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

Business

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UK - Hawthorn, one of the UK's largest suppliers of technical and event services has annouinced the acquisition of Anagram, another well respected supplier to the event, conference and exhibition industries.

Currently employing more than 100 full-time members of staff, working across all industry sectors, Hawthorn boasts an annual turnover of £9m, whilst the Anagram team stands at 15 and turns over £3mper annum. Anagram will now dry hire equipment from their base in Cambridge, adding to Hawthorn's existing bases in both the Midlands and London.

Hawthorn's managing director, Martin Hawthorn, said, "This is an exciting opportunity for everyone within the group, allowing us all to open new doors, pool resources and develop existing relationships. There are many synergies between the two companies, bringing them together under one umbrella increases our knowledge,

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UAE - The second Dynamic Events conference is taking place in Dubai this weekend. With an impressive number of delegates already registered to attend from all over the world, there are now only a few places remaining, and the organisers are hoping for a capacity audience, announcing that it will be possible to 'turn up on the day'.

The focus of the conference will provide insight into how complex one-off mega events - for a live audience and for broadcast to a global audience, are orchestrated by the backstage production teams.

The keynote on the second day of Dynamic Events will be given by David Atkins, DAE Global.

"Given the calibre and status of the attendees and my fellow speakers, The Dynamic Events Conference will clearly have a significant influence on the industry and I am very excited to be taking part in this most prestigious event," says Atkins.

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City Theatrical - Banner - July 2025

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UK - AED Distribution has announced the opening of a new AED Distribution UK facility, based out of their existing AED Rent premises in High Wycombe - to be headed by David March, as sales director.

AED Distribution UK says it will provide distribution for a cohesive range of entertainment technology brands, underpinned with professional logistics and order processing, supported by the AED Group Solutions. The range will initially include CM Entertainment Technology, Prolyte (including the four complementary but independent brands of Litestructures, Prolyte Structures, StageDex and ProLyft), GLP lighting, MDG foggers, High End Systems' Hog 4 control family, Fenix lifting towers, Swisson DMX solutions and sine wave dimming, SRS motor controllers, dimmers and power distribution, plus hardware from Manfrotto and Doughty.

Formerly director of European Sales for Philips Vari-Lite a

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Denmark - Following the completion last week of its acquisition of Martin Professional and the foundation of a lighting business unit within Harman Professional, Harman has announced two key promotions at the company which, says Harman president Blake Augsburger, will position the business unit for optimal development while capitalising on selective shared resources and relationships with Harman Professional.

With immediate effect, Lars Dige Knudsen is promoted to vice-president, general manager, Lighting Strategic Business Unit, "taking over from Martin's previous CEO, Christian Engsted" - the statement says: the only mention of Engsted, the CEO who has guided Martin through eight years of drastic change, much of it in the face of severe economic adversity.

At the same time, Villads Thomsen is promoted to vice-president, Global Sales, Lighting Strategic Business Uni

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UK - BVE 2013 at its new ExCeL home proved a popular event with exhibitors and visitors alike. The exhibition hall was buzzing with more than 15,000 visitors* over the three days, and attendance figures indicate a 5% increase in visitors attending for two or more days as well as a 57% increase in international visitors. Organisers also report record onsite re-bookings, with current exhibitors committing to 70% of the floorspace for BVE 2014, which takes place from 25-27 February 2014. BVE North, held at Manchester Central, has been confirmed to take place on 12-13 November 2013.

James Rowley-Ashwood, Event Director, BVE, said, "The show was a phenomenal success for both exhibitors and visitors. The feedback we have received has been overwhelmingly positive and constructive, and footfall shows that the industry supports the move to ExCeL. It has given us a great foundation t

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UK - Congratulations to Richard Howell, winner of the Best Lighting Designer category at this year's Offie Awards, which recognise and celebrate London's eclectic off-West End theatre scene.

The 2013 awards saw the Best Lighting Designer category supported by leading entertainment lighting supplier White Light, a counterpoint to the company's support for both the Whatsonstage.com awards presented earlier in February and the Olivier Awards coming soon and reflecting White Light's aim to support productions of all types and scales.

Richard Howell took the prize for The Hairy Ape at the Southwark Playhouse, about which The Guardian newspaper commented "brilliant lighting from Richard Howell (an endless riff on the theme of light and dark) makes this a hugely visceral experience - like something conceived as an endlessly shifting painting".

