UK - Following on from their successful run of festival shows across the summer, when Major Lazer confirmed their autumn UK tour, they contacted PRG XL Video to supply a flexible video package of LED pods, DJ booth and screens across a variety of venue sizes.

Phil Mercer, PRG XL's Music Group director, worked with Major Lazer's production manager, Joel Stanley, and lighting and visual designer, Kyle Kegan, to create a custom-built video setup which could be varied in size according to the venue.

Using Pixled F-12 LED, the video team worked closely with All Access, who constructed the staging for the tour, to create four pods and a DJ booth. Everything was prepped together to ensure the construction precisely fit the LED tiles. Joel Stanley explains, "We wanted a more scalable design for this tour, and having video and staging prepped together made everything much easier

UK - Twenty years since it was first staged, the annual Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards 2015 event took place at the Leeds First Direct arena on 4 November.

Production manager for the event, Rob Smalldon reports, "I've done the MOBOs for the last 10 years. As a live event direct to broadcast, the creation of an exciting and vibrant atmosphere within the venue is essential and how it sounds is a big part of creating that atmosphere. Since my first one, I've worked with Britannia Row (Brit Row); they did a great job then and they've never let me down since. The thing is they understand the show, they understand the multi-performance format so well, and they know that for the MOBOs, perhaps more than any comparable show, it needs to be nice and loud and Brit Row surpass both the audience and performers' expectations."

That said, certain broadcast sensitivities hav

UK - FBT UK is holding a one-off demonstration day on 12 January 2016 at The Backstage Centre, Purfleet in Essex to showcase its speaker systems and associated products.

The event is being held in two sessions and visitors are welcome to choose either the morning or afternoon event (a buffet lunch is being provided in either case).

Products on demonstration will include the FBT Muse 2-way line array system, which features dual 10" custom Low Frequency drivers and dual 1" B&C drivers in birch ply cabinets. The dual 10" drivers offer great low frequency performance from this very compact design. The system has been massively successful, already selling over 4,000 units worldwide.

Also on demonstration will be FBT's Mitus system, which features B&C drivers throughout - 2 x 6.5" Low Frequency and 2 x 1 inch High Frequency drivers in a lightweight polycarbo

Italy - With 18 months to go until Showlight 2017 takes place in Florence, the first exhibitors have already confirmed their attendance.

Arri, German Light Products (GLP), Hawthorn and Robe are the first to sign up for the much-anticipated lighting quadrennial, scheduled for 20-23 May 2017, with several other companies already lined up to join them.

This is the tenth fixture for Showlight which has grown in popularity since it first appeared in London's Barbican in 1981.

"Showlight is always a memorable fixture in Hawthorn's exhibition calendar, not only because it provides a great oversight of the very latest in lighting ideas, with time for everyone to attend presentations and digest ideas, but also gives an opportunity to network with industry colleagues old and new," says Hawthorn' s managing director, Martin Hawthorn.

Mark Ravenhill, president of GLP Ger

Germany - MA has launched its dot2 blog for this exciting new lighting console range. This new online platform will connect everything related to dot2 that's happening on the internet, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and other social channel mentions, says the company. Also, it will offer multiple ways for users to communicate with other dot2 users and MA Lighting.

Users can send pictures of their dot2 in action on projects and post them in the blog. They can learn more about the dot2 in the 'tips and tricks' section, find out about other dot2 users on the road in the 'stories' area, or discover all hot news and dates - from trainings to tradeshows - in the 'dates' section.

Besides the blog, there is also the dot2 website which offers multi-language product-related information, and the dot2 forum which is all about technical topics and support.

MA invites

China - Allen & Heath's Qu-16 digital mixer was recently installed in Run Li Xin Private Lounge in Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

Supplied by EZPro's Chengdu branch, the exclusive lounge has a very advanced sound and lighting system, including EAW speakers and Powersoft amps, centred around the Qu-16.

"The brief from the lounge's owners brief was to install well known audio and lighting products, with attractive appearance to match the interior style. They wanted Hi-Fi sound quality, and most important of all, a system with high efficiency and ease of use," explains technical manager at EZPro Chengdu, Mr. Lian.

For easy access for the sound engineers, the Qu-16 is installed in the DJ booth, and remote wireless control of the whole system is available via the Qu iPad app so that the sound engineers can be absent from the room if required.

