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08 October 2024

Serious Risk - Councils will be forced to abandon the arts and other non-statutory duties without an urgent "injection" of government funding in the upcoming Budget, local authorities have warned. Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre have called the £54bn shortfall in local council funding a "serious risk to cultural provision" in England and have responded by reiterating their demand that the government strategically review public investment in the performing arts.

According to a new report submitted to the government by the County Councils Network, England’s councils face a funding "black hole" of £54 billion over the next five years, fuelled by the soaring cost of social care. Confronted with an "unpalatable trade-off" between bankruptcy and minimum services, the shortfall could lead to local councils being able to provide "little more" than care

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07 October 2024

UK - Production company, RG Jones Sound Engineering, needed to pull out all the stops when RG Live and Merlin Entertainment staged a mixed programme of four back-to-back concerts within the medieval setting of Warwick Castle. It was the perfect ‘picnic on the lawn’ scenario, and an occasion which challenged the Martin Audio MLA loudspeaker array to the maximum.

Opening with The Music of Hans Zimmer vs John Williams – an epic showdown between the film composers – the programme journeyed via Ministry of Sound Classical to McFly, before soaring further into the atmosphere with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds as a finale. As a bonus for the audience, joining Gallagher were Smiths’ guitarist Johnny Marr and The Waeve, featuring Blur’s Graham Coxon and ex-Pipette Rose Elinor Dougall.

All played out through Martin Audio’s flagship PA, whi

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07 October 2024

Europe - Registration is now open for Integrated Systems Europe (ISE). Returning to the Fira de Barcelona Gran Vía from 4-7 February, the ISE team is promising ‘a host of new initiatives and features, an expanded and more easily accessible content programme, as well as the unveiling of Hall 8.1’.

Mike Blackman, managing director of Integrated Systems Events, comments: “ISE 2025 will be our most ambitious, inspiring and motivating edition to date. ISE is the global destination to get your connection restored with the industry – through virtually impossible experiences, unrivalled networking opportunities, and state-of-the-art technology, as well as even more chances for career and personal development.

“With the show floor already 20% bigger, the addition of exciting new features, and our world-class content programme that digs deep into th

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07 October 2024

Portugal - Europalco has announced a new phase of expansion and innovation with its transformation into a group of companies: the Empowerment Ecosystem. This move aims to consolidate Europalco as the central brand of a dynamic ecosystem, with new companies strengthening its portfolio: New Audiovisuais, Rise, and Av Tech.

At the heart of this new system is Europalco, which takes on the role of empowering all the companies in the group. The Empowerment Ecosystem is built on a differentiated systemic narrative, where Europalco drives the growth and expansion of its companies, always focusing on the people who are part of this universe.

“The creation of the Empowerment Ecosystem is a natural step in Europalco’s evolution. We believe the synergies between New Audiovisuais, Rise, and Av Tech, backed by Europalco’s expertise, will ensure sustainable g

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07 October 2024

USA - Donald Glover’s recently completed The New World Tour was his last run of shows as the Grammy-winning artist Childish Gambino before he retired that stage persona.

“The idea of the whole tour was to build a world – The New World, as a sort of parallel universe, conveying a feeling of high tech but LOFI,” says production designer Tobias Rylander. “The world was to be dystopian and futuristic, not revealing if we’re headed toward darker times, or if we have just come out of them. It is a world where technology is modern but broken – and a world of not so high resolution.”

Lit by a carefully curated collection of fixtures, including the Chauvet Professional PXL Curve, this show opens with Gambino appearing on one of the two side stages dressed in a futuristic space suit surrounded by smoke, lights and laser beams. As he be

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07 October 2024

UK - Holotronica provided a bespoke Hologauze installation for the Island in a River exhibition created by Matthew Rosier at the refurbished Yarm Town Hall Heritage Centre in Stockton-on-Tees.

The Island in a River film was designed to be viewed from outside at night. Reflections of the river Tees are projected onto the Hologauze and float past a canoe, connecting river use past and present.

The exhibition features a collection of local artefacts interpreted by 10 films, created by the artist in collaboration with local residents. The objects are displayed inside the exhibition centrepiece – a replica iron age canoe, carved by local volunteers throughout summer 2023.

The exhibition room is open to the public in the daytime, and so the installation was designed so that the Hologauze could be deployed each night for the Island in a River film

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07 October 2024

USA - The expertise of live sound engineers Malcolm Gil and Ben Rothstein converged at Lollapalooza this summer, where they were part of the team supporting US breakout pop star Chappell Roan.

At Full Sail University, Rothstein built a solid foundation in audio engineering and pursued a position at Clair Brothers. "I've been with them for almost 18 years, starting as a PA tech and working my way up through various roles," he shares. His career-defining moment came in 2018 when he was entrusted with mixing monitors for Queen.

