UK - Midwich has published its pre-close trading statement for the six months ended 30 June 2023, which includes the announcement of the acquisition of HHB Communications Holdings (HHB), a long-established supplier of specialist professional audio equipment, content creation products, and music technology.
Representing manufacturers such as RØDE, Genelec, and AVID from its three London locations, HHB joining the Group further develops Midwich’s offering in the strategically important broadcast, media, and entertainment markets.
Founded in 1976 and with 55 employees, HHB has built a name for itself in the broadcasting, media and entertainment market and has supported many notable postproduction facilities, film, gaming, recording studios, and broadcasters with its products used by the likes of Warner Brothers, BBC, Sky and Pinewood Studios.
Mark Lowe, managing

Turkey - Prolights Air 5Fans impressed the audience of the Hep Yeni Kal music festival with the performance of Mabel Matiz, a songwriter and pop musician who has quickly established herself as a major player in the Turkish and international music scene.
The festival took place at of Küçükçiftlik Park in Istanbul where Imagine Dragons, Elton John, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple and Lana Del Rey have played.
Prolights Turkish distributor, Modern Elektronik, supplied Prolights devices to rental company SOLID Technical, the system integrator at Küçükçiftlik Park. In collaboration with the event planning agency Epifoni Events and the lighting designer Sinan Akbaş, a customised lighting system was designed and installed for the event.
For the stage lighting during the Mabel Matiz concert, a total of 48 Prolights Air 5Fan were used: half of the projectors were positi

USA - Chart-topping country singer Morgan Wallen has set off on a tour of arenas, stadiums, and amphitheatres across North America. At the heart of the design for the shows are an army of VL3600 Profile IP fixtures from Vari-Lite, which are rigged centre stage and creating an array of high intensity effects and rich colours.
Raw Cereal served as the Creative Production House for the tour, with founders Anders Rahm and Cort Lawrence as creative director and show director respectively. Keen to find a feature-laden fixture that would be “capable of transforming the stage into a canvas of endless possibilities”, they sourced 130 VL3600 fixtures from PGP to play a crucial role in the look and feel of the show.
“The VL3600 emerged as our literal beacon of light, surpassing our expectations with its remarkable versatility,” says Lawrence. “As we curated a production

USA - A Green Hippo Hippotizer Tierra+ MK2 media server drove centre stage visuals at the VEX Robotics World Championship 2023, which brought young innovators from around the world to compete using their school-engineered robots.
Held at the 10,000-capacity Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Centre in downtown Dallas, the championships took place over 10 days and featured an opening and closing ceremony, competition battles, and an awards presentation. This year’s visual setup was made up of a 3:1 aspect ratio (63’ wide x 20’ high) main stage wall, which included a 12’ x 9’ guillotine door in the centre for presenters to enter and exit throughout the show.
To accommodate all audience members in the in-the-round arena, a huge LED screen ‘chandelier’ was hung in the centre of the venue above the stage, creating a viewing opportunity to any seat in the house. T

South Africa - Murangi Productions started as a family-based technical production and rental company way back in the year 2000. The company is now based in Edenvale, Johannesburg, South Africa and run by Hendrick Nemalili and his wife Rose.
Murangi Productions supplies full-production and crew to corporates, awards ceremonies, live shows, music festivals and a lot of church-based events including gospel shows and has recently expanded its inventory of Robe moving lights, with the purchase of 12 x LEDBeam 150s and 12 x 350s with 12 x Paintes on order.
Like many businesses in South Africa, Murangi Productions scaled back during the pandemic but was robust enough to survive, and they are now steadily gaining momentum again, with the assistance of their 12 full-time staff.
At the end of 2022 Hendrick and Rose were confident enough about the industry bounce back to

China - Wuxi Studios, nicknamed Chinawood Studios, is owned and operated by the China Research Institute of Film Science & Technology (CRIFST). Established in 2013, the place holds a distinguished position as a nationally acclaimed digital film industrial park, seamlessly integrating commercial film technology with a vibrant leisure destination that brings the enchantment of a ‘movie city’ to the fore.
A recent milestone for Wuxi Studios is the grand launch of a virtual production lab studio, heralding a new virtual production facility in China. This addition showcases China's largest LED volume, powered by Brompton Technology LED processing.
Zhang Wei, director of CRIFST, explains that this integrated high-tech project combines LED virtual filming technology, 5G network transmission systems, and artificial intelligence. "The establishment of this volume outli