"The Qu-16 is easy to

UK - UK festival industry group Powerful Thinking launched an incisive environmental impact report, 'The Show Must Go On', detailing a cross-industry response to the global environmental challenge, with a vision for change, on November 26th, 2015.

The Show Must Go On was introduced at the 'Sustainable Strategies' panel at the UK Festival Conference in London's Roundhouse, which focused on how festivals can minimise their carbon impact. It is subsequently being presented to the UN Convention on Climate Change, Paris, Nov 30th to December 11th 2015, where 196 countries will meet to sign a new climate change agreement.

The report's authors hope that by presenting a concise overview and proposed roadmap for reduced carbon impact at festivals in-line with international targets and that the UK festival industry sector can lead by example in achieving impact reduction targets by 20

USA - Dan + Shay wanted to do something out of the ordinary for their Just The Right Kind Of Crazy tour. It was, after all, their first headlining tour, and the rapidly rising country duo -- who made their Grand Ole Opry debut only a year earlier -- were looking for a design that would stand out over their previous supporting act rigs. For this they chose the Nexus 4x4 LED panel from Chauvet Professional, provided by 4Wall Lighting Entertainment as the centrepiece of the design.

Dan + Shay once again turned to LD Taylor Price for their design. The LD had created an impressive design for their spring/ summer tour earlier this year supporting various artists. "I began working with the band in the spring of 2014, when they were opening for one of my other clients," said the LD. "We've had an excellent rapport since. The guys brainstormed some ideas, and tour

Germany - Full service event services and exhibition provider, Matrixmanagement in Stuttgart has purchased AV Stumpfl Wings Engine Raw 4K uncompressed triple stream 4K50/60 media servers for use in high-profile events and exhibitions projects. In addition to the own servers

Georg Rössler, founder and CEO of Matrixmanagement states, "Our advertising, exhibition and event customers are demanding more detail and finite, brilliant presentations on larger projection and LED screens for exhibitions and events globally. We are uniquely positioned to offer them the best server technology and combined services to achieve their objectives."

Thierry Heldenbergh, managing director at AED Display adds, "Following our initial purchase of 15 Wings Engine Raw media servers in September, we supplied Wings Engine Raw media servers to Matrixmanagement through our AED Lease prog

UK - Verbatim's hi-tech LED candle lighting is being used as a safe, realistic and practical alternative to open flame candles by the producers of War and Peace, a TV adaption of Tolstoy's classic Russian novel to be screened by the BBC in 2016.

The TV series is being made by BBC Cymru Wales Drama in partnership with The Weinstein Company and BBC Worldwide/Lookout Point. During filming in Russia, local production company Globus Film Studio took the decision to install over 1200 Verbatim LED retrofit lamps to create appropriate lighting when shooting important scenes such as those in a historic ballroom.

The chandeliers of the ballroom were equipped with Verbatim LED VxRGB Natural Vision Candle lamps which deliver up to 50lm output and offer up to 25,000 hours of guaranteed lifetime. These lamps provide a warm candle-like glow that closely matches the colour spectrum o

Peru - Moving heads from PR Lighting have been out in force at a number of high profile events in the Peruvian capital of Lima, reports Julio Vidal, general manager of Layset, the manufacturer's territorial distributor.

With bases in Peru and La Paz (Bolivia) the stage lighting specialists have enjoyed a particularly busy Autumn - thanks to their rental company partner, Cocolight Productions,

It started in August at the Gran Teatro Nacional in Lima where Peruvian musician, Lucho Quequezana presented his show, Ludofónica, with the National Symphony Orchestra. With 60 musicians performing the stage was decorated with 14 XR300, and 12 PR5000 conventional heads as well as popular and powerful LED fixtures in the shape of 12 XLed 590 and eight XLed 1037.

This was followed by Reunión de Sonidistas, Luminotécnicos y Afines at Discoteca Habana, the Latin Salsa club in Li

USA - Good Morning America took to the streets of Nashville to kick off the 49th Annual CMA Awards with a performance by Tim McGraw and appearance by Chris Stapleton.

Bandit Lites once again provided the lighting for the stage where host Lara Spencer greeted thousands of eager fans who had braved the rain. In addition to the musical performances, the first two awards of the night were presented with Maddie and Tae taking home Best Music Video of the Year for Girl in a Country Song and Keith Urban and Eric Church winning Musical Event of the Year for their collaboration on Raise 'Em Up.

