UK - The techno extravaganza Drumcode Halloween this November saw co-promoters LWE and Awakenings appoint Flare Audio as sound provider for the event, which featured DJs including Adam Beyer, Joseph Capriarti, Len Faki, and Happa.

Hosted at the 5,000 capacity Tobacco Dock in London's Wapping district, the five-year-old event was an opportunity for clubbers to dress up and party to leading edge techno by both established and up-and-coming artists.

Located in a residential area, a stone's throw from Shadwell Railway Station, the Grade 1 listed venue, with a problematic glass roof apex, is subject to strict sound containment conditions. Consequently, Flare had to provide an immaculate quality, all-embracing sound experience for the audience, without audio spillage into the neighbou

UK - Leisuretec Distribution has announced their new trade partnership with Mackie, effective 1 December 2014. Leighton Buzzard-based Leisuretec is a distributor of professional and commercial audio, lighting, video and special effects to the trade.

Lesisuretec MD Cliff Dounting comments: "We have been long-time partners with PolarAudio distributing their brands very successfully over the years. Mackie is an extremely good fit to Leisuretec's portfolio, enhancing even further our offering to the trade in the MI retail sector. Indeed our roots are from retail and we are strong supporters of this very important sector of the industry and passionately believe in providing all the retail shops up and down the country with a great service and excellent products from stock. The addition of Mackie strengthens Leisuretec's offering to the whole of the trade including hire and event

UK - In a "best quality whatever the cost" demand for a new submixer for his keyboard rig, UK singer-songwriter Paul Carrack has purchased a Cadac Live1 1642 compact console. Carrack, currently in the midst a 55-date touring stint around the UK with his band, recently upgraded his keyboards, including sonic modifications to his beloved Hammond C3, and needed to trade up his mixer to match. His monitor engineer Anton Dunbar was the man charged with finding the new console.

"It was all about the sound quality," he says. "Paul asked me to find a desk that sounded amazing but was not overly cluttered on the control surface. The Cadac was the only desk that had both the sound quality and required functionality, and was ergonomically suited to the task at hand and rack-mountable."

While cost was not a concern, the Cadac displayed markedly superior signa

Europe - This summer saw industrial rockers Nine Inch Nails (NIN) on their first European tour in six years, with an array of Clay Paky Sharpy and Sharpy Wash 330 fixtures delivering striking brightness and moody colours to help bring the band back with a bang.

Lighting designer Paul Guthrie specified the Clay Paky fixtures, supplied by Ampco Flashlight, to hold their own against the elaborate production, and provide maximum impact.

"With Nine Inch Nails, we wanted to give the audience an incredible show, that went from dark, moody and soupy to face-welding annihilation," explains Guthrie. "We see it as: if they're not convulsing afterwards, we're not trying hard enough. The Clay Paky fixtures allowed us to achieve this with their rapid movement and intense brightness."

"The Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures were specified by LeRoy Bennett for the original d

The Netherlands - Dutch sound and lighting rental company, DSL Geluids & Lichtverhuur has extended a long tradition of running premium Martin Audio PA systems in its fleet by becoming the first operation in the country to invest in the manufacturer's new MLA Mini.

This is the latest, scaled down version of Martin Audio's award-winning Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array technology, and is in line with the small footprint required for a large proportion of their work.

Set up by brothers Ad and Gert-Jan Gomes in 1983 (originally as Disco'83 Sound & Light) by early in the new millennium they were ready to upgrade from their own 'home-brew' PA stacks to branded products. "And we recognised a lot of riders were mentioning Martin Audio."

Starting with Blackline they moved onto W8C/CS Wavefront Compact subs, WSX subs, and then W8LC Compact line arrays and WS218X subs. "

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Millennium Money - Wales Millennium Centre has claimed to have sold £100m worth of tickets since its opening a decade ago. The centre, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this week, has released an impact report revealing that 13.5m people have visited the centre, and more than three million attended its theatre. Artistic director Graeme Farrow said: "Wales Millennium Centre has made a tremendous impact over the past decade . . . Over the next decade we will surprise people more regularly and throw open the doors to all the spaces within this amazing site and let the air in."

The venue, which is home to Welsh National Opera, BBC National Orchestra Wales and the National Dance Company of Wales, has also revealed that it used 996,790 tea bags over the last decade.

The Truth Is Out There - Gillian Anderson and Tom Hiddleston took the top acting honours at

UK - Impact Production Services (IPS) has joined the growing list of top-flight hire companies who have added SGM's powerful P-5 wash light to their inventory. Owner James Mason, who set up the Milton Keynes-based company 16 years ago, took the decision after sub-hiring in some of the high output heads for a project, which also gave him the chance to evaluate them. As a result, he placed the order for 24 P-5 RGBW fixtures with SGM UK.

"We had been looking at various IP-rated outdoor washes and P-5 had come up a few times on specs," he explained. "For us it's the next generation; it's compact, neat and you can use it indoors, whereas other IP-rated washes are often big and bulky."

In order to get the maximum impact from the fixtures he purchased 21° and 43° lens options.

