Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - ABTT (27 May - 5 June)

Events

Details
UK - Kew Gardens is best known as the home of one of the world's leading collections of plants, both for scientific research and horticultural purposes, but to many regulars it's also famous for its evening entertainment in the form of Summer Swing at Kew.

The five day event has been running for the past 23 years, and Bruce Kirk has been working on it for 22 of those. The event began as a promenade concert inside the beautiful Temperate House, once the largest plant house in the world and now the world's largest surviving Victorian glassstructure. Kirk was lighting designer for the second concert and soon became overall production manager. He is now Kew's consultant production manager for this and other major events at the gardens.

"When I first started working on the event, it was for a few hundred people inside the Temperate House," explains Kirk. "Now we have

Details
Turkey - The 21st International Izmir Festival was held this summer at the Izmir Open Air Theatre from 10 June to 14 July. The renowned event hosted a Bejart Ballet and the occasion marked the first appearance of the L-Acoustics Ultra-compact Kiva Line Source Array WST (Wavefront Sculpture Technology) speaker system.

Emre Defne, technical director, ELIT, L-Acoustics distributor in Turkey, comments: "The electro-acoustic simulations we ran with the 3D modeling Soundvision software demonstrated that Kiva would be the most suited system to ensure proper and even coverage of the 3,500 audience. The compact size and elegance of this system was particularly suited for such an application which typically requires the most discreet sound system integration.

"The configuration consisted of two LR arrays of six Kiva elements and two Kilo complementary low frequency extension e

Doughty - Banner - ABTT (27 May - 5 June)

Details
UK - At the recent AV Awards 2007 ceremony held at the Park Lane Hilton, London, Norwegian projector manufacturer, projectiondesign won two awards including the Grand Prix award for the A-V Company of the Year and Manufacturer of the Year.

"We're over the moon to have been acknowledged for our commitment and contribution to the audio visual industry. projectiondesign's growth isbuilt on a solid foundation and reputation for quality products, streamlined manufacturing processes and technical innovation, all of which are backed byquality people who are key to our success," comments Anders L°kke, marketing and communications manager at projectiondesign.

(Jim Evans)

Details
Canada - Now into its second year, Virgin's V-Fest in the city of Toronto attracted 35,000 fans. Braving long waits at the ferry didn't deter the crowds who were rewarded with V's ubiquitous top class line-up including The Killers, Bjork, The Smashing Pumpkins and Arctic Monkeys, and Lighthouse Technologies' LED screens formed an integral part of the action.

Supplied by Toronto-based MVI MultiVision, two R16 16mm screens, measuring 12.4m2 each, were positioned stage left and right with two secondary R16 screens measuring 3m2 each situated beneath the main screen. Processing was via a Lighthouse LIP-SX Interface Processor, Snell & Wilcox Supervisor and Folsom ScreenPro and ImagePro for image scaling.

"The main screens were displaying live images from content supplied from camera positions which were provided by Canadian TV network MUCH Music," explains MVI's vice pres

Details
UK Italy's Show Way 2008 was presented directly to an international audience at PLASA 07. The new show format met with approval both from the audio and lighting manufacturers present at the event and from the associations of the World-ETF (World Entertainment Technical Federation), which considers the initiative an important professional trade fair opportunity in Italy.

Several associations, such as VPLT, ESTA, PLASA, Secartys and JASST, confirmed their support for the show.

The list of exhibitors is growing steadily, say the organisers. At the same time, a programme of meetings and seminars on topical subjects in the audio and lighting sector is being compiled: safety and regulations for stage structures and rigging, technological evolution of light sources (lamps and LEDs), electrical safety regulations for public entertainment premises, and the evolution of lighting in vari

Details
Australia - Over 100 Robe moving lights were in action at the 2007 Melbourne Parklife event - one of Australia's highest profile and most popular dance parties, produced by Future Entertainment. Site wide lighting was designed by Andy Mutton, and all the lighting kit was supplied by Clifton Productions.

The sold out event was attended by 20,000 dance and electronica enthusiasts who grooved the day and night away to an impressive line up of international artists like Digitalism, Shapeshifter, Justice, Scratch Perverts, Riot In Belgium M.I.A. and many, many more, appearing across four stages - Earth, Wind, Fire and Water.