With Good Morning America beginning literally in the early morning before the sun rises, lighting designer Mark Carver knew that the transition from night to dawn to would be a challenge. "I need versatile fixtures that would be clearly seen in both environment

Austria - Broadcast live on Austrian national TV channel ORF, the final 2015 edition of the Starnacht series of festival style outdoor pop concerts took place at the charismatic Durnstein castle ruins in the stunning Wachau valley, cut through by the River Danube.

Produced by IP Media, lighting for the show was designed and programmed by Chris Moylan of Berlin based Optikalusion, and featured 31 x Robe BMFL Spots - the first time these had been used on a Starnacht concert.

The Wachau show was the final of three site-specific based events in summer / autumn 2015 showcasing the best of current Austrian, German and Swiss pop talent which this year featured chart-busting Thomas Anders (singer of mega successful pop duo Modern Talking); 2014 Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst; the Radio Doria band; ex Kelly Family star Maite Kelly and singer-songwriter Johannes Oerding. The

Denmark - Recent exhibitions at the Museum Sydøstdanmark in the Danish town of Køge have presented various physical and visual challenges.

Danish system integrators AV-Huset worked closely with dnp denmark to come up with two very different solutions in order to overcome these difficulties. In spite of space restrictions and low ceilings, they were able to deliver the desired image quality via their proprietary Supernova optical display platform.

The specification of a 80" (2.33:1) dnp Supernova STS and similar size dnp Supernova Blade, equipped with 08-85 screen material, came about when the museum was setting up two new exhibitions, and wanted each to make a dramatic opening statement. One of the museum's exhibition designer/developers, Carl-Henrik Hansen, explains, "We wanted to captivate the audience with size and content, and felt projection was

UK - When technical production expert Hawthorn was awarded the prestigious contract to supply the lighting and video equipment for the sell out New Order European tour, it brought Doughty Engineering on board to supply its award winning Modular Rigging System.

Hawthorn and Doughty have enjoyed a long standing working relationship for several years. So when Dave Slater, Hawthorn's head of hire was presented with a brief by the tour's lighting designer Andy Liddle, he knew the system would provide the flexibility required to fulfil the lighting rig requirements.

He said, "The initial brief for Doughty was to supply their Modular Rigging System. We needed a product that would not only deliver fantastic lighting and video design, but would also adapt to meet the needs of different venues and stage heights. What's great about the Modular Rigging System is that we can use the

UK - Black Light used its LED lighting expertise in delivering a large low resolution LED video facade for a carpark at the new Manchester First Street development. The success of this project demonstrates the company's experience in working with LED as well as being chosen as a supplier and installer of Osrams' Traxon LED products.

"This was a great project for us," says Phil Haldane, Black Light's company development manager. "We have experience in working with LED lighting and we worked closely with the manufacturer of the facade panels to ensure the interfacing of our systems to theirs was seamless." The team also had to think ahead to 'future proof' the new installation. Due to the amount of lighting that needed to be installed, the potential for cost savings were significant and this was a key driver for the project itself.

Traxon LED Dots were chos

USA - Clair Global, TAIT Towers and Rock Lititz are sponsoring The Event Safety Alliance's Event Safety Summit which takes place 1-3 December 2015 at Rock Lititz Studio.

The Event Safety Alliance provides relevant and practical learning opportunities to event industry professionals. Clair Global, TAIT Towers, Rock Lititz, and guests, such as, Load Cell Rental, are all trailblazers in the live entertainment industry. To have them collaborating and innovating under the roof of Rock Lititz Studio in Lititz, PA is unprecedented. It is also exactly why Rock Lititz was created.

"We at Clair Global are looking forward to welcoming The 2015 ESA Safety Summit to Rock Lititz. Safety is first and foremost in our training program as well as our daily operations. To set aside several days to examine best practices and evaluate resources is an investment in our employees, clients and

China - The main banking hall of HSBC's headquarters is referred to as 'The Cathedral' for good reason; the modern resemblance to a grand abbey is undeniable. This vast space soars above the glass floor of the main banking hall and is accessed via escalators from the plaza below. The vaulted ceiling is crowned with the sparkle of an immense mirror. The office floors are the galleries and the bridges the cloisters. The eastern elevation contains a grand symbolic gesture, a vast unstained glass window complete with its tracery of mullions and transoms, which extends the full height of the vault.

