Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
LSi 40 - Banner - July-Nov 2025

Details
Record Sales - One Direction, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay helped UK artists account for one in seven of the albums sold globally during 2014, the BPI has said. With 13.7% of worldwide sales, it's the highest British share since the BPI began recording those figures in 2000. Sales of albums by British artists rose in Canada, Australia, Italy and Sweden, as well as the US. Albums from Sam Smith and Pink Floyd also made the top ten list of the world's biggest-sellers of 2014.

According to the BPI's Music Market 2015 report, Taylor Swift topped the list of global recording artists, after shifting six million copies of her album 1989. The figures, which take into account album sales, track sales and streams, put One Direction in second place and Sheeran in third. The BPI also found

Details
The Netherlands - More than a decade after much-loved Dutch duo Karel de Rooij and Peter de Jong stopped performing their comedy act Mini en Maxi, public demand for their brand of humour was so great that they agreed to perform as Mini en Maxi again at Koningklijke Schouwburg (Royal Theatre) in Den Haag for a run of shows from April through to June. A Yamaha CL1 digital mixing system has helped to bring the act right up to date.

Established in 1969, de Rooij and de Jong enjoyed huge success with Mini en Maxi, a Silver Rose of Montreux-winning variety act of non-speaking, visual humour. However, music was always a major part of the performances, both men being accomplished musicians, as well as having extra players in the shows for musical accompaniment.

Despite having put the act aside for over 10 years, the two men continued to perform together in speaking plays like Samuel B

Details
World - AC/DC are back with their Rock or Bust world tour and lighting designer and show director Patrick Woodroffe is again the creative mastermind for the tour design, for which lighting director Cosmo Wilson specified two grandMA2 full-size consoles for control. Woodroffe explained his design ideas, "I wanted to create a big, large scale rock concert to fill the end of a stadium. Therefore I selected a tough, strong, ballsy lighting for this tough strong band."

Wilson commented on the grandMA2, "I am using the grandMA2 because I have had such success using the grandMA series 1 for the past 10 years and I decided it was time for me to upgrade to the grandMA2. The learning curve was easier because I have been using the grandMA series 1, but there are so many new things on the grandMA2 that make programming and operating my show much easier and quicker. Also havin

Doughty - Banner - from 4 July 2025

Details
Italy - "Our purpose is to spread a new culture, where art becomes life and life becomes art," is the promotional tagline for Metamorfosi, a stylish new bar in the Italian city of Fondi, where a Yamaha CIS installation is helping to inspire and entertain the city's new generation of artisans.

The area around Fondi is known as 'little Florence', due to the history and quality of art that characterises it. Owned by Gianfranco 'Jef' Annunziata, the recently-opened Metamorfosi is intended to act as a hub of cultural originality; a meeting place for people who want to continue the region's traditions of innovative art and design through participation, education, training, seminars and exhibitions.

Already attracting a reputation as 'the most trendy bar in town', a Yamaha CIS sound reinforcement system has been installed to deliver original live music, DJ sets and speech-b

Details
USA / Canada - Another draft American National Standard has been posted for public review on the PLASA TSP website at http://tsp.plasa.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php: BSR E1.51 - 201x, The Selection, Installation, and Use of Single-Conductor Portable Power Feeder Cable Systems for Use at 600 Volts Nominal or Less for the Distribution of Electrical Energy in the Television, Film, Live Performance and Event Industries in Canada. Its public review period runs through 3 August, 2015; the review is over and the links to the review materials disappear when 4 August starts.

BSR E1.51 is intended to offer guidance in accordance with existing applicable standards and regulations in Canada on how to select, install, use and maintain single-conductor portable feeder cables used to supply power for television, film, live performance, and special events in Canada. Materially affect

Details
Canada - Since 2010, Montreal's Rialto Theatre has undergone extensive renovations to bring the historic venue back to its former glory. Originally built in 1923 and designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1993, the venue has undergone several changes throughout its lifetime from its original use as a cinema to a high-end steakhouse in 2000 to the live entertainment space it now offers.

