UK - The Arena Group has helped create an improved facility at Ice Rink Canary Wharf, including London's first ever Ice Path, November 2012.

Nestled under the soaring buildings of Canada Square and bathed in twinkling festive lights, Ice Rink Canary Wharf is back with a sparkling new look for the 2012/13 season. The 807m² rink opened on 7 November with a spectacular ice show and live music and is expected to attract a record number of people before closing on 13 January 13, enhancing visitor experience across the Canary Wharf district during the festive season.

Arena Group delivered a full service turnkey solution for event infrastructure, working with client Ice Rink Canary Wharf to deliver every element of the project in the sensitive location of Canada Square. This included temporary structures, branding, working with all stakeholders including main sponsor Hublot, interio

USA - Drive through the parking lot at Harrah's Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack any time, day or night, and you're likely to find it packed. With the Philadelphia area's only 5/8 mile harness racing track and a casino larger than three football fields, Harrah's draws a steady stream of customers coming to play, eat, drink, and be merry.

With the casino's close proximity to busy Philadelphia airport, selecting the right sound system took on a critical role. As Jim Esher, Harrah's technical director of entertainment, explains, "We're so close to the end of the runway, I can tell you what kind of sunglasses the pilot's wearing."

Esher specified Community Professional Loudspeakers across a wide range of the venue, including more than 140 Community R.5 loudspeakers for the main casino and gaming room. The expansive outdoor racetrack area is covered by 15 R1 all-weather

UK - October saw singer-songwriter Labrinth take to the road for an eight-date UK headline tour. Backed by a four piece band and with plenty of guest appearances, a Sennheiser microphone and in-ear monitoring package "ensured that all consistently sounded their best".

Labrinth is a regular Sennheiser user and played a major part in the company's Masters of Sound competition earlier this year. Designed to encourage the best original up-and-coming songwriters, the Masters of Sound winner, Claire-Louise Rossi, gained valuable experience by spending time with Labrinth in his studio.

The tour took in Academy-sized venues and included eight sets of Sennheiser ew 300 G3 in-ear monitors, an AC3200 IEM combiner, two ew 572 G3 guitar systems and a pair of ew 500-935 handheld microphone systems.

Monitor engineer Ross McGroggan has been using Sennheiser equipment for a number

Czech Republic - Just under a year ago, Innovason announced a significant audio system upgrade for one of the Czech Republic's most historic cultural landmarks, the J.K. Tyl theatre in the city of Plzen (Pilsen). Built in 1902, the impressive building honours the city's outstanding theatre tradition, which is second only to that of the capital, Prague.

Last year saw the installation of a new Innovason Eclipse GT digital mixing console at the heart of a sophisticated and fully scalable EtherSound digital audio network, all supplied and installed by Innovason distributor and entertainment solutions provider MusicData. Less than 12 months later, MusicData, were back to install a second Innovason Eclipse GT.

The first Eclipse was installed in the control room. The second occupies what has been designated the 'Live Post' position - in other words, a traditional FoH position at the

Russia - Clear-Com has outfitted Russia's world-renowned Bolshoi Theatre with an expansive intercom network consisting of FreeSpeak digital wireless beltpacks and V-Series keypanels that are connected to the powerful Eclipse-Median matrix system for production communications.

The installation, facilitated by Clear-Com's local distributor, Oltbert Ltd, and system integrator, Module-T, allows the Bolshoi Theatre production crew to now enjoy greater connectivity, reliability and coverage than ever before.

The Bolshoi Theatre is home to the world-famous ballet school, Bolshoi Ballet Academy, and holds a broad-range of ballet and opera performances. After six years of renovation, the Bolshoi recently re-opened with a set of state-of-the-art acoustic sound systems and production communication equipment.

The 112-port Eclipse-Median system forms the backbone of the theatre's communi

USA - Bandit Lites reports that Bandit clients were big winners at the 46th Annual Country Music Association Awards. The event was broadcasted live on Thursday, 2 November, 2012. Country superstars Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood hosted the event which was held in Nashville at the Bridgestone Arena.

Of the 12 awards given, almost all went to clients of Bandit Lites. Blake Shelton took home Male Vocalist of the Year and the ever-coveted Entertainer of the Year in addition to winning Song of the Year with wife, Miranda Lambert for the song Over You. Lambert also won Female Vocalist of the Year for the third consecutive year.

