Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - from 4 July 2025

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USA - Vari-Lite has announced the Neo X15 and Neo X5, a family of high-performance lighting consoles designed for mixed-use facilities such as performing arts centres, stadiums and arenas, houses of worship, studios, schools; and more.
“Large format entertainment lighting consoles are typically either focused on theatrical lighting or live event lighting, but traditionally not both,” explains Jon Hole, global product manager, Vari-Lite Controls at Signify. “However, many facilities are multifunctional and need the capabilities of a premium console that works for all the different types of events and user experience levels in the space. X Series consoles offer a feature-rich, customisable platform that is perfect for both theatrical and live event lighting - at a price po

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UK - Applications are open again for Lighthouse Young Technicians, a training course for 12 young people aged 16-19 eager to get to grips with lighting, sound and stage management in a variety of indoor and outdoor settings.
Guided by industry specialists, young people navigate all elements of technical theatre to gain the experience that may set them on course for a future career.
“As a young person making your way in technical theatre, it is very important to do what is right for you,” says Poole-based international lighting designer and course tutor James Smith.
"There is no right way to start a career in technical theatre - for some the answer is university, for others it could be an apprenticeship, or a job at their local theatre where they can build their skills. All roads will end in the same place where the aim should be to produce good quality collab

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Slovenia - The venue known today as Dom kulture Kamnik (DKK), located to the north of Ljubljana in Slovenia, was built in 1953 as part of the Kamnik Chemical Industry. Constructed by the workers themselves, DKK was designed to be a cultural entertainment centre to serve the local community. Although the main stage incorporated hoists, the venue was primarily used as a movie theatre until it temporarily closed its doors in 1991.
With the idea of revitalizing live performances came the decision to renovate the building. Over the past two decades, a variety of improvements have been made, including the recent installation of a stage machinery system from ETC Rigging, comprising Prodigy P2 hoists, Helix cable management, a ColorSource Raceway prewired power and data distribution system, and a QuickTouch Preset controller.
“Back in 2017, we were at DKK installing an ETC C
Doughty - Banner - from 4 July 2025

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UK Specialist consultancy 3LR Lighting has appointed Stuart West as business development manager for lighting, control and software. West brings more than 25 years of entertainment production experience to the role, having enjoyed a varied career in technical theatre production, venue management and building operations.
Founded in 2019 by Matt Lloyd, 3LR is an architectural and broadcast lighting consultancy which works closely with ETC, Rosco and other leading professional lighting brands and provides expert advice on lighting in TV and film studios, auditoriums, cruise ships and public spaces. Lloyd says: “I’ve known Stuart for a very long time, and he has such a varied and unique skillset that the chance to bring him into 3LR was simply too good to miss. He has so much to offer our clients.”
West’s interest in lighting began in a childhood surrounded by ent

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UK - Andy Bell, former operations director at KB Event, has joined Truckingby as events operations director.
Andy has over 23 years' experience in live event trucking, working with bands and artists such as Ed Sheeran, Rod Stewart, the Stereophonics and many more.
“I’m looking forward to bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge into Truckingbyand being a valuable part of their team in expanding their live events division,” says Andy.
Kevin Hopper, Truckingby managing director said Andy’s appointment to the company adds additional strength and knowledge to our live events logistics operation, we are all looking forward to working with him, and wish him all the best for the future with Truckingby.”

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Expensive Tastes - Tickets for next year's Glastonbury Festival will cost £340, organisers have confirmed. Festival-goers will be charged £335 plus a £5 booking fee for standard tickets, plus a £50 deposit. The last time tickets went on sale, in 2019, they cost £265 plus the booking fee for what should have been the 2020 festival, but was postponed due to the pandemic.
The music event will return to Worthy Farm in Somerset from 21 to 25 June 2023, and tickets - which usually sell out in minutes - will go on sale on 6 November. Fans must register before purchasing in a bid by organisers to stop ticket touts.
Bittersweet - The Lord Mayor of Liverpool said winning Eurovision was "bittersweet" and vowed to do his utmost to honour the Ukrainian sister city. Councillor Roy Gladden has written to the Mayor of Odesa after Liverpool secured the right to host the 202

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USA - This month, the American Society of Theatre Consultants (ASTC) welcomed Michael Nishball as its newest full member. Membership into the ASTC, follows a highly selective process that considers a candidate’s range of capability and experience, their past industry achievements, and the quality of service they provide to clients.
“I can think of no person more deserving of full membership,” offered Scott Crossfield, Theatre Projects principal and fellow with the ASTC. “Michael’s experience in equipment and systems design is unparalleled, and he is the type of person we want in the ASTC: committed to the industry, dogged about the appropriate use of technology in the design of performance spaces, and invested in safety for audience and performer as his number one priority.”
Michael is Theatre Projects’ principal theatre equipment designer and one of the

