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W-DMX and Visions Lighting storm Coachella

The two-weekend festival hosted more than 500,000 attendees

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Wireless Solution Sweden AB's award-winning W-DMX was recently part of the famed Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival with Visions Lighting once again supplying a superior lighting scheme for the show. The festival featured many past and current legends of music including Muse, Motorhead, Pharrell Williams, The Cult, Pixies, Beck, and Fatboy Slim, just to name a few. The two-weekend festival hosted more than 500,000 attendees.

Todd Roberts was on site as the overall production manager for Visions. Canin Campbell of Visions Lighting led the onsite team for set up of the system. Canin was supported by Daniel Baca and Steven Calley.

Roberts and his team were looking for a replacement of the Xenon searchlights used in previous years. The solution was the new Platinum Beam

Seattle University upgrades Student Centre AV

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Founded in 1891, Seattle University is a Jesuit Catholic university and law school in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighbourhood. More than 7,400 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs within eight schools and colleges.

The university's Father LeRoux Conference Centre, located in the Student Centre building, is a large, multipurpose room used for live presentations and special events and for movies and video presentations. The Conference Centre can be subdivided with an air wall to accommodate two simultaneous events.

Last year, Seattle University hired Sparling, an engineering and architectural firm in Lynnwood, Washington to design AV systems for several of its venues. Morgan Sound, a Seattle-based full-service AV and control system integrator and large rental PA company, installed the university's new AV systems.

For the Conference Centre, Sparling's

Kasabian countdown at Victoria Park

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - It was Midsummer's Day at Victoria Park in Leicester and the kind of balmy afternoon that encapsulates the perfect English summer. Below the circling helicopter, the audience was gathering to see the homecoming gig from Kasabian, a band very much of the moment who are currently attracting critical acclaim and popular approval in equally large measure.

Kasabian's audio supplier is Britannia Row Productions, long regarded as one of the premier providers of PA systems for outdoor shows of this scale - the site boasted a capacity of 50,000 - and for this event Britannia Row supplied an L-Acoustics system.

The main arrays comprised a combination of L-Acoustic K1s and L-Acoustic K1SBs and L Acoustic K2s were used on side hangs. A formidable forty-eight L-Acoustic SB28 Subs were ground stacked along the front of the stage. Out on the site there were eight delay towers placed str

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Ben Hammond with the GS-R24 in his new studio

GS-R24 installed in Chairworks Studios

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - FOH engineer, Ben Hammond, has opened a new studio, the Vegas Rooms, in the Chairworks Studios with Allen & Heath's GS-R24 studio console as the centrepiece.

An award-winning mix engineer, in recent years Hammond has developed an impressive portfolio as a FOH engineer, mixing for bands such as Saxon, Deaf Havana,You Me At Six and No Devotion.

"Increasingly on tour I was getting demands for live recordings for single B sides, album additional tracks, or magazine covers, so there was always a need for studio time. I knew it was time to invest in my own studio when I found myself mixing the bonus tracks for Deaf Havana's deluxe edition album on a laptop on my knees," explains Ben Hammond. "The studio works alongside my touring work, opening up options for the bands I work with."

Hammond has used Allen & Heath's iLive digital mixing system for touring ov

Calibre scalers in German school awards ceremony

Details: 14 March 2016

Germany - Rental and staging specialists Cassiopeia Veranstaltungstechnik has supplied Calibre UK LEDView530 Universal Rental/Staging/Events scalers to the annual German School Award ceremony aimed at raising the profile of primary and secondary schools across Germany.

Taking place in July, 2014 at the historic Heilig Kreuz Kirche und Passionskirche Church, Berlin, the event was jointly organised by Robert Bosch Stifung, Stern magazine and German broadcaster ARD.de, supported by local politicians and attended by Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Minister of Foreign Affairs and representatives from over 100 shortlisted schools.

The event was broadcast live on Phoenix television network ending with the presentation of a 100,000 Euro grand prize to Anne-Frank Middle School, Munich for winning the prize of School of the Year.

Cassiopeia's technology manager, Martin Heuberger said, "

Energy-Efficient Elation lighting for Baton Rouge Church

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Parkview Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is an active and growing church that reaches out to its local community through a number of activities and ministries. Throughout their mission, they maintain an eye on the future while also keeping a focus on savings in their daily operations. The church recently sought to update their main sanctuary's lighting system to energy-efficient LED lights, both house lights and stage lighting, and chose an Elation package of low power consumption LED fixtures.

