

This was the first project MCI had executed for NRK and was the result of winning a competitive tender. A BroaMan fibre solution had been in their mind right from the outset, according to project manager, Götz Ahlert.

Explaining the challenge, he said, "The task was to set up quickly, and with a minimum of cabling, a reliable connection between up to four TV cameras and an OB van - connected via satellite to the broadcast centre in Oslo. The BroaMan fibre units are designed to be located in a stagebox on the camera side, and inside the OB truck on the corresponding side."

BroaMan supplied was a

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