Mutton's primary challenge was in making the lighting as flexible and dynamic as possible across all performance areas, so each operator had enough options for all the acts to have their own unique light-show. They also had to accommodate several visiting LDs.<

Details
UK - Robin Hood Up Close, the recently opened exhibition at Nottingham Castle, showcases the current BBC television series; using some of the actual props and costumes, together with video material and interactive touch screens. This combination of traditional props and modern technology mirrors the programme, which is also a contemporary take on a classic tale. Experience Design & Management, who were charged with creating the exhibition, were keen to maintain this ethos throughout; with atmospheric forests and recreated sets of Nottingham and the Castle being in stark contrast to the behind the scenes area, constructed from modern space-frame structures.

The exhibition demanded a lighting system that was flexible enough to allow distinct colour washed areas, but with the capacity to colour change; creating drama and atmosphere. The team specified Batmink Par 64 LED Cans, a bri

Details
UK - Expanding production company Event Concept will move to warehouses and offices totaling over 30,000sq.ft. The new location is a stone's throw from its existing establishment in Bermondsey, South London. Following refurbishment, the business will move to the new premises in January 2008.

In 13 years, the company has evolved from an event lighting service to a fully integrated design and technical production company. As well as widening the portfolio of production services to include staging, sound and A/V, the company has also continued to grow the lighting side of the business.

Developing new services and extending the production team has meant Event Concept has had to consistently invest in equipment, looking to the latest technologies. As a result of these investments the business is also servicing an increasing demand for dry hire.

Head of company operations Roger De

Details
UK - Manchester-based DBN Lighting is one of the first UK hire companies to stock the new Chroma-Q Color Split multi-purpose LED fixture.

DBN was already a keen user of Chroma-Q's Color Block modular LED fixture, which has proven ideal for lighting its diverse range of client events and is still providing a good return on investment three yearslater, says the company.

DBN lighting director Stephen Page commented: "The Color Split produces the closest light output to that of an asymmetric cyc flood, of any LED product we've seen so far and offers significantly more even colour transmission in this application than conventional LED products.

"Its modular nature makes it flexible enough to be used in a huge variety of applications and, as large stockholders of Color Blocks, we are confident in the consistency and reliability of the product and in thesupport from A.C.

Details
UK - The Event Show, which takes place in January 2008 at Olympia in London, has confirmed that Barry Baker, the Health and Safety Executive's head of entertainment and leisure section, will be present to take questions from event organisers on day two as part of the Access Sessions.

Barry Baker and his team will discuss the changing nature of health & safety for events, includingthe Control of Noise At Work Regulations 2005 which came into force in April last year and how it has impacted on live music events. The team will also cover Working At Height Regulations as well as future trends that will affect event organisers.

(Jim Evans)

Details
UK - Harman Pro UK have announced a training day on 30 November 30th, 2007 forprofessional live sound engineers who wish to get the most out of the Soundcraft Vi6 digital live sound console.

The event will take place in North London, at Camden nightclub and live venue Koko, and will behosted by Soundcraft technical staff and Rob Hughes, an experienced Vi6 user from UK hire company SSE Audio, who were one of the first companies to order the Vi6 following the console's launch in 2006. SSE now own several of the desks, and they are in constant use.

Two training sessions will be held on the day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, each catering for up to 10 engineers. At each session, following an initial technical presentation, the 10 will be divided into two groups of five, each with access to their own Vi6, so that every attendee is assured of some properly supervised

Details
China - The Expo Central China aims to highlight the advantages of Central China, encouraging investors at home and abroad to seek business opportunities. It was held at Zhengzhou International Convention and Exhibition Centre in the Henan Province.

The Expo is jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and the local governments of six central Chinese provinces, attracting 30,000 business people, including some 10,000 foreign guests from 100 countries and regions. It features business seminars and investment fairs and also includes exhibitions of tourism, animation and automobiles. For its colourful opening ceremony four grandMA full-size, ten MA NSPs (Network Signal Processor) and a grandMA video media server were used.

300 square frames, which were altogether 43m in height and 100m in width, were built on a stage in the Henan Playground. Each square was illuminated by a m

Details
USA - Sennheiser and Neumann products were honoured in two of the 15 categories at the 23rd Annual Technical Excellence (TEC) Awards, which were presented at the AES Convention in New York City this October.

The Neumann KMS 104 cardioid condenser handheld microphone received a 2007 TEC Award in the Mic Technology/Sound Reinforcement category, and the Sennheiser NET 1 wireless systems manager was awarded top honours in the Wireless Technology category.