The lighting upgrade includes Elation TVL Series white light LEDs, colour changing Opti Par LEDs and Design LED Par lights. The main driver behind the design was the TVL F1WW and the Design LED Par Zoom, says Jay Cid of Elation rep firm PSLP (Professional Sound and Lighting Products), who demoed the Elation products, worked together on the design and provided product and l

The presentation area included a Volvo V40 R Design display car

XL Video on the road with DesignScene and Volvo

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Working with marketing agency Arnold KLP and creative production agency DesignScene, XL Video have supplied an LED video wall for the Volvo V40 promotional roadshow currently being shown in some of the UK's largest shopping malls.

Through June and July 2014, the promotional display featuring the LED video wall visited the Bullring in Birmingham, Metro Centre in Gateshead, Cabot Circus in Bristol and finished up at the Silverburn in Glasgow.

The presentation area included a Volvo V40 R Design display car, which allowed shoppers to sit on board and experience the car, an array of touch-screen tablets equipped with an interactive quiz, and XL Video's 5m x 3m Barco NX6 LED wall which displayed advertising footage about the V40 and Volvo's current 'Swedish Adventure' contest.

For the project, XL's project manager, Jacqueline Rice, worked with Attila Keskin of Design Scene to

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Bernard Lavilliers on stage (photo ©Laurent Chapot)

Bernard Lavilliers lit by Clay Paky Sharpys

Details: 14 March 2016

France - Laurent Chapot, French rocker Bernard Lavilliers' long-standing, faithful and talented lighting designer, has come up with a creative, ingenious lighting design at the legendary Olympia in Paris. It is almost completely based on low consumption lights, provided by the French audiovisual equipment supplier Dushow.

Laurent Chapot has recently become "energy saving aware" and has started favouring "cleaner" light. However his choice is also motivated by a desire for a greater variety of easy-to-transport and easy-to-install lighting equipment, without ever compromising on light quality for any reason.

With this in mind, the French star's favourite lighting designer chose 24 Clay Paky Sharpys: 12 Sharpy Beams, whose success and quality need no proving, and 12 new Sharpy Washes, which he uses to create a stage backdrop and illuminate an elegant, sober c

Sanecore Group installed all the audio systems

iLive selected by Chinese arts centre

Details: 14 March 2016

China - Chongqing Guotai Arts Centre in China has installed Allen & Heath's flagship iLive digital mixing system, the iLive-176 Surface and iDR10 MixRack as its new FOH console.

With a total area of 36,000sq.m, the Guotai Arts Centre is a versatile venue, which stages musicals, operas, drama, entertainment, exhibitions and commercial events.

Sanecore Group installed all the audio systems, which cover the performance system, public addressing system, intercom system, recording and broadcasting system, as well as the stage lighting system.

"At the end of the first show in Guotai Arts Centre, Zhuzhi Fengliu, both the production team and sound engineers praised the sound quality and said iLive was very easy to use, "said Chen Le, the sound engineer of the arts centre.

"Our previous mixer was an analogue GL3800, and the analogue-style strip design on iLive made i

As soon as the ParFects were delivered to panski Borci they went directly on to their first show, Huda Mravljica

Robe is a ParFect Solution for panski Borci

Details: 14 March 2016

Slovenia - The first 12 Robe ParFect 100 fixtures in Slovenia have been purchased by the panski Borci Culture Centre in Ljubljana, a high profile venue run by EN-KNAP Productions which is the largest privately managed facility for cultural activities in the country.

It is also home to Slovenian Contemporary Dance Company EnKnapGroup. Named in honour of the volunteers who sacrificed their lives in the fight for freedom during the Spanish Civil War, the venue was originally built in 1981 and extensively refurbished in 2009.

It features an up to 400 seat main hall and a 60-80 capacity flexible studio space with a lively programme of performing arts designed to be widely accessible. It stages around 400 shows and performances - including exhibitions - a year.

Luka Curk, the venue's technical manager, instigated the ParFect 100 purchase, with the units supplied by Robe's proact

Philippe Martin (AER) and Pierre Andre Aebischer (ZAP Audio)

Nexo updates Stade Olympique in Lausanne

Details: 14 March 2016

Switzerland - Nexo has installed its popular Geo S12 line array modules into the 15,700-capacity Stade Olympique de la Pontaise in Lausanne. This is part of a recent run of stadium installs that also includes the larger Stade d'Anderlecht in Belgium.