India - The first Lollapalooza edition in Asia was staged at Mahalaxmi Racecourse, Mumbai.
With over 60,000 people in attendance, the festival witnessed both local and international headliners with state-of-the-art stage designs and experience zones across the festival. Imagine Dragons, Great Van Fleet, The Strokes, Cigarettes After Sex, AP Dhillon, Diplo, Jackson Wang, and Prateek Kuhad among many other famed artists were among the performers.
grandMA3 consoles were the preferred choice to design and control the on-stage lighting. Four grandMA3 full-size were used in total with four more grandMA3 full-size held in backup during the two-day festival.
Award-winning lighting designer Naveen Deshpande (founder) and Satvinder Singh - senior designer of ground control were the lighting consultants for Lollapalooza India. Naveen Deshpande comments: “We wanted to st

USA - German lighting manufacturer ROXX has announced its exclusive partnership with Inner Circle Distribution (ICD).
As the exclusive distributor for ROXX for the USA, ICD assumes the responsibility of sales, distribution, and support of the complete range of lighting products across its extensive network of dealers.
Thorsten Sattler, partner and director of sales at ROXX, remarks: "With their extensive knowledge and experience in the lighting industry, ICD has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to providing its customers with top-of-the-line lighting solutions. We are thrilled to appoint Inner Circle Distribution as our exclusive distributor.”
Ole Kaack, Inner Circle Distribution CEO adds: "By joining forces with ROXX, ICD fortifies its position as a premier distributor, offering an even wider selection of high-quality products to its esteemed cli

Denmark - Entertainment automation specialist, Motor Stage Automation (MSA), has made a substantial investment in Kinesys, comprising 30 x Kinesys Apex 500 Kg hoists and 30 x Kinesys Apex V2 drives plus three Mentor 401 safety controllers - offering SIL3 safety over Ethernet and safety control of up to 60 devices simultaneously.
This follows up a second-batch purchase of 21 x Kinesys Apex 500 Kg hoists and 26 x Kinesys V1 Drives, a Mentor 401 and Vector control delivered last year, bringing MSA’s current total of Apex hosts to 72, including Apex 1250Kg motors that arrived when the company launched in 2021.
MSA is a brand-new company, and before launching in 2021, Christian Vigso and his team scoped out the market to find brands that were reliable, respected, flexible, and good value, and assessed the advantages of each. They also wanted brands that were omnipresent w

UK - 50 Cent, Lil Yatchty, Travis Scott and D_Block Europe were among the urban music line-up appearing on the Serious 25m TZ Roof at Wireless Festival last week.
Serious Stages is supplying stages and site structures for Festival Republic across a range of UK festivals throughout the summer and has recently returned to Wireless Festival.
Serious operations manager Abbey Thomas says: “We work closely with Festival Republic’s creative and production teams to design and install stages that meet the needs of the headliners, while also creating a unique aesthetic for their events.
“Our TZ Roof was installed as the main stage at Wireless and incorporates bespoke curved screens on the goalposts to create a seamless, immersive visual experience for the audience. With the use of recently designed HD bowstrings, we were able to increase the capacity of the roof loa

Spain - The Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC) was dressed for a special occasion recently for the farewell concert party for Hertzainak, spread over two nights.
Hertzainak was a leading light in the movement known as ‘Basque radical rock’. Their first records combined the provocation of punk with the dance rhythms of reggae and ska, maintaining the political situation in the Basque Country as the context of their songs.
Lighting designer Carlos Cirre was commissioned to design a show that would transport the audience back to the style of the 80s and 90s and evoke a retro spirit recreated by 100 fixtures from the catalogue of GLP. This included 35 of the new impression X5.
According to Cirre, “The entire stage ceiling was covered with X5 luminaires. Although it was a completely new experience for me, I think this was one of the great discoveries of the event, a

China - Part of the Park Sports Complex in the Chengyang district of the Chinese city of Qingdao, the Qingchun Football Stadium was designed by the China Southwest Architecture Design and Research Institute and built by China Construction Eighth Engineering Bureau. With seating for 55,000 spectators, the stadium constitutes a major development for international football in China.
With ambitions to stage the Asian Cup and World Cup tournaments in the future, the Stadium needed to conform to the stringent standards of the game’s worldwide governing body, FIFA, as set out in its Stadium Technical Recommendations and Requirements.
The fully-roofed, two-tier construction ‘provides for every requirement of players, officials, media representatives, VIPs and fans to international standards’, while a multifunctional training hall, swimming pool, two further grass pitches

