Thailand - W-DMX by Wireless Solution recently played a starring role for one of Thailand's most visual celebrations - the King's Birthday. To celebrate, Bangkok created a month-long display of decorative lighting along the banks of the Chao Phraya River and along the Rama VIII Bridge. Time Code Light Sound of Bangkok worked with Wireless Solution to achieve the lighting on one of the most prominent displays.

Thai people and tourists flocked to Bangkok to admire the beautiful light show this year, focused on seven parts along Chao Phraya River entitled The Spectacular Light Show: The Royal Kingdom with different lighting displays. The Rama VIII Bridge was named The Capital of Light.

For the bridge, which was the grandest of the seven displays, this beautiful landma

Czech Republic - Sono Centrum in Brno, the Czech Republic's bustling second city, is the brainchild of local entrepreneur Jiri Stopl and is a vibrant live music club, a hotel and a cutting-edge restaurant all on the same site, bringing a new concept in entertainment and style to the city, the Czech Republic and indeed, central Europe.

Stopl, who also owns the Sono Music Studio in Prague, is a big music aficionado and wanted to bring a fresh new venue onto the gig circuit. He decided the easiest way to do this was to build his own ...

Once the decision was made, he wanted it to offer only the very best production values - so Robe moving lights and L-Acoustics audio were specified for the main stage.

The eye-catching modernist building was designed by forward-thinking architect Frantisek Smedek and resembles a PA speaker cone from the outside - a large white globe pinched betw

UK - Drapes, starcloth, LED and visual effects specialist S+H Technical Services recently supplied its 12 mm medium definition Glux LED screen to 10cc's recent UK tour, as specified by video and visuals designer Ian Holmes of Essex based XIVIX.

The band, including original member Graham Gouldman, have achieved considerable commercial and creative success and acclaim in a career stretching back to the 1970s and have just completed the first leg of an ongoing tour. Ian provided the video concept and design working closely with current lighting director Tigger (Russell Matthews).

They needed a versatile set up and flexible equipment that could multi-task to compliment the wide range of styles - from art house rock to pure pop - embraced by the band throughout the set.

Gouldman was particularly keen to get another original band member - Kevin Godley - to perform on one song via

UK - Four of Robe's Cyclone - LED wash light with an inbuilt DMX-controlled fan - fixtures were in action on the most recent gigs The Kaiser Chiefs, which were the final dates of a UK arena tour that saw the band ride high on the success of their fifth studio album Education, Education, Education & War.

The stage visuality was a carefully crafted collaboration by show designer Rob Sinclair and lighting designer Ali Pike, both of whom have worked for the band since 2013. The four Cyclones were supplied to the tour by special effects specialist BPM-SFX.

The four Cyclones were positioned two per side on the downstage edges of the stage. Rob explains that the band wanted to make some big statements in the arenas, and with a limited number of shows, they needed to "Be clever" with how they utilised the lighting fixtures.

Looking for a different and innovative 're

UK - Entec was involved in a recent collaboration with The Gig Company as technical production partner for An Evening With Suggs and Friends, an intimate action-packed showcase staged in the Woolwich Suite at the Emirates Stadium which raised over £130,000 for Pancreatic Cancer UK.

Hosted by Suggs and Stephen Kelly the gala dinner evening included an auction which was presented by Charles Hanson plus incendiary performances from Rudimental and Madness together with a house band comprising top session musicians.

Entec took care of all aspects of the lighting, sound and staging design and realisation, which was project managed on site for them by Matt Arthur working closely with Noreen O'Riordan and Mark 'Magic' Ellis Cope in Entec's west London base.

Jenny Johnson and Viva McPherson of The Gig Company comment, "It is wonderful working with Entec - as well as

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USA - When Deer Park High School, in the eponymously named suburb of Houston, underwent a massive expansion during the last decade, it emerged as a true 21st-century educational centre including a 1,500-seat proscenium theatre - the Deer Park High School Performing Arts Centre - that allows the school to properly host ambitious theatrical productions and other events.