Built in the 1950s, the Lausanne stadium urgently needed to upgrade its 30-year-old sound system in time for an International Athletissima athletics meet in July. It also needed to comply with the requirements of the FC-Lausanne Sport football club, based at the venue. As well as football and athletics, the venue can be used for concerts.

Philippe Martin from consultancy firm AER designed a stadium system comprising two identical setups on either side of the pitch, linked by a fibre optic Dante network. Each of the two grandstands has been installed with four clusters spaced 20 metres apart. Each cluster consists of five Geo S12 c

Mazen Saad (Sound on Stage Events), Lucas Rey (lighting operator for Beiteddine 2014), Rawad Saad (Sound on Stage Events) and Elia Battah (Robe Middle East)

Robe for Lebanon's Beiteddine Art Festival

Details: 14 March 2016

Lebanon - An all Robe moving light rig was specified for the 2014 Beiteddine Art Festival in Lebanon - a vibrant, high profile annual summer music and cultural event with an all-star line-up of local and international artists that is staged against the magnificent backdrop of the 2000 year old Beiteddine Palace.

The venue is ensconced in the mountains about 70Km South of Beirut and this year's diverse range of performances included Joss Stone, Katie Melua, Kazem Al Sahir, Bel Canto tenor Juan Diego Florez and a collection of special performances and collaborations including world famous Lebanese director, Wajdi Mouawad's unconventional adaptation of Sophocles' Antigone. The event was opened by a show-stopping set from Lebanese diva, Magida El Roumi.

The lights were supplied by Sound On Stage Events, a leading technical production company based in Dubai and actively work

The Sage Gateshead is celebrating its tenth birthday

Sage Gateshead upgrades with RCF

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - The Sage Gateshead - an iconic multi-arts building in the north-east of England, which originally cost £70m to construct - this year celebrates its tenth anniversary.

To celebrate its landmark birthday the venue has upgraded the sound system in its 1700-capacity main Hall One with the installation of an RCF HDL 20-A line array by local contractors (and long time RCF rental partner), Nitelites.

The move follows a period of careful evaluation by the facility's head of technical operations, Chris Durant and his team, during the many occasions the HDL20-A has been flown on a temporary basis to support the house system.

Home to Royal Northern Sinfonia, and host to a vast concert agenda that includes jazz, folk, country and rock the original beam steering system had rarely kept pace with the Sage's promotional ambitions and so Nitelites found themselves increasingly hir

James Bawn wanted to create a lighting design that had an inclusive element to it (photo ©CannaGray)

Clay Paky lights the skies during Tour de France opening

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Lighting designer James Bawn specified the strong beam of the Clay Paky Sharpy to crown his colourful lighting design for Kirklees' Arqiva Tower, known locally as the Emley Mast, during the opening of the Tour de France celebrations in Yorkshire.

The 10 Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures, supplied by Blackburn based hire outfit HSL, beamed out from the tower's 272m high control room creating dramatic aerial effects across the skies above Yorkshire's Emley Moor that could be seen for miles around.

"As part of the 100 day Yorkshire Festival, Kirklees held a local week long 'Hypervelocity' festival to celebrate the Leeds opening of Tour de France," explains Bawn. "As part of the festival resident artists and designers were asked to light up famous landmarks. As I grew up round here and know the area well I was asked to put together a design for the Arqiva Tower on Emle

JoeCo's Joe Bull in the new JoeCo building

JoeCo celebrates new home

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - BlackBox Recorder manufacturer JoeCo is celebrating the opening of new offices at its Cambridge headquarters. The new building incorporates office and meeting space, production and workshop facilities, as well as a dedicated development and testing area for the expanding BlackBox product range. The move coincides with the forthcoming release of the company's latest product - the new BlackBox BBR1MP Recorder with integrated mic preamps - and the expansion of its team.

"Our new work space has been several months in its planning and construction" says JoeCo's Joe Bull. "We will continue to sub-contract many of our operations, as this has proved very successful so far in the growth of the company. However, with an expanding product range, requirement for additional staffing and extra space, it made sense for us to extend our current facilities.

"Moving int

48 hours left of free visitor registration for PLASA London 2014

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - PLASA London delivered its biggest ever visitor promotion campaign over the last 3 days, generating almost 3,000 new registrations and setting a record for registrations, meaning the show is now up 10% y-o-y on visitor pre-registration.