The idea of lighting the atrium had been proposed more than a year ago by Mindseye Lighting Consultants from London. The impetus to develop and implement the concept came from the 150th anniversary of the Bank which would fall on 3 March 2015.

Illumination Physics was already engaged o

UK Selfridges is one of the best-known department stores in the world. Situated on Oxford Street, in the heart of London's shopping district, the store is also renowned for its extravagant Christmas décor. This year is no exception and as part of the annual celebrations, an Astrolounge has been created in order to provide customers with cosmic gifts along with out-of-this-world experiences. Having worked with Selfridges on numerous occasions, White Light was asked to provide the production support on this ambition project.

Located on Selfridges' ground floor, the Astrolounge incorporates an other-worldly, cosmic theme and allows customers to experience a range of mesmerising physic experiences, such as astrology, Aura photography, Tarot readings and workshops.

The idea of the Astrolounge came from the Selfridges creative team who devised Journey to the Stars as

UK - Production manager Matt Towell is no stranger to working with Unusual Rigging, having worked together on numerous West End shows. So when Matt was brought on board to manage magician Dynamo's first tour, he naturally decided to sprinkle a little Unusual magic into the mix.

"The initial plan was to have Unusual Rigging supply us with 125 motors for our production rehearsals in LH2, but as I've found from working with these guys in the past, once they're involved, it's hard to imagine doing any of the tour without them. And so we enlisted the team to do the entire show - all the rigging for the staging, scenery lighting, staging and sound. They also provided all the rigging services - the pre-production rigging plots for all the venues as well as all the liaising with the venues and structural engineers."

The brief given to Matt by Ric Lipson on behalf of Stufis

Germany - One of the most important tertiary educators for audio and video engineers in Germany, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences has recently added a 1,715 m² new media building, where a Yamaha Nuage system has become the centre of post-production.

The university hosts over a thousand Bachelor and Masters degree students, with the Faculty of Design, Media and Information based at the Finkenau Campus. The new state-of-the-art media building features the latest technology in film, audio, lighting and media production. As well as learning theory, media technology students can gain practical experience with the latest equipment, preparing them to become the next generation of production specialists.

"When planning our post-production studio we looked at the current DAW systems including several controller solutions," says Carsten Goldberg, Dipl.Ing, technical h

Italy - The latest tour of renowned Italian artist Jovanotti kicked off with two concerts at the 105 Stadium in Rimini on 19 and 20 November.

32 concerts are scheduled, most of them in Italy with additional shows in Belgium, Germany, Slovenia and Switzerland.

Jovanotti is the only artist who has managed to fill the San Siro football Stadium in Milan over three consecutive concerts, during the previous Lorenzo negli Stadi 2015 tour which took place last summer.

Forty Evo moving heads, installed by the rental company Agorà, illuminate the entire tour which will end on 14 January 2016 with a concert at the Mitsubishi Electric Halle in Dusseldorf.

(Jim Evans)

Poland - The new National Forum of Music (NFM) in Wroclaw, which houses an 1800-seat concert auditorium and three smaller chamber halls (ranging from 250-450 seats), will become home to all Wroc?aw's major orchestral and vocal ensembles and festivals. In addition to staging jazz and pop concerts, it will also double as a movie theatre.

Designed by APA Kury?owicz & Associates, it is also believed to boast one of the biggest and most advanced technical implementations in Poland, with signal distribution and routing over Optocore.

The Optocore system, which provides 768 inputs, was approved by the consultants, Artec and supplied by the German manufacturer's dealer, M. Ostrowski. Installation and commissioning were handled by ESS Audio, who oversaw the audio, video and intercom. The company formed part of a two-way consortium with PS Teatr, who were responsible for the mechanica

Adele Live - Advance tickets for Adele's upcoming UK and Ireland tour went on sale this morning. Members of Adele.com were able to register for advance tickets on the singer's website, with tickets available from 9am this morning. General tickets go on sale on Friday 4 December, also at 9am. The tour kicks off in Belfast on 29 February and finishes in Antwerp on 13 June next year. It also includes four dates at London's O2 Arena. It will be the first time Adele has toured since 2011.

Motown Legend - A play about the life and death of Motown legend Marvin Gaye is to have its world premiere in Northampton. Roy Williams' Soul will open in May 2016 after several years' close collaboration with members of the singer's family. Gaye, whose hits include Sexual Healing and Let's Get It On, was shot dead by his father in 1984. "It's a dramatic thriller, n

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