After its 2010 purchase by current owners/operators Ezio Carosielli and Luisa Sassano, the venue has revitalized both the interior space and the iconic architectural elements of its façade, including a new exterior lighting system outfitted with Martin Professional architectural lighting solutions.

When structural renovations in the summer of 2014 presented an opportunity to refresh the façade, Garou Blancan, the Rialto's technical director and winner of Martin Professional's 2014 Yo

Details
Canada - Staging operator TAIT has brought Limpet safety and access systems on board to support the World's biggest band on one of the biggest tours ever seen. U2's Innocence + Experience tour kicked off in Vancouver's Rogers Arena on 15 May with Limpet E5 units being used as access and safety systems for the innovative video wall that is the centrepiece of the tour's stage effects.

Frank Aguirre, president of Innovative Access Systems struck the deal and commented, "Awareness of Limpet systems is growing fast among professional stage riggers in the USA. More folks are now seeing them out on tours and are getting wise to the access, safety and rescue benefits of bringing them into touring shows.

"As with many of its projects, Tait is at the front of innovation. The use of Limpet to be redirected through custom bracket with multiple pulley points to help cover the who

Details
UK - On Sunday 31 May, Leon Kay for First Light Theatre, together with TheatreMAD, a fundraising brand of The Make A Difference Trust, held a one-off performance of Elegies For Angels, Punks and Raging Queens at the Criterion Theatre.

Twenty-two years after it was originally performed in the venue, the play made a welcomed return to the stage to once again raise the profile of HIV awareness as well as the charity's work. White Light was called upon to provide some essential lighting equipment for the performance, which not only meant assisting on an important event but also continuing their relationship with one of the UK's leading HIV charities.

Established in 1990 as West End Cares, the rebranded TheatreMAD is a group of volunteers bringing the theatre community and its audiences together to raise awareness and funds for those diagnosed with HIV. Originally starting w

featured content

ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features. 

For more information visit us at www.etcconnect.com

Details
Qatar - The 2015 World Men's Handball Championship finals were staged for the first time in Qatar, from 15 January to 3 February 2015.

Auditoire Qatar, a well-known event organizing company headquartered in France with branches in Qatar and various locations worldwide, conceptualized, designed and produced festivities in different locations across the city establishing Qatar as a world class sport hosting country in the region.

SGM's Middle East distributor, TechnoPro llc, contributed to the success of the event by providing the technical production with the latest state-of-the-art equipment, manpower, and system operation in the month long preparation and implementation of the event.

The Doha Corniche skyline was illuminated with a dynamic lightshow featuring 1000 x SGM LED fixtures. One hundred and twenty G-Spot, 600 x P-5, 280 x SixPack were installed on 28 x Litec truss

Details
Austria - The LumenRadio team, based in Gothenburg, Sweden, had two reasons to celebrate this year as Sweden brought home the Eurovision song contest trophy for the sixth time. This year's contest was held in Vienna, Austria and made use of LumenRadio's CRMX technology to provide wireless DMX links around the arena for props and set pieces, ensuring even in highly congested environment, the link was rock solid.

Lighting designer Al Gurdon dazzled the audience with an array of looks from soft and subtle ballads to rock and punk, accented by LED screens embedded in the floor and providing a constantly evolving backdrop to the stage. Providing media technology and kinetic lighting effects was Entertainment Technology Concepts GmbH. Volker Suhre, CEO, selected LumenRadio as their wireless partner for the event.

The CRMX technology was used in the show to provide links to difficult

Details
Singapore - Nearly 500 Robe BMFL moving lights were at the core of the lighting scheme designed by LD Mac Chan for the vibrant Opening Ceremony of the 2015 South East Asia Games in Singapore on Friday.

The glittering spectacle staged in the new 55,000 capacity National Stadium was broadcast live on national TV and across south East Asia, reaching an estimated audience of 600m, and saw the 28th SEA Games declared open in great style. It also featured the greatest number of Robe BMFLs - to date - used on a single event.

