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14 March 2016

Paul Weller, Paloma Faith, Blondie, The Charlatans, James, The Script, Elvis Costello, Olly Murs, Jessie J and Jools Holland headlined a total of 23 Forest Live shows through June and July this year, the majority of which were sold out. The nature - both figurative and literal - of the sites hosting combined audiences of over 125,000 presented different challenges to many venues. AP's experience played a major role in ensuring that the family-friendly events enjoyed such a relaxed atmosphere.

"Each site has its own quirks and variables in terms of acc

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14 March 2016

They performed Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto - to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Italian composer's birth - in the beautiful environs of the moated castle of Alden Biesen. The season ran for a month and was, as always, completely sold out.

It was the first time that Peumans had lit a show for the company, which has a great reputation for producing quality works featuring international casts and a leading orchestra. This year's production was directed by the acclaimed Carlos Wagner.

The performance space is covered by an elegant tensile roof with four large vertical king poles, so these and the metal superstructure of the roof to some extent dictates where the

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14 March 2016

Designed for high-impact, big beam effects and longer throws, it houses the same high-quality feature set as Martin's MAC Viper AirFX, including a vibrant colour mixing system and "stunning aerial effects". It has also inherited the same compact form, impressive speed and light quality using the same 1000 W source as the other Viper Family luminaires.

With 80 percent greater intensity than the MAC Viper AirFX, the MAC Viper Beam can cut through all forms of ambient lighting. Its linear zoom creates a tighter beam and the auto-linked focus means that hard-edge effects hold their focus th

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14 March 2016

Effective 1 August 2013, de Haan brings with him a wealth of experience in managing large complex video productions on a national and international basis, having spent seven years in a similar position at XL Video in the Netherlands.

Jeroen Jongenelen, general manager of CT's Holland operation commented, "We are delighted that Edwin has agreed to join CT. With his industry experience, I am confident that Edwin will be supporting CT's business development and continued growth. We look forward to his contribution to our Holland operation."

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

This includes the supply of lighting, video and audio to the Aalsmeer Studio complex for United Broadcast Facilities (UBF) which produces a slew of leading TV shows including So You Think You Can Dance, its junior version The Next Generation, the Dutch Junior Eurovision Song Contest, IQ Test and numerous others.

Eventec's MD Wijnand Mol and his co-director Frans Mulckhuijse also head up the very successful events production operation Liberty Entertainment, for which Eventec is also the principal technical supplier.

In 2012, Eventec purchased 24 Robe LEDWash 300s and six LEDBeam 100s to service that series of

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14 March 2016

The second webinar in the series is on the SHoW DMX SHoW Baby 5 (24 September) where you will learn how to set up a simple, plug and play wireless DMX system. The third webinar is on City Theatrical's professional SHoW DMX Neo system (29 October). In this session, learn how to set up a complex multi-universe wireless DMX system and to tune it to meet the needs of a professional show.

The fourth webinar is on the SHoW DMX Vero and Vero Net where you will learn how to set up a permanent outdoor architectural wireless DMX system (10 December). The last webinar in the series is Using Specialized Antennas With Wireless DMX

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14 March 2016

Seen by many observers as a 'dry run' for Brazil hosting next year's World Cup, the home team emerged victorious on the pitch, beating current World and European champions Spain 3-0 in the tournament final.

Held at Rio's Maracana Stadium, prior to the final's kick off, the closing ceremony demonstrated the city's well-founded reputation for a colourful party. Loudness Sound Rental & Services was tasked with supplying the audio system for the ceremony, choosing a DiGiCo SD8, plus an L-Acoustics PA and Shure wireless microphones and IEMs.

"A big challenge for us was the project only being confirmed very close to t

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14 March 2016

Previously working for Yamaha's Central Operations division, Halstead's new role includes daily contact with Commercial Audio dealers and customers, as well as logistics, stock management and providing backup to the Commercial Audio sales and technical support teams.

"My previous role involved being in contact with hundreds of Yamaha dealers, whereas in CA I will be working with a smaller network of customers on a more personal level," she says. "It will be good to be able to build closer professional relationships, to properly get to know the people on the end of the phone. I'm here to help them in any way possible.

"I also wanted to expand my knowledge within the company and focus on one product group, so

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14 March 2016

Forty of the LEDBeams are attached to two custom pre-rigged trussing dollies wheeled onstage for lightning-quick deployment behind the band, forming a retina-burning 'wall-of-death' effect.

The other 20 LEDBeam 100 fixtures are rigged ten each on two 5m high towers positioned either side of the stage flanking the LEDBeam dollies in the middle

The high-impact effects that Carson has created with the LEDBeam 100 wall have impressed everyone, particularly in relation to the miniscule size of the units, which make them ideal for being toured in large quantities whilst taking up very little truck space.

The design also utilises e

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14 March 2016

The Asia market - in particular mainland China - is demanding a similar level of quality of equipment as that in the European and the US markets and CT is aware of a noticeable rise in the amount of incoming events into the region, says the company. With CT's Asia Pacific operation offering full service of video, audio, lighting and rigging, the in-house team of Western and Chinese engineers and project managers provides total solutions to our clients.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

The fifth instalment of Boomtown Fair, a live music and arts festival, attracted audiences of around 30,000 each day to see performances from headlining artists including David Boomah, Dub Inc., Mad Caddies, Babyhead and Slamboree.