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UK - Audio-Technica has announced the appointment of Jack Spenn to the role of business development manager for the south of England. Based in Bristol, Spenn’s portfolio comprises Audio-Technica and its distributed brands (Allen & Heath, Optimal Audio, Audio Pro Business and Artnovion) in the UK.
Spenn brings considerable experience within the audio installation industry to the position, having studied acoustics at Salford University before working for Masons Sound, GVAV and most recently Enlightened in Bristol. His hands-on knowledge of AV and sound system design, installation and optimisation in live music venues, hospitlity, education and HOW means Spenn is well-positioned to service and support customers across market segments.
“I’m really looking forward to continuing to build the great brands under the Audio-Technica umbrella in the UK,” says Spenn.
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UK - HH Electronics has announced the launch of its M-Series high power, 2U rack amplifiers. The series is designed to provide maximum performance for demanding applications everywhere from bars, restaurants and clubs, to houses of worship, live music and education settings.
There are three models available. The M-750D, M-1500D and M-2600D all draw on HH’s five decades of pioneering heritage in the field of amplifier design and development. Designed and engineered in the UK the series boasts high quality, heavy duty toroidal power supply, robust chassis, reliable linear power stage, and comprehensive protection system.

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Sweden - Claypaky reports that its Xtylos Aqua fixture was honoured with the Innovation Award at LLB Expo 2022 in Stockholm. LLB Expo is the largest Nordic meeting place for professionals in audio, lighting, video and AV technology. The fair is held every other year and attracts more than 3,000 visitors; this year it took place at the Stockholm International Fairs exhibition centre.
The coveted Prize for Innovation was awarded to Xtylos Aqua, a small form factor, IP66-rated fixture powered by Claypaky’s proprietary RGB laser source. It offers the same effects and features as the popular original Xtylos while being able to withstand harsh conditions and the elements thanks to its marine-grade C5-M protection.
Since the introduction of the Xtylos fixture, Claypaky has been focused on developing pioneering technologies that offer new ways to motivate designers to reach

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UK - Production Futures exists to create opportunities for young people to learn, train, network and develop real careers in production across every area of the live event, music, touring, theatre, TV, broadcast and film industries. The organisation’s Breakthrough Awards, presented in association with TPi magazine, recognise the impact of up-and-coming talent in all areas of production, with nominations made by tutors, mentors, colleagues or peers.
This year, the six winners received their awards at the Production Futures ON TOUR event which took place in late September at Production Park in Wakefield. The event was the first of a series taking place across the UK in the coming months and saw more than six hundred young people through its doors. Thirty-five brand partners from the worlds of audio, lighting, TV, virtual events and global logistics, were on hand to offer in

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USA - Since her first Grammy Awards performance, Lorde has entrusted FOH mixing engineer Philip J. Harvey for her live audio needs. Currently, Harvey is wrapping up his work for the singer’s Solar Power 2022 Tour across the US, where a high-quality, comfortable and accurate audio solution was of utmost importance.
Pulling from his experience as a self-taught audio tech working in clubs and on the road with bands such as Medeski Martin & Wood, Mumford and Sons and My Bloody Valentine, as well as Jack White’s The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and Dead Weather, Harvey knew what brand would check all the boxes. He worked with audio provider Clair Global to select a number of instrument and vocal mics from DPA Microphones.
“With the recent addition of the new 4055 Kick Drum Microphone, the entire drum set is DPA,” Harvey explains. “We also have a 2011C Twin Di

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South Africa - The Saturday Showdown is South Africa’s newest and hottest prime-time TV sports games show. Lighting designer Ryan Lombard was delighted to be asked onboard and he seized the opportunity to use Robe moving lights, including MegaPointes which were a new investment for rental specialist and lighting supplier, Blond Productions.
The show, recorded at Urban Brew Studio 10 in Johannesburg, and produced by Red Pepper Productions for broadcaster Mzansi Magic, is a hi-energy action-packed sport-themed entertainment game show with big prize money.
Ryan took Michael Gill’s set design as the show’s visual blueprint as he started to think about lighting. The two have worked collaboratively on several recent TV projects and enjoy a great synergy and creative language.
Ryan assessed the Showdown environment which included a ‘studio’ area where

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USA - After 122 shows over four years, rock band Kansas wrapped up the Point of Know Return Anniversary Tour. With fans still clamouring for the show to carry on, the band embarked on a tour celebrating their classic hits with a lighting system designed by Scott Pearson and provided by Bandit Lites.
With nine gold albums, three multi-platinum albums and six decades of touring, Kansas is one of the more formidable rock bands consistently touring.
“During COVID-19, I personally have become very close to several members of the Kansas entourage, especially Phillip Ehart and JR Rees,” said Bandit Lites chair, Michael T. Strickland. “We bonded in the early days and have stayed in constant communication for over two years. There is not a finer, more talented organization that Kansas. Their involvement and work on COVID-19 relief was second to none and we all ow