Little Big Town celebrated two wins, both Vocal Group of the Year and Single of the Year with their first #1 hit, Pontoon. Thompson Square, comprised of husband and wife team Keifer and Shawna Thompson, were awarded Top Vocal Duo, breaking Sugarland

UK / USA - PLASA's month-long elections to determine positions on its European and North American Regional Boards, together with its central Governing Body, concluded at midnight on Wednesday 31 October.

Companies and individuals from PLASA's worldwide membership voted in the elections which were conducted via a secure online poll.

There were four positions available on the European Regional Board. Martin Hawthorn of Hawthorn's was re-elected to a second term as Treasurer and Mark Surtees of Outback Rigging successfully retained his position as Production Services Representative. Noreen O'Riordan of Entec Sound and Light becomes the new Rental Company Representative, while Steve Macluskie of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland will take on a second term as the Organizational Representative.

Five positions were up for election on the North American Regional Board with Scott H

UK - Orbital Sound has just completed a major installation at Oval Space, East London's prestigious multi-use arts and events venue, involving a new sound reinforcement system that represents one of the first permanent UK installs for d&b audiotechnik V-Series line-array loudspeakers.

Featuring two principal performance and event spaces totalling some 7,500sq.ft , Oval Space hosts events ranging from DJ nights and live bands, to corporate functions, film screenings and fashion shows. The venue was looking for a highly flexible sound system, capable of handling the broadest range of speech and music programming, and selected the d&b audiotechnik system from Orbital after a comparative test across four major loudspeaker brands.

A critical factor in the final choice of loudspeaker system was the ability to minimise sound leakage, in order to avoid complaints and remove any threat

UK / USA - Challenge anyone to name a landmark tour from the 1980's and many will say Peter Gabriel's So tour. Lighting fixtures played a starring role on that tour 30 years ago, interacting with Gabriel from a number of strategically placed lighting booms that were integral to the stage set.

This design has been re-created for Gabriel on his 2012 Back To Front tour which is a nostalgic celebration of Gabriel's 1986 'So LP interspersed with works from his illustrious 35-year solo career.

Accompanying Gabriel on this Stateside tour has been UK LD Rob Sinclair.

Sinclair first worked with Peter Gabriel in 2009 and again for his New Blood show in 2010. He was approached to join Gabriel in America this year, for the tour that will hopefully be seen in Europe in a year or so.

Sinclair is modest about how he has risen to the challenge of emulating the

Australia - LumenRadio has announced that Melbourne based LSC Lighting Systems will distribute the CRMX wireless DMX/RDM products in the expansive Australian market. LSC has also added CRMX capabilities to such products as the MDR splitters; the world's first field upgradeable splitters to offer RDM functionality and wireless as options.

With a 30-year heritage of designing, manufacturing, and distributing leading edge products for the entertainment market worldwide; LSC Lighting Systems has developed a reputation for innovation, quality, and reliability in its offerings.

LSC has also been at the forefront of many new technologies; being a world leader in the introduction of digital communication with the DMX512 protocol; merging conventional and intelligent lighting control into one platform; and leading the industry in the introduction of the Remote Device Management (RDM) p

UK - To celebrate 50 years of their music, The Rolling Stones kicked off this year's holiday festivities on London's Carnaby Street, switching on the annual Carnaby Street lighting display with a rock n' roll twist.

For the temporary installation, Patrick Woodroffe, lighting designer for The Stones since 1989, collaborated with James Glancy Design to transform London's historical shopping and music district for the season. They turned to entertainment lighting specialist White Light to supply lighting solutions for the holiday installation.

Hundreds of shoppers and music fans gathered for the celebration, taking in Rolling Stones themed decorations, highlighted by the colourful sparkle of lighting from every angle.

For the event, the team from White Light installed nearly 50 wireless LED fixtures - CORE Lighting Point30 units - all around the popular shopping area. The Point

Sweden - Liseberg in Gothenburg maintains its position as one of Europe's top amusement parks by offering a steady stream of new attractions while keeping the visual look of the park engaging and fresh. Dynamic lighting schemes from Martin Professional play a key role by creating an exciting nighttime experience.

One of the park's newest attractions is the Liseberg Wheel, a classic Ferris wheel ride that gives visitors a majestic look over the park and city as the newest feature in the Gothenburg night time sky. Used to illuminate the legs, spokes and carriages of the Wheel in dazzling colour is the latest in Martin Professional LED-based lighting. Martin worked closely with Liseberg throughout the project from idea, visualization and product choice to demonstration, installation and final realization.