Recently, the PAC underwent a significant audio/video systems retrofit, at the heart of which is an L-Acoustics Kiva line source array system. The new audio setup was designed and installed by the Houston-based systems integration division of LD Systems, which also has locations in Austin and San Antonio.

"The venue covers a lot of ground, so the sound system had to be great for both music and speech," explains Ray Givens, sales and design engineer at LD Systems. "They also wanted the system to be

USA - Allen & Heath digital systems were used at numerous venues hosting the SXSW Music Festival, one of the world's largest music conferences with 100+ music venues, held recently in Austin, Texas, USA. Most notably, GLD managed the entire sound reinforcement and sound streaming duties for the British Music Embassy held at Latitude 30, and the flagship iLive system managed live streaming at the Fader Fort.

Dual GLD systems split via Dante were installed at the British Music Embassy, the hub of British Music at SXSW. The set up comprised a GLD-112 with AR84 and AR2412 racks and AB-168 stagebox at FOH, and a GLD-80 expanded with an AR2412 and two AR84s for monitors. A broadcast multi-track feed for the BBC was also taken from the Dante network. The system was complemented with a Tannoy VQ-Live rig powered by Lab.gruppen amplifiers.

Allen & Heath tour sound manager, Leon Phillip

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With an LED life of 50,000 hours and low power use, the P6 cuts energy costs and supports the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ goals for climate neutrality by 2050. It also meets updated eco-design rules for lighting.

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Germany - Lawo will present IP-based audio, video and network solutions for theatre and live applications in Frankfurt (Hall 8.0 / Booth B50). On show will be numerous Lawo products natively equipped with SMPTE 2022 and Ravenna/AES67 demonstrated in a fully operational setup, including the new mc²36 console designed for live performance applications utilizing RAVENNA and MADI, as well as both V-line and A-line video and audio processing and routing devices.

The new mc²36 is a Ravenna-based all-in-one mixing desk with a comprehensive feature set that covers theatre, house of worship, live and install applications. It delivers Lawo's high quality and reliability along with extensive routing options and flexible performance capabilities. Since it is natively equipped with Ravenna/AES67 technology, the mc²36 integrates seamlessly into IP infrastructures, which is indispensable fo

USA - Everything about the Aura Music and Arts Festival in Live Oak, Florida, is fun, free spirited and ready to engage the senses in a myriad of ways. Held at the aptly named Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, which covers 800 acres lined with fragrant Spanish moss draped trees, the weekend-long gathering is a feast for the eyes with its art exhibits and stunning natural setting, as well as for the spirit with more than 20 yoga and healing classes.

Tying this multi-dimensional festival together is a series of free-flowing musical performances by groups like Disco Biscuits, moe, Papadosio and Main Squeeze, all of whom jammed beneath an impressive pixel mapped linear display of Nexus Aw 7x7 panels from Chauvet Professional. The warm white LED panels, which were provided by The Design Oasis of Davie, Florida, were mounted on a beam that ran across the entire width of the stage.

Germany - A Martin Audio MLA Mini, featuring the company's award-winning Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array technology, is playing a central role in the technical upgrade of the Elspe Festival in Germany. One of the largest and most visited show and festival parks in Europe, the 120,000sq.m site is located in the Sauerland Elspe, in Olpe, South Westphalia.

Each year Elspe Festival invests heavily in conservation and upgrading of the infrastructure to preserve its wild west theme, and welcome the Karl May Festival. This is when Winnetou and Old Shatterhand, fictional characters in the Western novels by the German writer, take their place in Germany's largest outdoor theatre.

Last year, renewal of the audio system was high on the agenda and sound consultant Ulrich Schmitz knew it had to cast its spell on the 200,000 people who congregate each year.

In addition to being responsib

Germany - UK-based instrumentation specialist Mantracourt has announced that its BroadWeigh wireless load monitoring system is to be exhibited at the Prolight+Sound exhibition in Frankfurt (15-18 April).