Howell's fello

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Australia - Mojo Barriers' Australian office was appointed to supply stage barriers and crowd safety services across three of the country's biggest summer music festivals in 2013 - Big Day Out, Soundwave and Future Music Festival.

The contracts follow the announcement late last year that Mojo Barriers had opened its first permanent Australian premises, offering improved services to events across the continent.

Future Music Festival, which tours nationally and kicked off in Brisbane on 2 March, boasts acts including The Prodigy and The Stone Roses. Mojo Barriers is supplying 2.5km of aluminium stage barriers across all stages.

The national Soundwave tour kept Mojo's team busy installing over 4.5km of barrier across the festival's five sites (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth) helping to keep audiences, crew and headliners including Metallica and Linkin Park safe

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India - Clay Paky's increasingly strong relationship with Mumbai-based Jagmag Electric Co. is resulting in the full range of Clay Paky fixtures being utilised at many of the most glittering events across India's major cities.

Jagmag became distributor for Clay Paky in India in 2009 with a view to developing the market for Clay Paky in India and ensuring that JagMag's prestigious clients have access to its feature rich, energy efficient, high output lighting stock.

Since then, Jagmag Electric Co., respected as one of India's leading one-stop, full service, in-house lighting, production and power distribution companies, has supplied Clay Paky luminaires to many of India's premier ceremonies.

Lighting designer and general manager of Jagmag, Atul Sonpal, is known for his work on Bollywood award nights and shows in India, and last year Jagmag and Clay Paky have collaborated to en

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UK - One Direction picked up the inaugural Global Success Award at The BRITs, shortly after performing from a pinball stage custom designed and built by LS-Live - a company that also collected an award the previous week for Favourite Staging Company at the TPi Awards.

The boy band gave an energetic performance of their Comic Relief single - a medley of One Way Or Another by Blondie and The Undertones' Teenage Kicks - from the giant pinball machine. The colourful centrepiece carried the gaming theme from their previous stage set on ITV's The X Factor final - also designed and fabricated by LS-Live.

Said LS-Live director Ben Brooks, "We successfully delivered a red 'slide' staging structure for the band in December for their X Factor performance, so production manager Kenny Underwood approached us again to develop the idea for a pinball themed show.

&

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UK - More than 20 years after the late Whitney Houston was immortalized on the big screen with The Bodyguard, London's Adelphi Theatre is staging a musical production of the story, featuring a 151-cabinet Meyer Sound system based on the M'elodie and MINA line array loudspeakers.

The Bodyguard musical has abundant dynamic contrasts. They range from moments of hushed intimacy between the two lead characters to the goosebump-inducing show-stopping hits like I'm Your Baby Tonight and I Will Always Love You.

"The brief was to bring a filmic quality to the production, whilst bringing all of the theatrical style that one would expect," says sound designer Richard Brooker. "So we have a slightly warmer dialogue sound and more elaborate use of soundscapes and FX than might be considered usual, as well as the ability to deliver the big pop anth

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USA - Few times of the year feature as much gonzo production work as Fashion Week in New York City, when designers from all over the world come together to unveil the new clothing designs for the coming year.

The event takes over venues across the city from Lincoln Center to the 26th Street Armory. To master the gruelling schedule and bring all of the designers' runway visions to life, Sapsis Rigging, Inc. (SRI) is the technical management company of choice for designers including Mark Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger, and Kenneth Cole.

Production manager Michael Sapsis assembled a crew of more than 35 riggers who worked steadily for two weeks, installing 225 chain hoists, 3,000 feet of assorted truss, and one 4,000-pound sodium-vapour lighting effect, contained in a circular truss rig and lifted by a mother grid. The final assembly of this effect took place twelve feet above the floor

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Brazil - Over 150 Robe moving lights - including 56 x Robin LEDBeam 100s, 26 x Robin MMX Spots and 24 x LEDWash 1200s - were supplied by leading Brazilian rental company Luzbel Iluminação for the 2013 Summer Festival de Salvador. The event was attended by over 250,000 people across four days and broadcast on Red Globo TV.

Salvador, Bahia based Luzbel timed their latest purchase of Robe luminaires especially to be able to put the new units on the high profile event's main stage which featured a production lighting specification by one of their technician's, Junior.