UK - After 14m albums sold, including two No. 1 hits, and a fistful of awards from Grammys to Brits, Mumford & Sons continue to surprise fans by pulling out widely varied musical influences, from ancient folk to highly polished modern rock.
On the band’s current global festival tour, designer Ed Warren reflects this expansive sense of discovery with a background that uses a combination of video tiles and lighting, along with fireworks from Strictly FX, to convey dramatically different impressions throughout the band’s 90-minute-plus shows.
At times, Warren creates a bright, seemingly solid wall of light behind the group, using the majority of the 108 Chauvet Professional Strike 1 fixtures in his kit, which is being supplied by Neg Earth in the UK and Europe, and Upstaging in the USA/Canada. During other segments of the show, the designer will have video images

The Netherlands - Successful singer-songwriter duo Nick & Simon (Nick Schilder & Simon Keizer) played six sold-out nights at Rotterdam’s Ahoy Arena, the culmination of their Nu of Ooit (Now or Someday) tour which also was the last time they will appear in this format, as after 17 years of performing together, both artists now intend to pursue solo careers.
Lighting was designed by Martijn Steman of Triple Showtechniek working closely with artistic / show director Ad de Haan from Live Legends with the help of approximately 220 x Robe moving lights on the live show rig, plus another 60 x Robe Spiiders appearing as virtual light sources within the digital scenery that defined the stage design and show aesthetic.
Jim de Brouwer from Live Legends created the set design in conjunction with Sander van der Ham of Bluepaper and creative Desiree van Giezen, wh

China - Christie has announced that its Inspire Series 1DLP laser projectors have been selected by visitor attractions in China’s southern Guangdong province as their preferred projection system.
Over 80 projectors, including the Christie DWU760-iS, DWU860-iS, and DWU960-iS models have been fitted in the China Qiaodu Museum of Overseas Chinese and Jiangmen Local Chronicles Hall in Jiangmen City, as well as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Talent Hub in Guangzhou.s
These projectors, supplied and installed by Christie’s partner Jianye Display, are equipped with a fixed motorised zoom lens and an IP5X dust-resistant optical engine.
“AV technologies, including projections, have been increasingly embraced by visitor attractions in China to bring exhibits to life with dynamic visuals,” said Zhongliang Li, technical director at Jianye Display. “

UK - Could advances in Bluetooth technology have benefits for the live music industry? Jonny McClintock, commercial director at Antennaware, CEO of Audio Codecs and advisor to Virscient, Segotia and Sonical, explores the issue . . .
McClintock: “Almost to the day, it’s been 12 months since I resigned my role in Qualcomm having looked after aptX for almost 30 years. In that time, I’d been on a journey that took aptX into over 12billion devices in the professional and consumer electronic audio sectors. The resignation was in part down to post-COVID, in part approaching 57 years old and an interest to see if I could ‘go again’, but mostly just a sense of frustration about wireless audio. This frustration was almost wholly around Bluetooth and how it really wasn’t delivering on its potential.
“When APT Licensing Limited was acquired by CSR in 2010, Bluetooth

USA - Wisycom has appointed John B. Anthony Company as its new manufacturers’ representative for the north-eastern United States.
John B. Anthony Company will represent Wisycom’s entire suite of products, including its new MTP61 Miniature Multiband Transmitter, as well as its new LBC61 4+4 Battery Charger and its versatile new MTK982 dual-wideband stereo IEM/IFB transmitter, among other solutions.
“For over 50 years, we have had a proven track record of generating new business and growing companies, and we are very excited to add Wisycom to our portfolio of brands,” says Angelo Fecci, president and treasurer of John B. Anthony Company. “Our hope is that through our services, we will provide Wisycom with the representation they need, and will prove to be strong assets to their team.”
“Expanding our market is important to us and working with the Joh

USA - Moving lighting fixtures around at a festival often requires some careful logistics. Moving crews around calls for considerable skill too. George Cannon got a first-hand view of both recently when he was hired by Harford Sound to be the house LD at the That Tent at Bonnaroo.
“Harford Sound was responsible for the That Tent and the This stage at the festival,” said Cannon. “They had morning and night shift crews that would tag off around 6-7 PM. We stayed at an Airbnb about 30 minutes away from site. So logistics alone for all those crew was a lot. Harford Sound and Rock the House AV did a great job making this project rock. The job everyone involved did was amazing.”
Tasked with providing audio, lighting and full staffing for both stages from 8am to 3am daily, Harford Sound broke the project into two shifts. With a crew 18 deep, the company furn