In addition, the Neumann Stereo Disk Lathe, introduced in 1956, was inducted into the TECnology Hall of Fame at this year's awards ceremony.

(Jim Evans)

Details
Switzerland - Around 800,000 techno fans from all over the world flocked to Zurich in August for the annual Street Parade - one of the undoubted highlights of the techno calendar. In addition to the parade through the streets of the Swiss metropolis, the programme included around 100 indoor events, the biggest of which was the Music 4 Life party thrown by MTV and attended by some 13,000 ravers.

The organisers of the event entrusted production, as they had done the previous year, to MK Badensound of Renchen. A team led by Johannes Moeck deployed a full 280m of cable to connect the entire network of amplifiers and loudspeakers, which comprised 124 Dynacord V-System enclosures in four-point configurations either flown or mounted in the hall ceiling, all driven by 22 Dynacord Power H5000 power amplifiers.

"We used a similar loudspeaker configuration powered by the same amps l

Details
UK - Northern Light, Black Light and the RSAMD have announced their collaboration on a new exhibition of sound, light and stage technologies to take place in Scotland.

The three organisations took the decision to join forces and deliver a Scottish exhibition to showcase the latest technologies available for the performance, presentation and events industries. PerformTech will take place on 28 and 29 May 2008 and will be hosted at the RSAMD in Glasgow.

The event will incorporate RSAMD's Technical and Production Arts Graduate Show, as well as building on the annual Black Light Show. PerformTech will provide the ideal platform for industry suppliers and manufacturers to demonstrate their products and services to a Scottish audience, say the organisers.

Gavin Stewart, managing director at Black Light, said: "For a number of years, Black Light have been hosting an exhibition

Details
USA - More than 180 people attended NSCA's 10th annual Fall Business Conference (FBC). The two-and-a-half day event was held from 21-23 October at Paradise Point Resort in San Diego.

A variety of industry and professional speakers provided leadership, management and networking programmes. Keynote speaker Steve Farber entertained and challenged the audience with his presentation on "Extreme Leadership" based on his books, The Radical Leap and The Radical Edge.

FBC had "excellent guest speakers who all had different perspectives. I liked being able to interact with other members to share stories and how to solve real life problems," said Daniel Boylan, president, Southern Business Communications.

The next NSCA Business Conference, sponsored by InfoComm, is planned for the early spring of 2009.

(Jim Evans)

Details
Japan - Just three hours north east of Tokyo, the Hitachi seaside National Park is home to Japan's most popular three-day festival event. The secret to Rock In Japan Festival (RIJF) is arguably its insistence on Japanese artists only; that and an idyllic location on the site of this former air force base in the Ibaraki prefecture.

Organised by Rockin'on, a Japanese music magazine, the festival has grown since its inauguration in August 2000 from one stage over two days, to four stages and three days, this year pulling in an audience of over 147,000. Editor in Chief Mr. Yoichi Shibuya is the event producer and he also manages Countdown Japan, another popular festival staged at the end of year. It was here, in 2006, that his audience first got to hear the new J-Series from d&b audiotechnik.

"We first heard the new system in 2006," explained Mr. Shuzo Fujii, head

Details
UK - The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff used Arena Seating facilities to boost its capacity to 50,000 for a record-breaking indoor crowd at the highly anticipated World Title superfight between Joe Calzaghe and Mikkel Kessler on 3 November.

The super-middleweight fight attracted a global television audience and the biggest indoor crowd that the UK has ever seen. Welshman Joe Calzaghe returned to Cardiff in front of home fans for his 21st title defence, during which a unanimous decision declared him reigning champion once again, retaining his title and the WBO crown he has held for over 10 years.

Sports Network, organisers of the event, maximised the number of seats for the sell-out crowd, while Arena Seating provided nearly 10,000 extra seats for the fight.

Mike Goodall, of production company Ringcraft Boxing Services, contracted Arena Seating to provide an additional 8,800 t

Details
UK - Just weeks after the successful launch of Carling Academy Oxford, Academy Music Group (AMG) looks set to kick start 2008 with plans to open three new venues, two in the north of England and the south coast development of the Hippodrome in Brighton.

AMG has today announced the conclusion of negotiations on the two brand new sites in Leeds and Sheffield.