It follows Luzbel's initial investment in Robe's ColorSpot 1200E AT and ColorBeam 700E AT units two years ago ... and the excellent results they have had using these.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Renowned techno DJ and producer, Gayle San, has adopted the Xone:DB4 as her mixer of choice for touring and production work.

Gayle San started DJing 18 years ago with vinyl, then progressed to CDs, and most recently her set up is digital, originally based around the Xone: 4D and now the new Xone:DB4 mixer and Xone:K2 controller.

"I always choose A&H because every time I play on a Xone mixer at a club or a festival it never fails me. The sound is massive, open, and crystal - it's amazing!" explains San. "Not only can I travel lighter with my new set up but there are endless new possibilities at each gig using digital technology, which is more motivating for an artist."

San usually plays three or four tracks simultaneously on the DB4, alongside a K2 controller which is used to provide the tactile controls mapped to Traktor Pro.

"I love the EQ Is

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Hong Kong - The Chinese New Year race meeting at the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Shatin racecourse is a key fixture in both the sporting and social calendar of China's special administrative region. The 2013 meeting saw Coda Audio's Airline LA8 system given a high profile, head-to-head trial against another system, with Coda emerging as the clear winner.

As well as the racing, the event featured a lavish opening ceremony at the racecourse's parade ring, featuring entertainment including performances by African and Chinese drummers, vocalists and the famous Chinese Lion dance. Wright Click Production & Engineering were contracted to provide sound reinforcement for the ceremony and took the opportunity to compare two different audio systems.

"Our client wanted to compare the Coda LA8 system with that by another manufacturer," says Wright Click's Sugar So. "Using both

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Japan - High End Systems' new flagship Hog 4 console made its debut in Japan when Kome Kome Club's Super Natural Carnival arena concert tour kicked off in early February. Formed in 1982, Kome Kome Club is widely recognized and revered as the only Japanese pop musical group to achieve commercial success by blending soul and funk musical styles.

Makoto Shimizu from Lighting Big1 is the tour's lighting designer. Shimizu witnessed the unveiling of the Hog 4 at the LDI 2012 exhibition, and was eager to specify the console for the Kome Kome Club tour. He comments, "I'd been eagerly waiting for the release of the Hog 4. There had been rumours for some time, although I tried not to get my hopes up based on rumors. Initially, I planned on using a different console; I'd been using the Full Boar forever, and it was about time to try something new. And that was when the Hog 4 ca

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UK - For the UK premiere of the fifth installment of the Die Hard franchise, Twentieth Century Fox brought in Premier to produce the London premiere of A Good Day To Die Hard.

Reflecting the full-on action of the movie, and providing a backdrop for the arriving stars including Bruce Willis and Jai Courtney, the Leicester Square premiere included a genuine ex-active-service helicopter alongside the red carpet outside the Odeon.

To add a little extra glamour to the heavy machinery, Premier brought in XL Events to provide scenic LED along the base of the 17m long flatbed truck on which the helicopter sat.

The low level of the truck provided XL with a challenge as there was limited space around the base in which to rig the LED. XL Events supplied 56 tiles of Pixled FX-11 for the event.

Pixled FX-11 was selected for the job due to its lightweight 450mm square tile size a

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USA - ETC's recent training session for factory representatives on their new Prodigy variable speed rigging featured a Bandit Lites' installation at a Nashville school. Bandit's director of sales Chris Barbee was on site to offer insight into installing the new rigging system.

"It was a beautiful facility that had the equipment in both variable and six-speed rigging, and it allowed us easy access to the grid to show people the equipment," said ETC's Gary Henley. "Rather than a conference room with a projector, we thought that if we had the opportunity to take them to a working space and see the equipment and have the installer there to explain the process, it would be much more practical."

When Ensworth School received a donation to continue the master plan for the high school theater, the independent school contracted Bandit to design and install an automa

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UK - As part of Richard Martin Lighting (RML) new initiative as LAMDA's principle lighting partner, the company opened its doors to their first year students to host the annual LED Play Days. "It's a great chance to show these prospective lighting designers and technicians of the future, the latest in the Industry's innovation and design. Our demo room is the ideal space for such an event," says Simon Cox, RML warehouse manager.

In recent years, over 90% of LAMDA's Stage Management & Technical Theatre students who actively sought jobs in the sector found employment within three months of graduation.

The academic year group is separated into four so that they have a much more intimate and hands on experience over the four days. LAMDA is very much a practical academy and so this ties in perfectly with the way in which they train their students.