Mason said the decision to back the Danish brand followed the recognition that

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Canada - Nestled in the heart of the city of Camrose, in Alberta, Canada, is the Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre (PAC), a 4,100sq.m multi-venue building. Equipped with nearly 100 ETC Source Four LED Series 2 Lustr luminaires - the largest number installed anywhere in the world - the venue earned a prestigious level four Green Globe distinction for its energy efficient building design and commitment to green technology before its doors even opened in October 2014.

Camrose is home to a blossoming arts community, and the city desperately needed a new, large-scale performance venue. "There weren't any venues within a 45 minute drive of the city that could accommodate touring Broadway shows and large scale dance or theatrical productions," explains Nick Beach, technical director and operations coordinator of the Jeanne & Peter Lougheed PAC. The primary goal f

Indonesia - It was back in 2013 that the Ismaya Group, owners of Jakarta's legendary Blowfish Nightclub, first decided to carry out a complete technology upgrade, integrated with a new AV system, in order to refresh the club's image.

PT Citra Intirama, Martin Audio's long term distributors, have also enjoyed a relationship with the operators, and first introduced them to the British loudspeaker brand at one of their other elite clubs, the Dragonfly, back in 2006.

Martin Audio was then installed in the Blowfish Bar & Nightclub - but with the recent overhaul came not only replacement drivers for the existing system but a complete new complement of AQ and Blackline series full range systems and subwoofers.

"It was a natural progression to continue with the same brand," said PT Citra Intirama's Eric Haslim. "Martin Audio has a well-established reputation as one of

Belgium - Initially aimed at the post-production market, Yamaha's Nuage system is also being adopted by music recording studios and composers, thanks to its fast, intuitive workflow and powerful features. Leading dance music producer Sammy Merayah is one of the latest to invest.

Sammy's Yamaha legacy goes back well over a decade. Starting with an 02R digital mixer, he later upgraded to a DM2000, but has recently made a major investment in a Nuage system for his studio near the Belgian city of Aalst, near Brussels.

Sammy works as a composer, producer, remixer and arranger and has enjoyed major collaborations and remix work with high profile DJs and artists like Wolfpack, Flo Rida, Katy B, Akon, Coolio, Jason Derulo, Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike, Jetlag, T-Pain, Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Ginuwine, Chris Brown, Hooverphonic and others.

Having worked with Steinberg's Cubase DAW f

USA - If you have been thinking about testing to become ETCP certified, now is the time to apply, as fees will increase $50 per exam on 1 January, 2015. You have up to one year from your acceptance date to take your examination, so sign up today to save. Applications that are postmarked before January 1, 2015 will receive the discounted rate.

ETCP Certification is a fundamental aide to employers who are looking for qualified technicians for lead positions. It guarantees a reliable level of expertise and skills because the exams are specific to this industry and a fair assessment of your knowledge.

Questions concerning certification and testing may be directed to Meredith Moseley-Bennett, Certification Manager at etcp@plasa.org or 212.244.1505, ext. 705.

(Jim Evans)

USA - LDI 2014 in Las Vegas lived up to pre-show expectations for LDI premier partner Elation Professional with an extremely busy booth, a Best Large Booth accolade and more industry recognition for the award-winning Sniper.

"We expected a busy show based on our pre-show appointments and it certainly didn't disappoint," said Elation sales director Eric Loader, who split his time between a busy Elation booth and a just-as-busy demo room. "Our booth was crowded from start to finish and based on the quality leads generated it gave us a lot of opportunities to continue our growth."

Like at the PLASA show one month earlier, the Sniper was recognised as an innovative product at the show, this time receiving an honourable mention as Best Debuting Product presented at an awards ceremony on Saturday, 22 November on the LDI show floor. The company also won the Best L

USA - Against Las Vegas' glittering backdrop, Ayrton's display of technical innovation on the booth of its exclusive US distributor, Morpheus Lights, shone as brightly at LDI 2014 as in any casino or show on the Strip.

Ayrton exhibited a plethora of new products from Ayrton's new Radical and NandoBeam series, videos of which were already causing excitement on social media. Many of these were presented for the first time to the American market, exciting visitors who were treated to spectacular lighting displays which caught the eye and fired the imagination.

Ayrton's Radical Series, consists of WildBeam-R, MagicPanel-R, MagicBlade-R, MagicRing R9 and IntelliPix-R, with MagicRing R1 being the latest addition to the Series.

The Radical Series, which takes its name and inspiration from the world of high-performance vehicles, exhibits a honed and streamlined appearance, a very na

UK - Cliff Electronics has introduced a new latching female XLR socket. This industry standard connector is widely used for audio inputs and is the latest addition to Cliff's range of professional audio connectors. Designed and manufactured by Cliff Electronics in the UK, this latest version of their Airtight XLR connector range is fitted with an integral latch to prevent accidental disconnection by vibration or tension on the cable.

The customary method used by loudspeaker manufactures to make an input socket airtight is use a sealant solution to make both the body airtight in the cabinet and seal the connection pins. This time consuming and messy process is not required when fitting a Cliff Airtight XLR socket, says the company. Cliff Airtight XLR sockets are fitted to the loudspeaker enclosure with a supplied sealing gasket and uniquely have completely sealed connection pins.