The Leeds venue is the site of the former Town and Country Club and AMG plans to restore the Grade I listed building to its former glory as one of the City's most historic music venues.

At the same time, AMG has also completed the leasehold acquisition of the former Roxy nightclub on Arundel Gate in Sheffield. A large, purpose built entertainment venue, the Roxy has had various incarnations from the Top Rank Suite in the 1970s and 1980s, famed for gigs from The Police and The Jam, David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust Tour in 1972

Details
Russia - The first Integrated Systems Russian conference and tradeshow attracted more than 7,200 attendees to Moscow's Gostiny Dvor convention centre earlier this month.

"We will look back on this inaugural show as a landmark event in the development of our industry," comments Mike Blackman, managing director, Integrated Systems Events. "We always believed that Russia and the CIS countries deserved their own show dedicated to AV and electronic systems integration, and we're delighted to have had that belief confirmed here in Moscow."

Daria Nedumova, MidExpo project manager, adds: "We are proud to have hosted such a wide range of exhibitors from all over the world, and to have been able to introduce them to the leading players in Russia's systems integration marketplace."

On the eve of the show, a one-day conference entitled 'Professional AudioVi

Details
Singapore - Traffic Jam is thought to be the biggest-ever street party to be held in Singapore, a carefully-collaborated event staged by Sony Ericsson and SingTel at Connaught Drive. This exclusive street party was open to only 2,500 partygoers and, with well-known American hip-hop/R&B group Arrested Development headlining the party, the event was the most sought-after ticket in town. Alongside Arrested Development were a few of Singapore's own bands like Electrico, Mystroe, Inquisitive, adding their own spice to the mix.

The events company taking care of the show was LTM Productions, one of the lighting and sound industry's most experienced operators, known for their expertise in setting up large-format PA systems for major events.

Sound engineer Justin Tan specified some of LTM's new Nexo Geo D10 arrayable loudspeakers, purchased a few months ago from Show Company. For the m

Details
Singapore - The Singapore National Day has been celebrated every year, since 1966, on 9 August with the National Day Parade (NDP) which has been the main feature since the inception of the celebrations in 1966. A string of activities and events were held around the vibrant Marina Bay, including this year's NDP named City of Possibilities, or as it was officially nicknamed PossibiCities.

The event's appointed technical director Nick Eltis together with designer Paul Collison and audio designer Scott Willsallen were given an immense challenge by the Singapore Government: the event was to be the best audio and lighting extravaganza in the republic's history.

The NDP 2007 show comprised of five segments, Sea, Earth, Sky, People and Fire, weaved together by a central character SING, which symbolized the tremendous willpower and bountiful energy of Singapore and its pe

Details
UK - Show organiser PLASA Events reports that interest in PLASA08 is running high, with over two thirds of exhibitors having already rebooked their stand space and further applications arriving at the PLASA Events' offices daily.

On the back of the success of PLASA07, many companies have increased their stand size and several have doubled their space, setting PLASA08 on course to be the major industry event of next year. The success of the 2007 show has also been a catalyst for drawing back former exhibitors and generating strong levels of interest from new exhibitors, impressed with the professionalism and energy of the event.

The show management team has identified a range of new initiatives to develop and strengthen visitor attendance and is also focusing on a number of key areas for further development.

"One of the key messages that came across very powerfully from

Details
Switzerland - Barix recently introduced the Annuncicom 1000, a professional grade device that combines intercom, paging and IP-based audio conversion for PA system playback into a half-width 19" rack-mountable box. It will be shown at the forthcoming ISE trade show (Amsterdam, 29-31 January).

For entertainment applications, the Annuncicom 1000 is designed for multiroom audio distribution in hotels, clubs, sports venues, and restaurants where there is a need to relay audio to multiple rooms from a central point. Eight relay contact closures can be used to distribute audio to specific speaker sets, or zones for improved control.

The Annuncicom 1000 is also suitable for integration into complex, professional intercom and paging environments. Security system operators at universities, business campuses, shopping districts, industrial facilities, airports or transportation cen

  1. White Light entertains with The Bill
  2. iLive takes care of audio at Barclays Open
  3. New talent gets Max treatment with Yamaha
  4. Martin LC Series at World Music Awards
  5. Audica Professional to make ISE debut
  6. Baby boomers flex their muscle with Meyer Sound
Page 211 of 321
Astera - June 2025
GLP - MPU - Feb, Apr 2025

Latest Issue. . .