LAMDA introduce

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Australia - The Arts Centre Gold Coast started in 1986 and after a change of name and some additions to the building, it remains as a major venue for the area of South East Queensland. Although located in Surfers Paradise you still need somewhere to go in the evening and with the 1139 seat Arts Theatre, two cinemas, the Arts Cafe, the Gold Coast City Gallery and other performance and function spaces, this is truly a hub of cultural life.

While it is a community based arts theatre, it hosts performances by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, the Queensland Ballet and the Queensland Opera as well as other significant theatrical and musical events. It is also the venue for Australia's longest running Eisteddfod which sees over 60,000 performers grace the stage during the month. This requires a significant investment in technology to cope with the variety and rapid changes of program

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Germany - From 8-13 January, this season's Biathlon World Cup was contested in the Chiemgau Arena in Ruhpolding, Germany. During the five days of competition, some 70,000 spectators visited the village in Upper Bavaria to watch the world's elite biathletes in action.

For several years now, the Traunstein-based firm of Musik Mayer has been employed as general contractor whenever the Biathlon World Cup has visited Ruhpolding. They, in turn, commissioned MSE-Tontechnik GmbH of Stubenberg in Lower Bavaria to plan and implement the sound reinforcement for the main grandstand.

The main grandstand of the Chiemgau Arena recently underwent a major refurbishment in time for the 2012 Biathlon World Championships and now extends for 135m, seating 13,000 spectators. The latter, according to MSE's managing director, Johannes Schilling, have come to expect not only commentary that it is inte

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South Africa - The 9th Annual Channel O Music Video Awards held in November 2012 at the Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown, Soweto, comprised of a Mega Dome structure and an enormous lighting plan.

A professional group of companies and individuals put the event together. Television production company, Don't Look Down Convergence Agency, were responsible for producing the event for DSTV while AV Unlimited supplied the full technical. The dome structure in which the event was held was supplied by IN 2 Structures, part of the Gearhouse Group of Companies. The set designer was Garrith Castelyn from AV Unlimited and Dreamsets were involved in building the stage. For the fifth consecutive year, Joshua Cutts from Visual Frontier was the lighting designer.

"It was a big design from a lighting point," explained Joshua Cutts. "The brief was to create a black negative space

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South Africa - The South African Broadcasting Corporation has invested in three powerful touch screen Avolites Tiger Touch consoles.

Avolites' South Africa partner DWR Distribution and entertainment lighting service company Blackmotion oversaw SABC's Tiger Touch investment for its Auckland Park, Johannesburg, studios.

The upgrade was part of a major enhancement of the Corporation's TV lighting facilities.

"The SABC has been using an analogue console for decades which was an impediment for their LDs to achieve anything other than generic lighting," says Kagiso Moima, managing member at Blackmotion. "With the new era of lighting technology in South Africa and the Digital space every Broadcaster has moved into, it was imperative for the SABC to introduce this technology to its employees.

"Avoites' Tiger Touch touch screen, the fact it's such a user friendl

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USA - Kansas City, Missouri's World Revival Church, a 1,000-seat house-of-worship facility that ministers to a live congregation and broadcasts services globally, recently upgraded its sound system with components from Bose Professional Systems Division.

RoomMatch loudspeakers and PowerMatch amplifiers, along with other Bose products, were installed to deliver the clarity and intensity of the church's services. The challenge was to provide a system that could deliver uniform coverage, consistent volume levels and optimized sound at every seat, and by all accounts, the new Bose system more than did its job.

Ten years ago, with demand for the church's services on the rise, World Revival moved from its original meeting house to its current 1,000-seat auditorium, with stage space for a full band, professional lighting rigs and multimedia capabilities. Soon, World Revival began liv

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Belgium - The PARTS contemporary dance and performance school in Brussels has an international reach, holding auditions in countries around the world and accepting only the most talented students.

PARTS was founded in 1994 by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, one of the world's most prominent choreographers in contemporary dance, and Bernard Foccroulle, director of the Belgian national opera De Munt/ La Monnaie. It is closely allied to De Keersmaeker's dance company Rosa's and increasing dissatisfaction at the quality of the audio systems in two of the PARTS studios led to a better solution being sought.

"As well as teaching, we regularly hold performances in the studios and the existing system was not coping with the demands," says Steven Peeters, house technician at the school. "What we needed was a system that could cope equally well with playing a wide range of di

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