Live on Line - U2 have broadcast an entire live show via the video sharing website YouTube. Although 96,000 people turned up to see the show at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in California, many times that number were expected to have watched it online. As he took to the stage, lead singer Bono said: "Thank you Los Angeles. Thanks to everyone watching on YouTube all over the world - seven continents."

Cancelled Concerts - Sir Elton John has cancelled his concert at Wembley Arena tonight (Tuesday), the third gig he has been forced to shelve after contracting flu. Promoters said it is "hoped he will make a speedy recovery". A concert in Liverpool on Wednesday is still scheduled to go ahead. The singer scrapped Friday's gig in Sheffield and Saturday's in Newcastle after he was told to rest by doctors. Promoters are trying to reschedule the Wembley concert for a d

Canada - Cast Software of Toronto has received confirmation of International Patent PCT/CA2009/001225 for its BlackBox system and method for realtime environment tracking and coordination - and thereby this filing conforms with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Switzerland. This international patent filing for BlackBox is in addition to the filing #12/421,343 in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Through the realtime positioning, BlackBox receives and converts live positional data about any/many moving objects, establishes the exact 6D positions of those objects, computes instructions in XYZ, plus yaw, pitch and roll terms, and shoots out moving positional information so moving lights, set pieces, spatial sound, media servers, robotic cameras, etc. are synchronized and tracking to the action of those moving objects, all at a speed of 50 Hz.

Bru

UK - Adlib Lighting continues its working relationship with Enter Shikari, supplying lighting equipment and crew for the current UK tour.

The project is being managed for Adlib by John Hughes, and Enter Shikari's lighting design has been created by Steve Bewley, who has been onboard with the band since March this year.

Hughes says: "It's great to be on the road with Shikari again - they are one of the most exciting bands of the moment. Steve has put together an imaginative, great looking and very practical design, which works well in all venues whatever the available stage space."

Bewley's starting point was in devising a rig that matched the massive energy, breakneck pace and highly animated performance of the band, and in helping transmit this vibe from the stage and into the audience. He also wanted something that looked completely different to their last tour,

Belarus - A number of rock bands passing through Belarus recently have taken advantage of fixtures from PR Lighting - supplied by the Chinese manufacturer's territory distributors, FE Belimlight.

The company's Maxim Yugov confirms that automated fixtures such as the XL1500 are becoming increasingly popular for their output, flexibility, advanced features and superior colour saturation.

FE Belimlight stock more than a hundred of these heads, which utilise a powerful 1500W short arc discharge lamp, optimised by the use of a high quality and efficient optical system. This makes it one of the brightest projectors in the market.

The highlight of the touring season was British rock singer, Chris Norman's appearance at the Mir Castle complex in Belarus - a stunning gothic building (and UNESCO World Heritage site) which dates back to the 15th century.

Norman's lightshow included 4

Kenya - The Gearhouse South Africa Group of companies supplied rigging, lighting, audio, LED screens and power distribution for the 2009 MTV African Music Awards, staged at the Kasarani Gymnasium at the Moi International Sports Centre, Nairobi, Kenya. The project entailed air freighting 55,000 Kgs of equipment from South Africa.

The Gearhouse crew was led by Bill Lawford who collaborated closely with Simon Roche, logistics manager from production company VWV, together with an international production team primarily from the UK, including lighting designer/director Gurdip Mahal, moving light programmer/operator Ross Williams, FOH sound engineer Derrick Zieba and screens director Chris Saunders from XL Video UK.

Gearhouse also asked UK lighting rental company HSL to supply additional lighting equipment and technician Tim Oliver for the event. Gearhouse has a long standing relati

USA - The new Emulation Control Software from Elation Professional is the next generation in software lighting control. It has all of the functional features that lighting professionals are accustomed to working with, says the company, like cue-lists, fixture groups, playbacks and globals but there is one big difference - they can run it on a Mac OS platform from the start. And, they won't have to spend a king's ransom for this privilege either.

"In the past lighting professionals had limited choices when it came to lighting control software," said Eric Loader, director of sales for Elation Professional. "We have been getting requests for years for a MAC OS lighting software from both Pro Lighting users and Musicians who all own MAC computers. Sure they could run their lighting software on a Windows platform by using a third party software and then go through the

UK - Tower Productions, which provides a range of services to the live event production industry including lighting hire, rigging, power generation and power distribution, recently completed a heating, lighting and power installation at the O2 Arena in London for the Gymnastics World Championships. The company deployed white 18kW electric heaters as no oil-fired equipment was allowed in the area.

