UK - For the past several months the Tower of London, part of the Historic Royal Palaces, and its ambitious sculptural commission: Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red have been a central symbol of the UK's WWI Centenary observations.

The display, which grew in size over time, marked each commonwealth casualty of WWI - 888,246 in total - with a hand-made red ceramic poppy "planted" by volunteers around the venue's exterior. Entertainment and event production supplier White Light has been closely involved in the event, providing lighting, sound, and video support services for the opening ceremony on 5 August and closing ceremony on 11 November (Remembrance Day) as well as providing lighting for the entire poppy display throughout its three-month installation.

White Light m

UK - London's Imperial War Museum opened its new First World War Gallery in July. The vision was to give the visitor a more realistic representation of what life in a trench was like. A soundscape was clearly going to be vital and the noises should come from many different parts of the display. The mission was on to find a proven playback system that would respond to cues from a Medialon Show Controller and interface with video servers from 7th Sense and Dataton. The clear choice was the Merging Technologies Ovation.

Idee und Klang have an enviable track record of significant projects from the BMW Museum in Munich to the Stategrid Pavilion at the Expo Shanghai 2010 so sound designer, Ramon De Marco was able to understand the requirements very easily. The museum had organised an international competition to select the sound design company and the Idee und Klang proposal was the o

Germany - Belgian based WIcreations designed a custom tracking system that moved six giant columns of LED screen over 70m for the massive event in front of Berlin's historic Brandenburg Gate to celebrate 25 Years since the 'Fall of the Wall'.

The Brandenburg Gate show, televised live by a number of international news and TV networks, was the highest profile of a number of celebratory elements staged in Berlin over the weekend of 9 November, all commemorating the landmark quarter-century since that tumultuous moment in 1989 when the Berlin Wall metaphorically 'fell'.

The screens glided seamlessly back and for the along the tracks, opening and closing the vista of the Brandenburg Gate for the tens of thousands who gathered to enjoy the party. Performances on the two stages in front of the Gate included German stars Fantastischen Vier, Udo Lindenberger, DJ Paul Kalkbrenner and ma

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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.

GLP will continue to celebrate its 20th anniversary at this year's LDI Show in Las Vegas (17-23 November). As at Prolight+Sound and PLASA earlier in the year the company will present a museum, displaying milestone products released during the past two decades. But the highlight of its product display will be the expanding series of impression X4 products - including the brand new impression X4 Bar, making its North American debut at the show.

The impression X4 Bar 10 and impression X4 Bar 20 are high performance battens that incorporate 15W RGBW LEDs packed tightly to give a full line of light. The X4 Bar 20 measures 40"/1m in length and uses 20 LEDs, and the shorter 20"/50cm X4 Bar 10 uses 10 LEDs. The battens produce a smooth, homogenised output across the batten through a broad pallet of pastel and saturated colours, complemented by dimming which ensures that there is no c

Thailand - TC Group's Install and Tour brands - Tannoy, Lab.gruppen and Lake - recently held a two-day conference seminar in Bangkok, Thailand, for its distributor network across the Asia Pacific region.

With distributors from across the region gathering at the Okura Hotel - itself a Tannoy installation - the event gave TC Group the opportunity to communicate information on new and future products, as well as ongoing market strategy in wake of the announcement that the entire group was looking for investment opportunities under any potential new ownership.

Over the course of two informative and enlightening days, senior staff showcased some of the latest and best technologies from Tannoy, Lab.gruppen and Lake, giving distributors and partners the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the brands and how to maximise opportunities in future install and touring application

UK - Behind the Scenes UK, the newly launched charity that aims to provide financial support to entertainment technology professionals when they are ill or injured, is calling on companies and individuals to send their annual Christmas cards via Card Aid this year.

Card Aid has been helping charities increase their funds from the sale of their Christmas cards for over 30 years and John Simpson, Chair of Behind the Scenes UK, believes proceeds from the sale of Christmas Cards via the Card Aid Website will really make a difference to Behind the Scenes which only launched in the UK in October.

"Sending Christmas cards is a long held tradition and Card Aid allows us to keep the spirit of Christmas alive - as cards can be purchased online, either in the form of a pack of cards or as e-cards which can be sent on a pay per click basis. Whilst we are happy to accept donations in

USA - It was a spectacular affair to remember, with the nation's number one college basketball team being serenaded by coaches, screams of fans and hip-hop superstar Drake. The University of Kentucky's basketball programme looks to outdo itself year after year, not only on the basketball court, but also in its celebration and biggest recruiting weekend known as Big Blue Madness.

Bandit Lites provided the lighting for the event which took place at Rupp Arena. The ceremony and scrimmage were televised and watched by millions anxious to see what Kentucky would be bringing to the courts this year.

"Bandit Lites has been providing Lighting for our Big Blue Madness Event every year since 2011 and they have done an outstanding job each year," said technical services manager, Bob Stoops. "Once Bandit has signed on for the event, I no longer have to worry about the light

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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

USA - PLASA Events has announced the partnership with Show Ready Events, an event planning and management organization, who will assist with the 2015 PLASA Focus shows in Orlando, Florida and Kansas City, Missouri.