Commenting on the positive news, PLASA's director of events Christopher Toulmin says: "PLASA London continues to prove its relevance as demonstrated by the phenomenal take up over the last three days. PLASA London is a must attend event for the live entertainment technology industries. The show is in great shape and on track to grow in both floor space and visitor numbers in 2014."

To celebrate the positive news, PLASA London has extended free registration (saving each visitor £20) for another 48 hours, closing on Wednesday.

The South Point Showroom operates seven days a week the majority of the year

Elation Lighting upgrade for South Point casino

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - One of the most successful off-the-Strip venues in Las Vegas, South Point Hotel and Casino is captivating guests at its ultra-busy Showroom and is doing it with an economical dynamic lighting package from Elation Professional that includes LED pixel mapping effects.

Operating from the southwest Las Vegas valley, South Point features amenities like an equestrian arena, 64-lane bowling centreand the most convention centre space off the Strip. South Point also operates a busy 400-seat Showroom facility that features headliner entertainment, live bands and other acts on a daily basis. In June, the Showroom's lighting was recently upgraded using Elation EPAR QA and Opti QA colour-changing LED PAR lights, along with Elation Flex LED Tape.

The South Point Showroom operates seven days a week the majority of the year with multiple shows on stage each day for an astounding average

The Week in Lighting & Sound

Details: 14 March 2016

A Man from the Future - The Pet Shop Boys unveiled their latest work, a tribute to wartime codebreaker Alan Turing, at the first of this year's Late Night Proms. The 50-minute 'musical biography' featured an excerpt from Gordon Brown's public 2009 apology for Turing's 1952 conviction for homosexual activity. Narrated by Juliet Stevenson, A Man from the Future received a standing ovation at London's Royal Albert Hall. Chrissie Hynde also performed alongside Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe themselves.

Back to the Future - Further shows of Secret Cinema's Back to the Future extravaganza in London were cancelled at the weekend. The organisation stated, Secret Cinema Presents Back to the Future, is our most ambitious production to date out of the 45 large scale productions. Unfortunately, we have experienced some difficulties and have had to cancel tonight [Fr

SPL Phonitor mini starts shipping

Details: 14 March 2016

Germany - The newest member in the SPL Phonitor family, the Phonitor mini, is now available in stores. The Phonitor mini features at its core the exact same 120-volt technology as the Phonitor2, the brand's flagship headphones amplifier, which provides for superior technical specifications and a premium-quality sound. At the same time, the unique Phonitor Matrix enables an authentic music reproduction with headphones.

According to SPL, the Phonitor mini can be used in any situation and environment where there is a need for professional sound quality, from home and project studios to big orchestra recordings and live applications, besides being ideally suited for hi-fi and audio enthusiasts.

(Jim Evans)

Clay Paky on TV's Keep Your Light Shining

Details: 14 March 2016

Germany - An impressive array of Clay Paky fixtures recently took centre stage, or rather nine stages, on the new interactive talent show, Keep Your Light Shining, which claims, "You should never hide your talent in the dark". The show debuted on German Pro7 television with lighting designer Jerry Appelt using lighting as one of the main components of this clever show.

The programme showcases talented young contestants who take turns singing a song in brief intervals. It uses dramatic lighting to emphasize the importance of each singer's brief chance to impress the viewing audience. With only 15-20 seconds to sing in the spotlight, they have to do their best to have an impact before the light moves onto the next performer. At the end of the song, the audience votes to eliminate one contestant. The rounds continue until the last two face-off in a duet and a winne

Tele-ponto used Optocore solutions for the Opening Ceremony of the FIFA World Cup in São Paulo and various World cup matches in Brasilia Stadium

Tele-Ponto supports Brazil's big year with Optocore

Details: 14 March 2016

Brazil - If one country has been defined by the celebration of 2014 then it has been Brazil. Already famous for its carnivals this summer it exploded into life by hosting the FIFA World Cup.

With the potential requirement for sophisticated point-to-point communication systems, broadcast service companies like Tele-Ponto started casting the net for solutions, and it was not long before Optocore came under their radar.

"Tele-Ponto had been looking for a solution to integrate with our RTS intercom systems and [RTS senior support engineer] Chuck Roberts suggested Optocore," stated Milena Ranalle, from the company's Import department. "In Brazil some companies are already using fibre with audio, video and data, so that's the reason we were searching for a complementary system."

Based in Santo André City at São Paulo, it did not take the company long to