Mantracourt's technical partners AC Entertainment (Hall 9, Stand D47), Hof Alutec (Hall 9, Stand D60) and Louis Reyners (Hall 9, Stand E95) will be exhibiting at this event and visitors will have the opportunity to experience a full demonstration of the BroadWeigh system and meet key staff from Mantracourt.

The BroadWeigh portable wireless system offers real-time, simple, effective and accurate load monitoring for rigging professionals, safety officials and site managers enabling them to monitor and log the precise loads on any given rigging point.

"We are very pleased to be attending this show," says Kelly Voysey, marketing manager. "The entertainment sector

Germany - At Frankfurt next month, Eaton will introduce the FLX console, part of the Zero 88 Series.

The company says: "It's clean, straightforward, intuitive user Interface offers tools like Patch Wizard and Auto Palettes to consolidate all the prep work, leaving LDs, programmers and operators free to work faster and more harmoniously."

FLX offers 2,048 freely assignable control channels with no fixture patch limitations and is supported by four rotary encoders, 24 dedicated playback faders (with 10 pages) and four UDK's (User Definable Keys).

FLX uses Fe-RAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory) to store every button press in real-time and ensure that every second of the work is saved without any battery backup.

Additional USB wings - each with 24 more playback faders - can be added via USBs positioned all around the desk - for complete convenience and full flex

Germany - Avolites will launch its live control-focused Arena console at Prolight+Sound 2015 in Frankfurt. Offering "more live control than ever before", the Avolites Arena is designed for festivals, theatres and anywhere that a larger control surface is required. It combines the popular interface of the Tiger Touch II with 30 additional Playback faders and expanded live control options and features.

Alongside the main display, a second touch screen provides an additional workspace window, also labelling the adjacent macro buttons and rotary pots. These fully assignable playback encoder pots allow intuitive control of channels and effects. The six LCD screens display electronic legends for 30 faders, for speedy access to all your playbacks, fixtures and palettes.

A new optical output means the Arena is equipped for fibre connections, with no signal loss over long dis

USA - At the 2015 NAB Show, Renewed Vision will evolve the storytelling and production capabilities of ProPresenter for broadcast studios, sports venues and live corporate, worship and entertainment events, with an array of new tools and features that amplify the way live production teams present dynamic, high-quality content.

Like previous-generation versions, ProPresenter 6 is, at its core, a cross-platform (Mac and Windows) lyric, slide, and media presentation package. It merges dynamic multiscreen software with off-the-shelf computer hardware to make high-quality live productions simple and affordable. In a typical application, operators control a presentation on one screen, while dynamically affecting the visuals and lyrics experienced by audiences on one or more additional screens. Outputs are always live, allowing operators to edit one presentation as audiences view anoth

UK - AV technology pioneer Peerless-AV has appointed Stuart Robson-Frisby as director of business development for EMEA. Leveraging over 10 years' industry experience in business negotiation, channel and end user sales management, Stuart will be responsible for helping to identify and secure new business opportunities in key vertical sectors throughout EMEA territories.

"Peerless-AV is on an exciting journey as it grows from a successful mounts company to also becoming a recognised global player in Emerging Technology solutions," said Stuart. "It's an ideal time to join the team, enabling me to apply my communication, negotiation and relationship building skills to help drive new leads through our partner base."

Stuart comes to Peerless-AV from ViewSonic Europe where he held the role of European product marketing manager. Prior to that, he worked at Samsung

USA - Maroon 5 are currently on tour promoting their new album V which debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top 200. Escondido-based Sound Image is providing a 54-module EAW Anya system complete with 24 SB2001 subwoofers and eight KF364 point source systems as front-fill in support of the tour.

"The Anya PA is very exciting to mix on," explains FOH engineer Jim Ebdon in describing Anya. "I'm amazed by the consistency of the coverage."

Andrew Dowling, Sound Image system tech for the tour, adds, "When we compared Jim's mix on Anya and competing systems in January the choice was obvious - the way the vocal came forward in Anya was amazing."