"We are delighted to be working with Steve Krawic and his team at Show Ready Events. From our very first meeting, Steve showed an immediate and insightful understanding of our events and the industry that PLASA represents. We are confident that we have found the right partner to succeed in Show Ready Events who will join our other partners in playing a significant part in delivering to our exhibitors and members the best possible experience and business opportunity through PLASA Focus Events in North America," says Christopher Toulmin, PLASA's Director of Events.

Steve Krawic, president and CEO of Show Ready Events says, "Cultivating partnerships with

USA - At LDI in Las Vegas this month, LDR celebrates one year of co-operation with Atlanta based Canto USA, exclusive distributor of LDR in the USA, with the introduction of three new followspots - Canto 2000 TH , Canto 1500 MSR and Astro 200 LED.

Astro 200 W boasts a 200 W LED chip (3200° or 5600°K) capable of delivering more light than conventional 1kw TH followspots plus the ability to dim the light to 0.001% with one channel.

Canto 1500 MSR is designed to close the gap between large arena and small size venues. The features of the Fats Fit 1500 MSR Philips lamp are enhanced with the usage of an electronic ballast which makes the unit suitable for live broadcasting .

Canto 2000 TH, a classic workhorse has been re-engineered to show the muscle and all the benefits of the 2000 W tungsten halogen lamp.

" LDI 2014 marks a successful year of co-operation with Ca

USA - - Described as "South Florida's hottest club", Club Red by Stoli is an elegant nightclub located at centre ice inside the BB&T Arena, home of the Florida Panthers hockey team.

Club Red's fashionable environment, its excellent cuisine and its premium event seating are complemented by a club-wide, multi-purpose AV system designed and installed by ICOR International Systems of Doral, Florida. Club Red's AV system provides live Panthers play-by-play hockey coverage, six news and sports channels and video playback and sound reinforcement for press conferences, presentations and private meetings in the club's large multi-purpose room. The BB&T Arena also hosts concerts and audio and video from these events may be routed through the club's AV system.

To provide coverage throughout the club's 12,000sq.ft space, ICOR installed 25 large screen video displays, a two-wide

Portugal - NEXT-proaudio's website (www.next-proaudio.com) now offers an easy-to-navigate technical support, complete product information, and the most recent company news.

The company information, factory tour, support and distributor's information are some benefits of the new site. The goal is to be "the perfect guide to help the customers get all the information about products as easy as possible".

The user can sort the products by type, series, or application making the new product menu much more intuitive to find what the user wants. Inside the application list, the user can find which are the recommended series for touring, installation and portable.

The NEXT-proaudio users can also easily download the all the available software (Soundware, DP240 Software, LMS242 Software and Ease Focus) as well as all the support files. Additionally, links to the manufacture

Japan - A potent RCF TT+ system was recently installed in Tokyo's Meijiza Theatre by the Italian manufacturer's Japanese partner Electori Co in order to bring the best out of well known 'enka' traditional ballad singer, Yoshimi Tendo.

Originally opened in 1873 to present kabuki and Western stage plays, the 1368-capacity venue has been equipped with four TTL33-A active loudspeakers ground stacked on either side of the stage above floor-mounted TTS36-A subs, positioned on their sides.

This design was in order to raise the height and use the stage width effectively. The decision to stack the TTL33-A on top of the subs resulted from the limited stage depth - and the fact that even pattern control was required for the each tier, right up to the third floor balcony seats.

One of the flagships of the Theatre & Touring series, the TTL33-A is a compact, wide dispersion, three way act

UK - Ahead of his 2015 UK and Ireland tour, Neil Diamond recorded a one-off ITV special. The 75-minute Neil Diamond: One Night Only hosted by Rob Brydon features Diamond performing some of his greatest hits as well tracks from his new album Melody Road.

Creative Technology (CT) was contracted by ITV to provide the stage backdrop. Working with their designer Peter Bingemann and lighting designer Dave Davey, CT installed an 11.5m x 8.6m Spider 30 screen, achieving the desired softened look by using a rear projection surface in front of the display. This allowed a lower resolution and lower cost product to be used, increasing the impact without overpowering the star of the show.

(Jim Evans)

Europe - The high impact, clear cut, red and blue branding of Cage Warriors - Europe's biggest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion - is instantly recognisable for fans who watch the live broadcasts to over 30 different countries as well as via social media, and now as a highlights show on the UK's terrestrial programming on Channel 4.

Production manager and lighting designer, James Quigley, with chief LX, Dan Young, uphold the visual brand using Chauvet DJ and Chauvet Professional fixtures to tone the truss and maximise light in the cage.

Positioned eight-per-side on booms, 16 COLORband PiX linear pixel-mapping fixtures shoot colour through the cage. 24 COLORado 1-Tri Tour units, the most recent additions bought for the show via Yorkshire-based R&M Productions, warm the truss from the top of the cage.

The lighting provides the theatre behind the performances and the drama bet

UK - Entwining the set & lighting design for one of the biggest bands on the planet with the concept of origami might seem to some a conceit too far, but not for those imaginative individuals charged with creating something special for Coldplay's recent jaunt around the globe.