UK - ANCA Structural Anchors has launched a "revolutionary" new structural anchor which brings easily certifiable ground anchorage to the temporary structures industry for the first time. The first model, System 2000, is available now.

From now on, marquee companies, event organisers, building contractors and inspecting authorities can easily measure the structural forces exerted on a temporary building below the ground as well as above the ground, says the company.

The Structural Anchor, created with expertise provided by temporary structure designers Special Structures Lab Ltd, removes the uncertainty suffered by traditional anchorage methods such as stakes and provides an effective, easily portable alternative to ballast, which is expensive to transport.

The Structural Anchor System 2000 is the first manually deployed screw anchor-based system. Specially fabrica

Denmark - For the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's gathering in Copenhagen, Greenpeace saw an ideal opportunity to emphasise the need for the world to change into 100% renewable energy in the future and demonstrate how this is actually possible.

While the panel wrote and published the latest research on impact of human made climate changes, and their solutions how to mitigate and counter these impacts, Greenpeace launched a highly visible and eye-catching campaign, projecting the official Danish targets of 100% renewable energy by 2050 onto four wind turbines, with the assistance of AF Lighting and SGM's G-Spot LED moving head.

Greenpeace's project leader Esben Sloth explains: "We wanted the light projection to be very accurate, with sharp lines and figures, in order to make the wind turbines look like a graph."

ÅF Lighting were optimistic in their acce

USA - The first annual New York Festival of Light (NYFOL) came alive 6-8 after dark in Dumbo, Brooklyn, attracting crowds so large that the family event had to turn away people Saturday night. NYFOL utilised numerous Clay Paky fixtures on the main stage under the Archway of the Manhattan Bridge, and Clay Paky's new Supersharpys created the spectacular Beacon installation at The Pearl Street Triangle.

NYFOL offered visitors a curated collection of lighting installations created by local and international lighting designers, performance artists and technologists - all working with the medium of light. The event was presented by The New York Festival of Light Organization, a non-profit art group. Its vision is to create and provide a unique and delightful experience for residents and tourists by enhancing New York City's architecture through interactive, static and projected lighti

UK - Heathrow Airport and Fisher Productions worked together to bring some Christmas magic to travellers over the Christmas period at Terminal 2: The Queens Terminal.

Building on Terminal 2's vision, in conjunction with Heathrow, The Fisher team have designed and installed a giant vinyl Christmas tree which stands over 90ft high in the covered courtyard to T2, close to the Slipstream sculpture by renowned British artist Richard Wilson.

Fisher have added a very modern interactive touch to this traditional looking tree, overlaying it with festoons of lights that can be triggered to flash and dance by passengers who tweet Christmas greetings to #T2Christmas. After dark the tree will come alive with a gentle wash of light giving it an enchanting glow.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Leisuretec Distribution has selected Chauvet as a preferred supplier and strategic partner, reinforcing the existing relationship between the trade distributor of audio, lighting, video and special effects, and the lighting manufacturer. The announcement comes as a result of Leisuretec's decision to focus on a selection of hand-picked brands with strong customer appeal.

Cliff Dounting, managing director of Leisuretec, says: "What's nice is a manufacturer recognising a true trade distributor. We have a relationship built on strong teamwork, and it's a great pleasure to be associated with such a growing team at Chauvet Europe."

Leisuretec founder director Mike Henden adds: "Having a really good relationship between the key people in each company is fundamental to a strong, long-term partnership."

Leisuretec will continue to offer sales and support for

France - Nexo enters the new year of 2015 with a new CEO, as Jean Mullor takes over the reins at the French loudspeaker manufacturer.

Yoshi Tsugawa, who has guided the company for the past three-and-a-half years, is returning to Japan, where he takes up new responsibilities as the general manager for band & orchestra products in the MI & Audio Sales and Marketing Group of Yamaha Corporation.

New CEO Jean Mullor comes to Nexo from Yamaha Music Europe, where he has spent nearly four years as managing director of the French subsidiary, in charge of the domestic distribution of musical instruments, commercial audio products, audio video products and music schools network development.

Trained as a lawyer, Mullor brings with him a wealth of management experience. A lifelong passion for music has taken him from US petrochemical giant Mobil to Yamaha Corporation, joining the French

Germany - Sommer Cable, the specialist in professional cable and connection technology, is expanding the product portfolio with the addition of a high-performance hybrid cable: the Transit MC 1031. The new cable allows the simultaneous 10 Gbit network, power and HD-SDI-compliant video transmission. The robust and shielded cable is perfectly suited for use in conference and building technology, in OB vans as well as in mobile broadcasting at large events.

"With the Transit MC 1031 we have developed a compact hybrid cable which is up to the daily strains in professional environments. Despite its three inner conductors it is highly flexible, so you can easily bend or reel it," emphasises Pascal Miguet, product manager with Sommer Cable.

The new cable provides a hassle-free transmission over distances exceeding 100m due to low damping values, but also relies on a special

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