"12 of these units and 40 400W white lo-bays ensured the practice area was warm and bright. The electric heaters are ideal for this type of installation as they are small, smart, reliable, fuel and fume-free and easy for the user to operate without and standby personnel," noted crew chief Andy Sharman.

(Lee Baldock)

Germany - Lighting designer Martin Kuhn included 80 Infinity ACL Coemar moving heads in his lighting rig for Nature One 2009. Under the slogan Smile is the answer, a record number of over 60,000 revellers attended this year's Nature One 2009, probably the biggest electronic music festival in Germany, held on the former Pydna missile base, near Kastellaun, Hunsrück.

Since 1995 DJs from all around the world play the event and every year the audience also gets spoiled by the technical side, with powerful audio and a stunning light show. This year the technical service Satis & Fy from Werne, inspired by lighting designer Martin Kuhn included 80 Infinity ACL Coemar Moving Heads.

This spotlight with its extremely tight-emitting characteristics provided an impressive beam show over the heads of the dancers on the main floor.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Ltd (LOCOG) is inviting an expression of interest from live events production companies to provide the production services for the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

LOCOG is seeking a highly experienced live events production company who have Olympic, Paralympic or large scale events experience to provide administrative and production services to the Creative Directors of the four ceremonies. The Creative Directors will be recruited directly by LOCOG through a separate process and so creative content proposals are not being sought from potential production companies. The chosen production company will manage and execute the production process from conception to delivery.

Bill Morris, LOCOG Director of Culture, Ceremonies & Education said: "The

Israel - Compulite has released the latest version of its Vector software, 3.17.R04, which features performance and usability enhancements, as well as fixes which resolve issues with the GUI.

Performance enhancements include Improved redraw of views when 'File Attachment' is visible in the Master PB Cue sheet; 'Update dialog' now opens faster for large show files on VxWorks consoles; 'Graphic Time-line Editing' is now faster, while the CPU requirement of the Graphic Time Line itself has been reduced by two-thirds.

Among the bug fixes, system settings are loaded correctly on Compulite mode in VxWorks Consoles, enhancements to the Hippo v3 thumbnail integration, plus fixes to the highlight/lowlight palette and fixture cloning.

New features include the ability to load ASCII show files (in the USITT Standard Protocol only) directly to the Vector via the Vector 'Open' menu, and t

Greece - Clay Paky's Alpha Profile 1200 fixtures were used during a National Theatre production of Phèdre at the famed Epidaurus theatre in Greece, as part of the Athens Festival.

The 15,000-seat Epidaurus theatre, designed in the 4th century BC, is known for its symmetry and beauty and marvelled for its exceptional acoustics, which allow the entire audience, regardless of their seat, to clearly hear a performer's unamplified voice from the stage. Although most ambient noise is absorbed by the limestone construction, it is still important to use equipment that can operate quietly.

Lighting designer Paule Constable explained, "Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1200 were used as front light specials placed amongst the crowd, so the low noise was a major consideration. We used the shuttering to pick out elements on the stage with great accuracy. They also proved reliabl

Germany - More than 60,000 guests attended the fifth edition of the RPR1 Rhineland-Palatinate Open-Air festival in Mainz with Actionlight Veranstaltungstechnik of Koblenz providing a host of Martin gear as the main technical services provider for the event (lighting, creative video and live video).

Some 28 Martin LC Series LED panels, hung at varying levels, dominated the stage design. As the festival required an extremely convertible stage design, the LC panels served as backline cover for the main acts and then were quickly arranged in a new configuration.

A Martin Maxedia media server composed and animated the video content while Martin's new P3-100 Controller proved itself a very capable, intelligent interface for extremely smooth and fluid imagery. The operator was confronted with a special challenge as the set lists were available only a few minutes before the pe

South Africa - Denis Hutchinson designed both set and lighting for Brothers in Blood at the Market Theatre using the new Robe DT 3000s - a first for South African theatre - as well as a grandMA full size console. DWR Distribution comment: "We will attempt to capture all Hutch' had to say during a recent interview, as we without question, could not word it better ourselves. We thoroughly enjoyed hearing how Robe technology brought a new dynamic to the production and set design."