Set designer, Misty Buckley elaborates on the premise: "The concept of the origami stars was very much an idea from the band. Steeped in Japanese tradition, origami is synonymous with transformation - taking something seemingly ordinary and transforming it in to something sculptural and beautiful. The star seemed an obvious choice because of A Sky Full of Stars."

With the idea of stars as a feature of the design, the next step was to create a working reality. Buckley continues, "Initially the production considered a kind of thin plastic sheeting to make them more resilient to the ri

Germany - To celebrate Bielefeld's 800-year jubilee, the city set up the 'Zeitsprung - Bi-Motion' (Time Warp - Bi-Motion) project. Eight hundred dancers and musicians from the city itself staged a superlative performance.

The Bielefeld Dance Theatre and Philharmonic, the Syrian clarinet virtuoso Kinan Azmeh, and students and pupils from all levels and types of school were involved, as well as amateur dancers and musicians of all ages.

The Director of choreography of the Bielefeld Dance Theatre Gregor Zöllig and his team were in charge of the project, while the Philharmonic was conducted by Alexander Kalajdzic. Tilo Steffens designed the stage layout, which was inspired by the deep red colour of the Jubilee logo.

The lighting design and programming were entrusted to Marcus Krömer, who used a grandMA2 light and an MA onPC command wing for the control, and fitted Clay Paky Al

UK - Glasgow City Council commissioned The Projection Studio - led by Ross Ashton and Karen Monid - to create a ground-breaking giant mapped video projection show, Glasgow's War, on the front of their City Chambers building to commemorate the centenary of the First World War.

The impressive, meticulously researched and compelling 27 minute work, complete with specially compiled sound-track by Karen Monid, featured stunning visuals and an emotive narrative that was specific to Glasgow, detailing the historical contributions made by the city and its communities, and the resulting social impact of World War 1.

"It was an incredible honour to be trusted with relating such a fundamentally significant piece of history and of telling the story of Glasgow's War with honesty and integrity" states Ashton, whose art has won multiple international Awards and holds two Gui

USA - Lighting designer Saxton Waller selected 22 Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K10 LED-based moving lights for two sold-out STS9 concerts at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, the lead up to the band's cross-country fall tour. The fixtures and console were provided by Brown Note Productions, Inc. in Thornton, Colorado.

The instrumental band STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9), which plays self-described post-rock dance music, is one of the nation's top-grossing tour acts with a heavy presence in the festival circuit. Their dates at Red Rocks, 5-6 September, preceded the start of their first tour in nearly a year. The tour will play venues in the Midwest and East, including Chicago, New York, Detroit and Pittsburgh.

Brown Note Productions, Inc. is a full-service audio, lighting and video production company specializing in touring, festivals and special events. It won the

UK - London-based LD Rowan Norris of Darkside Lights has been working with Feed Me, one of the intriguing aliases of DJ Jonathan Gooch - the artist whose individual sound flips between dubstep, electro-house and a bit of d'n'b have earned both critical acclaim and a serious fanbase.

Rowan joined the Feed Me team as an operator back in 2012. Initially brought onboard to operate the house rigs over the top of the synchronised shows, Rowan was delighted to be asked to submit a design for With Teeth Version 3 upgrade, for which he specified Robe Pointes and CycFX 8s.

"The completely bespoke new set was inspired by Chris Cunningham's All is Full of Love for Bjork, so we needed fixtures that could be fed with video animation... and could also move," explains Rowan.

The show's overall visual design was originated by the artist and crafted for the stage by Ne

USA - Founded in 1934 by a small collection of the faithful who opened up their living rooms every Sunday in the bustling Michigan town of Grand Rapids, New Hope Baptist Church has grown to a congregation of over 800 active members. To better accommodate its members, the church recently underwent a comprehensive renovation of its 750-seat sanctuary and associated overflow and ancillary use rooms.

A new sound system centred on Ashly Audio processing, amplification, and user control is a centrepiece of the project and gives New Hope congregants exceptional intelligibility for spoken word, along with musical transcendence for the New Hope band and praise choir. Critically, the Ashly gear came in at a price point that allowed the church to meet its needs reliably, without breaking the project's budget. Pro Audio Inc., of nearby Grandville, Michigan designed and installed the system

Germany - BAP, one of the most distinctive German bands, was founded in 1976. The group formed around songwriter Wolfgang Niedecken and, in their early days, they met in various venues to enjoy a beer together. A 35 year long career has grown from those beginnings.

Over the decades, BAP has released 16 studio albums and the musicians have performed in various different countries throughout the world. At the moment, the band is on the road with their acoustic BAP zieht den Stecker (BAP pulls the plug) tour. For one of the dates, they performed in an open-air concert at Salzkotten, near Paderborn.

For the open-air concert, the lighting designer Peter Seifert (Cue Design), who is accompanying the musicians on tour, used four B-EYE K20s, four B-EYE K10s, eleven Alpha Spot HPE 700s and 18 Alpha Wash 700s, all made by Clay Paky, as well as six 4-Lite blinders by Major, and a

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