South Africa - Peter Lambert owns and runs a busy independent medium-sized camera and lighting system rental company based in Cape Town, whose clients work across a broad spectrum of broadcast and film/recording sectors including music videos, commercials, and streaming events. They also have a healthy cross rental business.
Three years ago, Peter started investing in Astera with the purchase of Titan Tubes, and since then demand continues to outstrip supply resulting in further purchases of Titans and Helios Tubes which have kept flowing steadily and now also include several sets of NYX Bulbs and Hydra Panels.
“I absolutely can’t get enough of the Astera kit,” declared Peter, who started the company in 2016.
The first Astera’s joined in 2020, supplied by South African distributor DWR, and Peter now has 10 sets of the 4ft Titan Tubes and two of the 2ft

UK - Occupying the stunning Tudor courtyard, the two-week Hampton Court Palace Music Festival returned recently to this Grade I royal palace setting, dating back to the early 16th century and once home to Henry VIII.
Working within constraints of heritage buildings and tasked with creating a technical infrastructure for the event in recent years has been SWG Events.
A major investment in the manufacturer’s technology has enabled them to field an end-to-end solution (the latest acquisitions being further Torus T1215 speakers and SXC118 single 18in cardioid subwoofers). This is in support of their flagship WPL Wavefront Precision line array which was deployed as the main PA hangs.
All of which has this year delighted the many visiting sound engineers accompanying artists ranging from Gladys Knight, Kaiser Chiefs, Soft Cell, Kool & The Gang and Tom Jones, who

Lebanon - LEA Professional has announced a distribution partnership with Technosound of Beirut to support its customer base in the Middle East. This partnership allows LEA Professional to increase support for its existing customers in the region, as well as further develop new opportunities in the market.
Technosound has more than 50 years of experience in the audio industry and is a trusted distributor in the Lebanese high-end pro audio industry, dedicated to providing customers with customised quality solutions. The company will represent the full range of amplifier solutions from LEA Professional.
“We are always seeking new, dynamic partners to complete our offering,” said Georges Bitar, CEO of Technosound. “LEA Professional is a game-changer in this industry and we are proud to work with an innovative partner that is always looking to make things better, easi

USA - Ed Sheeran’s Mathematics tour has entertained more than 4.5m fans across three continents since it launched in Dublin on 23 April of last year.
Additionally, the tour has been a valuable proving ground for advanced sound reinforcement technologies. The tour was the first to carry Milan AVB networked signals from FOH mix through to the individual loudspeaker boxes - in this case, 212 Panther large-format linear line array loudspeakers from Major Tom. The tour also has been a test bench for Meyer Sound’s new Nebra software platform for network configuration and system monitoring, while MAPP 3D prediction software has streamlined the task of realigning coverage for varying stadium shapes and sizes.
“The network has been rock solid, and we’ve used Milan AVB as our primary input since early in the European leg,” says system engineer Adam Wells. “Wit

UK - LeedsBID, a not-for-profit, non-political organisation, works to improve Leeds city centre for all. The organisation invests in projects, plans and activities to create a positive and dynamic profile for the city, aiming to attract talent, investment and visitors.
As part of its work to make the city more welcoming, the organisation deploys a small fleet of electric vehicles for street cleaning, event installation and delivery. Always seeking to maximise the impact of its work, the LeedsBID team wanted to equip a vehicle with two battery-powered screens to deliver essential daily information as well as advertising city events and activities. The idea for the Welcome to Leeds digital media vehicle was born, prompting LeedsBID to consult with Chris Beardwell, video and lighting sales at audio-visual specialists, Pro Audio Systems (PAS) of Bradford, over a way forward.

Namibia - One of the largest banking groups in Namibia recently opened a new branch in Maerua Mall. This banking institution designed its latest branch with the digital age in mind and rolled out the upgraded format to two further branches at Rehoboth and Windhoek Lifestyle Centre. The integration of all three sites was led by Stage Audio Works (SAW) Namibia, in close cooperation with the client and suppliers.
The brief for the latest branch at Maerua Mall, and the rollout of upgrades to further branches, called for the installation of multiple digital screens, intended for the purpose of displaying information and showcasing branded content. SAW Namibia specified and installed a full Samsung visual system in each of the branches.
“The client was clear that the content on the digital screens needed to be managed remotely through a centralised system,” recalls Joppi

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