The BMFLs represent a massive investment made by Singapore based rental company Showtec Communications Pte Ltd., which purchased over 700 BMFL fixtures, most of them especially for the event, once Mac had confirmed his decision.

Mac was asked to design the high-profile event's lighting by creative director Beatrice Chia, with whom he has worked on previous larg

Details
UK / USA - British singer-songwriter Ben Howard is enjoying success on both sides of the Atlantic, having completed a sold out UK tour in December, a successful run in the US, returning to the UK in April, where he filled arenas round the country, including three nights at London's Alexandra Palace, Glasgow's SSE Hydro, Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena and Birmingham's NIA. His fans are no doubt delighted with the quality of audio that rental company Nitelites is delivering, which in no small part due to their choice of DiGiCo SD7s for both Front of House and monitor positions.

Nitelites director Andy Magee, who has been working with Ben since 2012, elected to take up the FOH position, with Barrie Pitt mixing monitors. They use SD7s, he says, simply because they are head and shoulders above anything else.

"The band knows exactly what they want and we try very hard to give it to

Details
New Zealand - The X Factor New Zealand is based on the international X Factor production format owned by Simon Cowell's SYCO Entertainment. Paul Collison, along with Simon Garret, design and operate the weekly show from a temporary studio fitted out in a food storage warehouse in South Auckland.

Norwest Oceania Productions supplied the lighting, audio and rigging for the project, which include eight ETC Source Four Revolutions, purchased especially for The X Factor.

Garrett, Norwest Oceania's general manager, is delighted with his purchase which is essentially a high performance Source Four zoom profile spot equipped with motorized pan, tilt, zoom, on-board dimming, and colour scroll.

"I knew they would be good but I underestimated how much fixed lighting they would render obsolete," Garrett remarked. "Being able to shift lights live when the tal

Details
UK - Blackburn-based lighting and visuals rental specialist HSL has appointed Mick Seddon as group financial director and strategist.

Working closely HSL's MD Simon Stuart, he will play a key role in HSL's active expansion over the next five years, and is one of a number of high level appointments to be announced by the company in the coming months.

HSL and Mick's accountancy practice have already been collaborating for several years. During that time, Mick has been instrumental for the management and co-ordination of several acquisitions by the HSL Group, including the purchase of Playlight, The Lighthouse and Production Services Ireland.

Simon Stuart states, "We welcome Mick to his new role at HSL. His combination of foresight, financial savvy and imagination will help shape our future and ensure that HSL remains a major force, as well as an adaptable and efficient bu

Details
USA - InfoComm 2015 sees a number of significant new Coda Audio products being introduced to the US market for the first time. Held from 17-19 June at the Orange County Convention Centre in Orlando, Florida, Coda will be highlighting new products recently launched at ProLight+Sound in Europe.

Exhibiting at Booth 985 in InfoComm's Audio Pavilion, key new products for Coda are the AiRAY high output, full-range line array system, HOPS8 two-way point source loudspeakers and further innovations in the company's LINUS range of amplifiers and LiNET Digital Audio Transport and Distribution (DATAD) products.

Set for a full launch in July, the AiRAY three-way, full-range line array addresses the 'holy grail' of exceptional output and intelligibility, yet from elements that are half the size, weight and transport dimensions of conventional 2x12" systems.

High Output Point Source H

Details
UK - Bel Digital's BM-A1-4SHD four channel audio monitor/de-embedder is already a firm favourite with broadcasters. All of its features are now available in a larger 2U chassis, providing increased definition in metering and an increase in SPL.

With a reduction of both chassis depth (down to 200 mm) and overall weight, the new BM-A2-4SHD MKII is ideal for OB or Flyaway applications.

The BM-A2-4SHD MKII can de-embed any group of four channels of audio from one of two SDI sources (up to 3G SDI) and display the levels on the front panel meters, as well as providing stereo audio monitoring of any combination of the four channels.