After gaining experience at Third Encore in Burbank, Gil took a leap into touring with a West Coast reggae band, Rebelution, in 2017, and has been on the road ever since. He now mixes for artists including Ice Spice, Khalid, Labrinth, and now Chappell Roan.

At Lollapalooza, Gil, serving as both monitor engineer and stage

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07 October 2024

USA - Merging Technologies has announced that Pyramix 15 will be unveiled at the upcoming AES Show in New York from 8-10 October.

This latest version of Pyramix comes with a fresh, modern redesign and an enhanced user experience, making it more intuitive and easier to use. It boasts an advanced real-time editor, versatile fade editor, complete mixing and mastering functionalities, and immersive workflows, including support for the Dolby Atmos ADM format. Pyramix 15 introduces a number of new features and enhancements.

Members of the Merging Technologies software team, led by Dominique Brulhart (head of application software) and Maurice Engler (product owner - Software Solutions), will be on hand to demonstrate Pyramix 15 at AES New York.  

“It is with great pleasure and excitement that we present the newest version of Pyramix 15 to the No

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04 October 2024

UK - The Backup Tech team was thrilled to once again be part of the #WeMakeEvents hub at the PLASA Show 2024. From this base, the Backup team and its ambassadors were able to connect with industry professionals and raise awareness of the important work Backup is doing in the industry.

Every year, the show represents an opportunity to meet up with old friends, enjoy great conversations and make new connections. This year, the larger footprint meant that the hall was abuzz with even more new technology and creativity. Spaces where attendees could relax and regroup were an important part of the wellbeing strategy, and the wellbeing hub, crewed by the EventWell team, provided an additional quiet space for anyone who wanted it.

“Backup received multiple donations during the show, thanks to a lot of hard work from our fundraisers and the generosity of PL

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04 October 2024

UK - LSi is sad to report the passing of software and media server pioneer, Richard Bleasdale (1965-2024) at the end of September.

Rob Halliday writes: “Richard Bleasdale was one of those backstage artists whose work was never recognised in itself by the show-going public, but which enabled remarkable work by others that was, in some cases becoming era-defining. Some of these ‘secret’ backstage artists work in wood, some in metal, some in fabric. Richard’s medium was software: software which enabled shows to happen in entirely new ways.

Like a fair number of others in this industry, Richard studied at Imperial College in London, theatre a distraction from the actual course that would go on to shape his working life. Working at Vari-Lite at a time where you’d have one lighting console for the conventional lights and another for the moving li

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04 October 2024

UK - Avolites has announced the launch of its Academy Online Learning Platform, which takes a ‘bite-sized’ learning approach and replaces the previous version launched in 2021.

This new platform will mean anyone with an internet connection can access and learn to use Avolites software. At launch, the platform will have the Titan Intermediate (Level 1) training course available and contains over 70 three-to-five-minute videos. All the individual videos are grouped together into ‘lessons’ for ease of navigation.

All the videos will have the option of an English voiceover appearing as subtitles in several languages, and more will be added in the future. To further promote users’ knowledge retention, taking the online courses and simultaneously practising live on the software is recommended.

After completing each video and lesson, there

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04 October 2024

UAE - HH Audio, part of the UK Headstock Group of companies, has officially announced the appointment of Sound Factory FZCO, based in the UAE, as an official HH distribution partner in the GCC including the Middle East, CIS and parts of Northern Africa.

Sound Factory’s BD manager Fara Azari states: “At Sound Factory, we're excited to kick off this new partnership with the HH brand. Their history, strong reputation for quality, and customer focus align perfectly with our values, and we’re confident this will lead to growth and success in the territories we've been entrusted with. We truly appreciate the opportunity to team up and are eager to explore what’s ahead for HH Audio. Here’s to a successful and rewarding partnership as we work together to take the brand forward.”

Ian Wright, Headstock’s director of global sales adds: “I am ver

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04 October 2024

USA - Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Sammy Hagar was on the road for two months over the summer with his Best of All Worlds tour that played across the USA with a line-up including Joe Satriani, and a lighting design created by Jamie Fadden featuring Robe moving lights prominently on the rig.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Fadden started working with the prolific artist four years ago and took over the LD position in 2021 and is also LD for Satriani. For this tour, a completely new lighting design was produced utilising 22 x Robe BMFL Spots and 10 x BMFL WashBeams, 40 x MegaPointes, 42 x Spiiders and five Tarrantulas together with eight Forte FollowSpots running on four RoboSpot BaseStations. All lighting equipment was supplied by Felix Lighting.

Fadden also produced most of the tour’s video content and the band risers were part of her

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04 October 2024

Mexico - Guadalajara-based production house Star Producciones deployed its Nexo STM modular line array system at a major corporate event at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico.

Multinational nutritional and cosmetic products company Omnilife took over the large arena in Mexico City on 7 September for its annual leadership meeting, which is held in a different country each year.