"When moving the giant Wheel from its earlier position by the harbour

UK - Award winning journalist Fredrik Skavlan hosts the most seen talk show in Scandinavia with over 3m viewers and so it came as no surprise when BBC Entertainment decided they wanted to film some of the new series in London.

Since the TV talk show, which is aired in Norway and Sweden was premiered back in 2009 there has been a constant stream of international guests, including Jay-Z, Rihanna and Vince Vaughn.

Filming in what some would argue is the media hub of Europe has meant that this impressive list can continue, most recently cheeky chart topper Robbie Williams who was performing his new single Candy.

Lighting designer Dave Gibson turned to Richard Martin Lighting (RML) to provide an exciting and colourful look to compliment the essence of the song. Gibson chose Sharpys, MAC 250's, MAC 500's, LED Par Cans and Robe 100 LED Beams to create this. In addition he al

Finland - A range of Turbosound loudspeakers has been specified to deliver total clarity on Viking Line's latest ship, the M/S Viking Grace.

According to Jouni Sironen, Viking Line's AV manager, extreme care has been taken to select the best audio systems possible in order to deliver crystal clear sound in every part of the ship.

An impressive roster of 344 Turbosound models has been specified to accommodate the wide range of sound reinforcement needs throughout M/S Viking Grace. They include 256 TCS-C50T ceiling speakers, which will ensure that not only the background music but the exacting needs of the ship's voice alarm and announcements systems are also fully met in restaurants, conference and shop facilities. The TCS-C50T offers outstanding fidelity, 150° conical dispersion to ensure wide and even coverage from fewer loudspeakers, exceptional power handling, and multi

Australia - Prior to the recent release of ArKaos MediaMaster Pro 3, the team at BAAC Light in Melbourne, Australia gave the new software - complete with its new Video Mapper extension - the ultimate final beta test.

An amateur production of Hairspray the Musical staged by one of Victoria's largest non-professional musical theatre companies, PLOS Musical Productions, provided the ideal opportunity due to the requirement for a fully projected set. Large moveable set pieces constructed from polystyrene called for a media server solution capable of individually mapping over 90 different projection surfaces as the set pieces were moved into numerous configurations for each scene.

BAAC Light co-founders Andrei Chlebnikowski (projection designer) and Brad Alcock (lighting designer) opted to upgrade their MediaMaster licenses prior to the official release in order to have acce

France - Christie has announced the opening of its new office in France near Paris. Historically located in Gennevilliers, the new refurbished facility represents the logical next step for Christie's presence in the French market, providing an unrivalled level of service and support to its clients and partners, says the company.

With a surface area that has tripled in size, the new facility now occupies over 1000sq.m and hosts a vast area dedicated to service and training. It also has several dedicated spaces including a showroom for staging live demos, several rooms for seminars and training courses, along with an extended sales open space.

The new office is headed by Pascal Gervais, regional director, Christie for France. He enthused, "Following more than ten years of constant growth and successful brand development in the French market, and since we exceeded our capaci

UK - PR Lighting has changed its UK distribution arrangements, appointing White Light, with immediate effect, as sole reseller for its extensive range of LED and automated discharge solutions.

White Light sales director Peter Threadgold, commented on the decision saying, "The PR brand is one of the more established Chinese manufacturers - the company has been around for a number of years and has a reputation for quality."

PR Lighting's international sales assistant director, Cui Lin, replied, "The UK market is very competitive and we believe that White Light understands this market extremely well."

The London based entertainment lighting specialist sees the primary market for PR Lighting's products as being event hire companies and venues where a quick return on investment is required.

White Light's technical support team have been working closely with

Puerto Rico - Chauvet Professional is once again the choice for a new season of Idol Puerto Rico show, which airs on WAPA-TV Canal 4, one of the most viewed TV stations in the country.

Having opted for Chauvet Professional SparkliteLED Drape backdrop drapes for the show's first season, lighting designer David Ayala specified more than 70 fixtures for the current one, including the drapes that he uses as base for his design. Musique Xpress of Puerto Rico provided the luminaires.

"With these drapes I managed to build the most important layer of my design for the television set," Ayala said of the Drape fixtures, which are fully controllable and expandable tri-colour LED star field drapes. "They were my base for colour, and furthermore, they played an important role in the scenography."