For the third consecutive year Utopium supplied lighting and rigging installations for the elaborately themed and creative Boomtown Fair. This year Utopium was approached to provide festival lighting rigs for the large stages, including Lions Den, Town Centre, Devil Kicks Dancehall and Circo Baile.

Will Howie lighting designer and production manager for Utopium commented, "Boomtown Fair was a very unique project for us. The festival was split into 12 districts, each one its own theme to represen

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14 March 2016

Derrick's funeral will be on 30 August at St. Andrews Church, Oakington, Cambridgeshire, CB24 3AN. All who knew Derrick are welcome to attend. The family has asked for donations in lieu of flowers to be sent to St. Andrews Church fund.

(Lee Baldock)

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14 March 2016

JT Truss is a high-capacity, light-weight truss system aimed at the permanent installation market. Unique universal male/female forks allow versatility of connection and are held together by specially designed tapered pins which ensure fast, easy removal and form clean, strong joints.

Off the shelf lengths are available from 0.5m - 5m with a choice of solid corners or gates, 2- to 6-way corner options and a 3-way T-corner connection. Custom lengths are available to order, as are James Thomas Engineeering's (JTE) project consultation servic

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14 March 2016

Flanking the sides of the main stage, extending overhead to meet above centre-stage, were two eight-ton, 46ft tall super-arches. The arches, located midway between up - and down-stage, required internal illumination to achieve proper depth perception. Exterior lighting just wouldn't do. Layers of plexi/acrylic sheets in each arch were toned and darkened for effect, which posed additional problems: the illumination had to be bright enough to blast through the layers with potency, even on camera.

Ola Melzig, Eurovision's technical director for the last 11 years, explains, "The arches were intended to have stand-alone value, independent of external lighting. We t

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14 March 2016

Held at the five-star Blue Water Hotel luxury hotel overlooking the Indian Ocean, the ballroom stage was imaginatively lit by technology company, The Lighthouse (Pvt), who handle the lighting each year for this event.

The company's Dinusha Perera based his lighting plot entirely on LED and discharge fixtures from PR Lighting, which form the core of Lighthouse's rental stock, to complement the opulent stage set conceived by Madawa Madawala from Derana TV.

Chosen for their bright output, advanced featureset and good colour referencing, Perera selected 16 XS1200 Spot, with their fast and intense beams, and 13 XR200 Beam, a high output moving beam light - along with some LED washes and par cans. These were used stridently and dynamically, under the control of an A

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14 March 2016

His production design team once again on this arena tour is Cory FitzGerald and LeRoy Bennett, who have worked with the artist since the 2011 Hooligans in Wondaland tour.

Stepping up to larger arenas this time around, production has upscaled accordingly, and Fitzgerald has again turned to GLP's impression LED moving heads. Having had wide experience over a number of years, this time he has built 27 of the impression X4's, supplied by VER of Glendale, into a retro-style set redolent of the '70s & '80s, including a 6ft mirror ball.

The designer has worked through several generations of GLP's premier LED fixtures down the years - starting with the original impression 90 and RZ 120 zoom. The profile of these was raised when they

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14 March 2016

Tim Brooksbank, chairman at Calibre UK commented, "Achieving this milestone has been immense fun. We've sold a lot of great products and have built some valued relationships. Here's to the next 25 years."

Founded on 8 August 1988, Calibre UK established itself as a small business in the technology and software sector and quickly built a reputation for electronics excellence.

Calibre UK originally designed and manufactured custom test equipment for CRT monitor and television factories, primarily for automated picture analysis and calibration on production lines. This spun out initial product lines such as I2C-Bus development and associated test tools. In the e

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14 March 2016

Home to the design and manufacture of what the company calls, 'bathroom solutions,' Gessi's interior designs might more readily be termed high art. The company has built a world class reputation for innovation, style, and the successful marriage of commercial enterprise and great design; skills they readily impart through their acclaimed Academy Gessi seminar programme.

"The project was to create a space destined to be much more than a traditional showroom," said architect Luca Bresciani. "So when it came to thinking about sound and how to relay information we knew we would need

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14 March 2016

Sound engineer Shigenori Funahashi chose it for famous female Japanese pop singer, Ayaka Hirahara's latest 10th Anniversary Concert Tour 2013, typically using six MLA enclosures per side and three MLX subs, all ground-stacked.

Explaining his decision to use MLA, Mr. Funahashi said, "I needed to improve many issues regarding the sound for this tour - and the most important challenge was contending with the singer's vocal reflections. Because of the increasing use of in-ear monitors many of today's singers do not listen to their voice acoustically and don't hear the entire auditorium sound, including reflections bouncing off the venue walls.

"However, Ayaka does not like using IEMs

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14 March 2016

Kenny Chesney's 46-date tour, which began in March at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, has seen a major change to its stadium line array. Morris Light & Sound (Nashville) has provided a new Nexo STM modular system for the 2013-2014 tour. The system layout is configured with 74x M46 for mains, 74x B112 bass cabinets, 48x S118 flown subs, 16x RS18 ground subs, 12x PS10s for front-fills, 14x GEO S1210s and 2x GEO S1230s, 22x NUAR amp racks, and two Yamaha DME 64 digital mix engines with LAKE Mesa EQ cards for system tuning and console switching.

Morris Light & Sound was an ear