Under the guidance of local production manager Juan Pablo Dominguez, the Star team rigged a total of 180 boxes from the STM system.

The setup at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico comprised main left and right hangs of 18 x STM M46/B112 with three M28 down-fills, and out-fill hangs of 12 x STM M46/B112 with three M28s. The main sub arrays featured 18 x STM S118 in cardioid mode with separate stacks of six S118 per side, also in cardioid mode.

Nexo’s industry-standard PS15R2 p

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04 October 2024

Denmark - At the heart of its northern city Aalborg’s cultural life is the Aalborg Kongres & Kultur Center (AKKC), one of Scandinavia's busiest entertainment and convention venues. Hosting concerts, theatre, ballet, exhibitions, and conventions, it welcomes over half a million guests annually.

After years of relying on traditional incandescent lighting, the venue decided to upgrade to a more versatile and energy-efficient LED system to better accommodate its diverse events. AKKC lighting technicians Jakob Krøyer and Thomas Nowakowski were instrumental in the search and eventual specification of a new LED lighting system for the venue’s main performance space, ultimately opting for Elation Fuze Max Profile and the KL Profile FC luminaires.

Krøyer explains the specific lighting requirements: “We needed an ellipsoidal fixture for static fron

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04 October 2024

Canada - This August, Pierre E Roy was the LD for Rock La Cauze, a festival that takes place over three days at Parc Terre des Jeunes in Victoriaville, Quebec. The main stage hosted 19 acts, mostly rock and metal artists, along with some reggae bands, like Atreyu, Thrice, Arch Enemy, and Sublime With Rome.

Roy’s versatile festival rig featured the Chauvet Professional Maverick MK1 Spot, seven Rogue Outcast BeamWashes, six Rogue R2 Beams, and 25 Colorado 2 Solo fixtures, all supplied by DGM Sonorisation.

“I only had 14 of the Mavericks, so good placement was important,” said Roy. “I studied all the light plots for each band programmed in our festival. I then introduced the light plan in a way that made it as easy for them to clone their show.

“Given how many acts we have to please, flexibility is important and a priority in the rig,

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04 October 2024

USA - LEA Professional has announced its partnership with Elite 3 Pro. This partnership will bring LEA’s technology catalogue to customers in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas.

Elite 3 Pro originated in 2006 in response to the growing need for support in the constantly changing technology industry. Elite 3 Pro will provide LEA Professional’s award-winning Network Connect series of professional amplifiers and companion Dante Connect series, featuring Dante and AES67 connectivity. These series enable integrators to utilise cloud-based remote control, monitoring, notifications, and more from any internet-enabled device, allowing them to stay connected anywhere in the world.

"We take pride in providing our customers with the best products and continuously listening to their needs to ensure that we meet their evolving requirements," stated Dale

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04 October 2024

Europe - The Showtec Titan Strobe FLEX FX is designed to ‘revolutionise the way we experience strobe and effect lighting’.

The Titan Strobe FLEX FX features eight powerful pods, each equipped with a 100W cold white COB LED behind a Fresnel lens, delivering sharp and intense strobe effects. These effects are designed for high-energy environments like concerts, festivals, and large-scale productions, where impactful lighting is essential. Surrounding each COB LED are 12 integrated 2W RGBW LEDs, which can be controlled individually, giving you precise control to design intricate and dynamic lighting designs.

This fixture seamlessly integrates into modern lighting setups with ART-Net and sACN compatibility, ensuring it works effortlessly with larger systems. It also includes RDM (Remote Device Management) functionality, allowing for remote monitoring

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04 October 2024

Canada - PK Sound has augmented the feature set of PK .dynamics, its proprietary robotic line source system design, control and monitoring software, with the release of v1.5 for Windows and macOS. Combining every stage of the modern live sound workflow in a single solution, .dynamics lets users take their designs from conception to the real world with the flexibility of real-time coverage adjustments even after the system is flown.  

New features for v1.5 include the implementation of PK Sound’s incoming Tx14 and Tx26 intelligent point-source modules, which enable users to design and control complete system solutions for a myriad of mobile and permanent applications. Additionally, a new auto-save feature automatically backs up files every 15 minutes for enhanced user security and confidence.  

“.dynamics is the core of PK Sound’s technologi

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03 October 2024

Italy - Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest continuously running opera house in the world, is based in the historical heart of Naples. Renowned worldwide for its rich musical tradition, it presents over 250 performances of opera, ballet, and music every year.

As a leading cultural hub in Naples and one of Italy's most esteemed theatres, it features a modern lighting system equipped with numerous ETC products.

Nunzio Perrella, head of the lighting department and lighting designer, has had a long career at San Carlo, inspired by his father, who was also the venue's lighting designer. Starting young, Perrella staged small performances in his early teens and became a chief electrician for touring companies by his late teens. After gaining experience in television and touring with renowned artists across Italy, Perrella returned to Teatro di San Carlo at 23 a