In addition to the auto-detecting SDI inputs, the BM-A2-4SHD MKII has four balanced XLR analogue inputs and two AES3id BNCs. A re-clocked loop-through output is available for the selected SDI source, providing a convenient and cost-effective method of s

Details
Spain - VMB has released the new TL-A400 and TL-A500 line array lifters. Both lifts have been manufactured to be as compact as possible whilst retaining all the features of the rest of the line array series.

The TL-A400 lifts 400kg (882lbs) to 6m (19.7') and with a stowed height of just 1.67m is extremely compact. The TL-A500 lifts 500kg (1102lb) to 7m (23') and is the companies most powerful lifter. Both come with the ALS (Auto Lock Security) system, a safety feature which automatically locks the lift masts as they rise. The lift also has the SRS (Sequence Retainer System) built-in to it. The SRS means that the sections of the lift rise and descend in sequence, one after the other.

The masts are manufactured from highest grade aluminium for low weight. Steel outriggers & base as well as lateral support bars add further security and stability to the lifts. The special design m

Details
UK - Allen & Heath has launched dLive, billed as "a next generation digital mixing system, providing ultra-flexible architecture, a powerful FPGA processing core, a comprehensive array of expansion, control and networking options, plus the intuitive Harmony user interface with gesture control, meaning dLive is geared to applications from rigorous touring and festivals to installation in prestigious live venues".

dLive has a distributed system design with separate MixRack and Surface. The dLive processing brain is housed in the MixRack, available in three sizes - the DM32, DM48 and DM64, and there are three accompanying control surfaces. All MixRacks and Surfaces are mix 'n match compatible, with common configuration, setup and show files. The MixRacks also contain the same processing engine, pioneered by the Allen & Heath R&D team using next generation FPGA technology.

Details
UK - The Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) has issued a warning to UK employers about the risks of being misled regarding their obligation to undertake periodic thorough examination of all lifting equipment.

The advice reflects growing concerns within the lifting industry that some companies are being tempted to cut costs by not conducting thorough examinations as frequently as required by LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations).

Geoff Holden, chief executive of LEEA, said: "All UK employers are subject to LOLER, which clearly states that, once in service, lifting equipment for lifting persons or accessories for lifting must be thoroughly examined by a competent person every six months. Lifting accessories include commonly used items such as shackles, steels, hooks and round slings. Only for lifting equipment that does not fall into one o

Details
Vienna - While equally unsuccessful on the stage at the recent Eurovision Song Contest, Austria and Germany achieved full marks behind the scenes. Austrian host broadcaster ORF marked the 60th anniversary of the world's oldest and most successful televised song contest not only as a perfect host, providing a spectacular TV and stage show, but also with a technically innovative production concept.

All of the contest's audio signals were routed via a Ravenna/AES67-based IP infrastructure for the first time at a Eurovision event. Both the Lawo Nova 73 audio matrix - including all connected Dallis I/O systems used by ORF's broadcast supplier, VideoHouse - and the video and audio distribution of the Lawo commentary solution were based on IP networking technology.

All of the audio signals were collected by a central audio router, to be distributed to all of the event's suppliers and

Details
UK - Wembley Stadium was awash with neon light as thousands ran, danced, shone and partied through the night, basked in the Avolites controlled glow of the Electric Run UK. VME took on the event production, also supplying the lighting kit for the event. Their appointed lighting designer and programmer Pete Watts chose a selection of Avolites control solutions including Titan One dongles, an Expert Pro and a Titan Mobile.

Electric Run, an internationally run event originating in the US, is in its second year in the UK. It has grown from a single Wembley date to multiple events across the country in 2015.

Watts, who also programmed the show last year, specified an Avolites control solution for the 5k run around Wembley Park. This included five Titan One dongles, running on touch screen Panasonic Toughbooks, all provided by VME.

Designing colourful and energetic displays across

Page 3306 of 3420
LSi 40th sponsors - Large MPU - July-Aug

Latest Issue. . .