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South Africa - Jazz as Heritage was the theme of this year’s jazz festival held in Johannesburg in partnership with UJ Arts & Culture, The Wits School of Arts’ Cultural Policy and Management and The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts on 2 and 3 September. DWR Distribution was a sponsor of the event which was hosted at UJ and featured a line-up including old-school jazz and diga dancers to performances by Zoë Modiga, Abbey Cindi and Muneyi, workshops and a panel discussion.
“The jazz at UJ concert is a biennial event,” explains Thato Maroga, production manager at UJ Arts & Culture. “We are inspired by the reality that jazz music is a multi-generational cultural experience. Here people from all walks of life and cultural and racial backgrounds can gather in one space and enjoy it. This year’s programme was truly a representati

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UK - The 2022 Commonwealth Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies, took place at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium in August, Celebrating the rich history, culture and identity of the city and the West Midlands, Unusual played a key role as the contracted rigging supplier.
Working for Gary Beestone, Unusual’s job was to provide all the rigging and install all the lighting for the spectacles. Sam Carter, Unusual’s lead rigger on the project explained: “It’s been a couple of months now since the opening ceremony and the feedback we’ve had ever since has been unreal! We had our work cut out – it was a mammoth event with a modest budget, but the result was two fantastic ceremonies.”
Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium is a relatively new venue, with the west stand just recently built and the north and south stands set up as temporary structures. Big towers were ere

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Austria - Oper Im Steinbruch, the annual opera event set in the Roman Quarry ampitheatre of St Margarethen, has become a summer staple, with production values as big as the stage itself: At 80m wide and 30m deep, it is Europe’s largest outdoor stage. Event sound designer Volker Werner relies on the object-based spatialisation of TiMax SoundHub to ensure the classical opera narratives, such as this year’s Nabucco by Verdi, are simple to follow for the 4700-capacity audiences.
As remarkable as the size and scale of stage and event, is that each year since inception in 2017 the speaker positions are integrated into the main stage scenery. A total of 98 loudspeakers occupy 53 speaker positions on the main stage and these are spatially unified by a redundant system of two 64-channel TiMax SoundHub processors with Dante which handle the spatialisation

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UK - The recent Boisdale Music Awards provided a prestigious showcase for the restaurant group’s Canary Wharf venue in London’s Docklands.
Hosted by Boisdale Patron of Music Jools Holland, this event saw gongs awarded in 14 categories including a Lifetime Achievement Award for Black Sabbath guitarist and founding member Tony Iommi.
Performers on the night enjoyed the use of a newly installed Nexo sound system, a further example of Boisdale’s commitment to excellence in its nightly staging of live music performances.
“We’ve had nothing but positive comments from visiting artists and sound engineers since installing the Nexo system” says Boisdale commercial and marketing director Adam Priestley. “It’s important that performers and audience alike experience the very best live sound, and that’s exactly what they get with Nexo.”
Nexo L15 subs

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UK - As part of its overall sustainability initiatives, Shure is improving its packaging to be even more environmentally friendly. Packaging for new Shure products prioritises the use of recyclable and renewable materials.
New products will be packaged using 75 percent recyclable and/or renewable materials in 2023. In addition, the company is also improving packaging sustainability by:
Committing to source a greater portion of our paper and fibre-based packaging from suppliers that are certified by sustainable forestry organisations such as FSC, SFI and/or PEFC, with the intention to eliminate non-certified packaging by 2030.
Optimising packaging for efficient distribution and logistics (creating packaging that better fits onto pallets and shipping containers to maximise space, which reduces transportation fuel and emissions produced by excess shipments).
E

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USA - UK manufacturer Optimal Audio has announced the appointment of TMP Pro as a distributor in the United States.
Optimal Audio, part of the Focusrite Group, manufactures a one-stop solution of control, amplification and loudspeakers for small to medium sized commercial installations, with a focus on supporting multi-zoned venues.
Based in Connecticut, TMP Pro is the pro audio, video, lighting, and pro accessories division of The Music People, an Exertis/Jam business which distributes more than 200 premium brands across the US. The company’s substantial distribution capacity is based on strong relationships with its brands, allied to a capacity to exceed expectations through the expertise of its certified specialists.
David Henry, national accounts manager, TMP Pro comments, “We are proud, honoured, and excited to offer our US dealers access to the Optima

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Sweden - Martin Audio has announced the appointment of Winther Sound Solutions (WSS) as its new distributor for Sweden.
Although a young company, WSS already has an impressive track record with Martin Audio products having worked as a dealer for the last two years. During this time, they have transacted some impressive business deals, resulting in system deployment in some prestigious sites. One such venue is the recently upgraded Circus in Stockholm where an immersive audio system has brought this theatre arena into an all-Martin Audio domain, with the addition of CDD now supplementing their existing MLA array.
WSS is headed by Mattias Winther, Pontus Svensson and Mårten Ihre - a team with an impressive heritage in the Swedish market. According to Flemming Bjerke, Martin Audio’s sales manager for the Nordic region and Germany, they have more than proven themselves
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