EAW Anya, the flagship product in EAW's Adaptive Systems product family, is a complete, self-contained, high-power sound reinforcement system that adapts all performance parameters electronically and requires no

USA - Southern Adventist University, recognized as one of the top tier southern regional colleges, recently took delivery of a substantial sound-reinforcement system incorporating loudspeakers drawn from the catalogue of WorxAudio Technologies, a division of PreSonus Audio Electronics. Deployed in the Iles Physical Education Centre, the facility upgrade includes elements from WorxAudio's TrueLine and WaveSeries series.

Sound Ventures / Lunar Cinema of Knoxville, Tennessee, an AV production services and design firm dedicated to live events and select installations, was contracted to design and deploy the new sound system. Company president Dennis Farley discussed the project and his firm's decision to install WorxAudio loudspeaker systems.

"The Iles Physical Education Centre is a multi-purpose facility that is used for a wide range of activities," Farley explained. &q

UK - Chauvet Europe is going blue to help fight a disorder that affects an estimated 52m people throughout the world, and the company, along with PLSN editor and noted LD Nook Schoenfeld, is hoping that other lighting industry members join in this effort. On 30 March, the company lit its facilities in the United Kingdom and Belgium, as well as its US headquarters a bright royal blue to kick off the week leading up to World Autism Awareness Day on 2 April.

A longtime advocate of autism research and care, Schoenfeld was influential in getting the upper floors of the Empire State Building illuminated blue a few years ago as part of the Light It Up Blue campaign to draw attention to the disorder on Autism Awareness Day. "The organization Autisms Speaks came up with the idea of lighting landmark buildings blue on Autism Awareness Day to raise awareness of the disorder,&qu

Uruguay - The Sodre National Auditorium (Auditorio Nacional del Sodre) in Uruguay has chosen a self-powered Meyer Sound Mina line array loudspeaker system as the first permanent reinforcement system in the 1,900-capacity venue. The upgrade has ushered in a new era for the vibrant local arts community, which now has a performance space that shares high-quality reinforcement with Mina-equipped halls such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Festhalle in Germany.

In addition to the system's adaptability to the venue's diverse programming of rock, jazz, and pop artists, Mina was chosen for its compact size, which preserves the auditorium's classic architecture. The installation was directed by Cesar Lamschtein, senior audio engineer at the auditorium, who worked with Pablo Janssen, director at Montevideo-based Digital Audio Video.

"Our main goal was to design a system wi

USA - Lighting designer Andrew Cass chose Ayrton MagicPanel 602 and MagicBlade-R LED fixtures for his dynamic lighting of The String Cheese Incident, which toured the US from late summer 2014 to early 2015.

The String Cheese Incident is a Colorado band with an eclectic style that encompasses elements of bluegrass, rock, electronica, calypso, country, funk, jazz and more. Cass put together a vibrant and colourful lighting design which reflected the variety and dynamism of the band's diverse style. "Colours are my signature - I'm an over-saturated guy - and the band give me free rein to do whatever I want," says Cass. "The artists like my saturated colour and it is appropriate for their music. There are not many moments during their set when non-saturated colours fit."

To help achieve this level of intensity and variety, Cass turned to the ever-versatile Ayrt

Hong Kong - The Year of the Goat has already proved that it brings prosperity for Pacific Lighting (HK) Ltd with Robert Juliat sales. "We have received several orders for Robert Juliat products over the past weeks, most of which have been totally unexpected," says Pacific Lighting (HK) Ltd director, Hugh Chinnick.

The Tai Po Civic Centre, managed by the Leisure & Cultural Service Department of the Government, began the good fortune by purchasing 30 Robert Juliat Lutin Fresnels. "Their requirements for the new fixtures were that they should deliver a good light output, be light weight, and have an absence of engineered plastic components," explains Chinnick. "The Department reported they had experienced degradation of plastic parts on a number of Fresnels in their existing inventory, so a fixture without this material was preferred. The venue flying syste

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