For downlighting, Ayala placed 24 Q-Wash 260-LED moving heads in

UK - Devon based drapes, starcloth, LED and visual effects specialist S+H Technical has supplied 1100sq.m of lush red velvet Pea-Light Starcloth containing approximately 6000 inbuilt lights, plus an additional 6000 Pea Lights integrated into the set walls for Strictly Come Dancing, staged in BBC TV's TC1 studio, Wood Lane, Shepherd's Bush, London.

These elements are a vital component of Patrick Doherty's set design. They help set the mood for the UK's perennially popular series - now in its tenth season - which is broadcast live each week during BBC1's Saturday evening prime time, complete with a studio audience of 600.

For this series, around the bottom half of the set (below the balcony) the individual Pea Lights have been fastened in neat rows so they all line up. More, installed in the same way, are also used to line presenter Tess Daly's interview area on the balco

UK - Manchester-based lighting and rigging company dbn supplied stage lighting for the City's high profile 2012 Festive Season lighting switch-on.

Working for Manchester City Council, dbn has been involved in the event for the last decade. However this year - with 20,000 enthusiastic audience packing Albert Square in front of the Town Hall in torrential rain to see leading UK boyband The Wanted headline the live line up and hit the button - has been hailed as 'the best' to date.

Hosted by local radio station Key 103, also performing were local singing star Misha B, the Manchester Sing Out Choir, urban dance troupe The Avenue and former X-Factor contestant Carolynne Poole.

Lighting for the entertainment show was designed by dbn's Andy Kennett.

In front of the Town Hall a large open steel structure was constructed to support a giant Santa Xmas lighting feature which sat 11m

UK - Noise Control Audio, a North London-based loudspeaker manufacturer and production company, have recently added two Midas PRO2 digital consoles to their hire & events stock, purchased from LMC Audio.

Bertie Hunter, technical director at Noise Control Audio (NCA), comments, "The event side of NCA has really taken off this year with lots of high profile bookings, and we knew we needed to buy a good quality mixing desk. NCA have spent 10 years making some of the purest sounding speakers in the industry. We are extremely picky about every element in the PA chain and we needed to be just as picky with the choice of mixing desk.

"JP (Cavaco, sales manager) from LMC London and Rob (Hughes , UK customer support manager at Midas & Klark Teknik) came down to demo the desk for us and from the moment we heard the audio come out of the desk we knew it would be perfect to driv

USA - The University of California at Berkeley and Ithaca College (NY) have added Robert Juliat Cyrano and Buxie followspots, respectively, to their theatrical lighting inventories.

UC Berkeley has invested in four Cyrano followspots purchased from Musson Theatrical. "They asked for several demos and were excited about the Cyranos," says Musson Theatrical's Dinna Myers. "Robert Juliat is known for high-quality optics in the followspot market - they're rapidly becoming the leader in that sector."

Jeremy Little is an ETCP-certified electrician and master electrician with Cal Performances, the UC Berkeley-based presenting, commissioning and producing organization for world-class music, dance and theater. He recalls working with Cyranos when he toured as a followspot operator. "They were very fun to drive," he says. "The user interface is great,

UK - Avolites top-of-the-range Sapphire Touch lighting console is the control and programming tool of choice for lighting designer Chris Bushell, currently touring with Florence & the Machine.

Bushell, who was this year shortlisted for the Knight of Illumination Award for lighting design, took the Sapphire Touch out on the summer's festival circuit, where he dazzled audiences with his stunning, art deco inspired design.

"I've always used Avolites consoles and the new software just keeps getting better and better," comments Bushell "I started out on a Pearl a fair few years ago. I've tried many other consoles along the way but kept returning to Avo. I then used a Diamond 4. I was particularly thrilled when that platform was effectively put into a Tiger Touch. So much so that I bought a console of my very own!

"Although much more compact, the Tiger Touch st

Belgium - Noxx Antwerp has completed its redesign with two ArKaos Stage servers driving video on a 30sq.m 3D sculpture and a 300sq.m LED ceiling.

Five years have gone by since Noxx Antwerp first opened its doors to the public in September 2007, five years making history, making of Noxx one of the biggest clubs in Belgium, Europe even. Noxx is also a stylish venue which can accommodate up to 2500 clubbers in five different areas.

The management recently decided to renew the design of the Main Room with a spectacular 3D mapping projection driven by an ArKaos Stage media server. They also switched to another ArKaos Stage server for displaying visuals on the LED Web that covers the entire ceiling.

When entering the redesigned Main Room, your eyes will almost immediately point to the massive 3D sculpture, which forms the body for the revolutionary 3D mapping projection, unique in

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