Hutchinson says: "Brothers in Blood deals with very emotive issues; it's set in Cape Town in the nineties and deals with people trapped in the crossfire of the vigilante groups of the time of which Pagad was the best known.

"I've known Greg Hamonn, the director; for a long time but it was the first time we'd worked together and it proved to be a really good worki

Australia - The musical Wicked is now playing Sydney's Capitol Theatre. The lighting design is the work of Kenneth Posner who won a Tony Award for his effort. Posner opts for a Vari*Lite rig.

"I chose Vari*Lite fixtures for the design of Wicked because of the large number of pattern options and the colours, especially the warm pastel range," Kenneth Posner says. "The colour of the set is actually grey and earth toned. All the colour you see the scenery bathed in comes from lighting."

A total of 93 Vari*Lites are used, consisting of VL2500 and VL3000 Spots. The conventional gear includes close to 200 ETC Source Fours of various types.

(Jim Evans)

UK - 5 Star Cases has been chosen to supply flight cases for Global Design Solutions' (GDS) award winning LiteWare battery powered/Wireless DMX LED uplighters.

GDS's Matt Lloyd says: "We selected 5 Star because of their great attitude, the quality of their products, the very quick response time and their ability to deliver the volume we need and work in a truly collaborative way with us."

The Tour Grade flight cases were designed and specified by GDS's head of engineering Richard Cuthbert, working closely with 5 Star's in-house design team.

Each case houses six LiteWare fixtures in foam protected compartments. A feature incorporated early in the design stages is a bespoke battery charging plate which is fixed into the bottom of each compartment, allowing all six units to be re-charged whilst inside the case simply by connecting a single mains lead.

(Jim Evans)

UK - A.C. Special Projects has supplied a colour changing LED lighting system for the Wave, an iconic new sculpture which takes pride of place in the new look plaza at the heart of Blackpool town centre. The giant wind charm-like Wave was designed by Somerset artist Lucy Glendinning to capture the spirit and energy of the seaside. It forms an integral part of a £4.7m makeover of St John's and Cedar Squares and was officially unveiled to the public by style guru, Laurence Llewellyn Bowen.

The Wave features an illuminated colour changing pattern in cast resin, reflecting the elegant stained glass windows in St John's Church and also linking it with Blackpool's long standing Illuminations heritage.

A.C. Special Projects were approached to specify and supply a suitable LED lighting system for the sculpture. The company chose the Philips ColorGraze Powerc

Hong Kong - Lighthouse Technology has announced it is the title sponsor of the Lighthouse Sri Lankan's Cricket Club (LSLCC), a Hong Kong Cricket Association Sunday League (HKCASL) member.

"LSLCC was founded in 2005 and entered the league in 2006, and at present is the youngest club participating in the premier league of Hong Kong. As a young club, with not many popular figures or national players in the team, we found it hard to find a title sponsor in the first two seasons. Therefore, we are thankful and proud to have Lighthouse as our first ever Title sponsor, a generous corporate entity who has come forward to support our efforts," says Chandrin Dissanayake, founder/chairman of LSLCC.

"Lighthouse is committed not only to developing excellent LED screen products and solutions, but also to help those of our community who really need it the most. As an industry

USA - Nemetschek North America has announced that a number of its major European distributors have released their localized 2010 versions of Vectorworks software, including: Designer, Architect, Landmark, Spotlight, Machine Design, Fundamentals, and Renderworks. Versions are now available in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

"Our localized version is developed by Nemetschek North America, and then enhanced by us to meet the local requirements in our country," explains Carlos Lüthy, CEO of ComputerWorks, Germany. "This year there has been much excitement and anticipation about the Vectorworks 2010 line of products, as this version is already getting rave reviews in the English-speaking countries."

The English-language versions of the Vectorworks 2010 product line were released in the US, C

Singapore - Martin Singapore recently gathered together local Martin users and regional Martin distributor staff for four days of training on some of the company's latest and most popular product offerings.

Held from 6-9 October at Martin's subsidiary facility in Singapore, training for local users, conducted on the first day, focused on the Maxxyz lighting console and newly launched Maxxyz Modules and was headed by Martin's commercial product manager for controllers Paul Pelletier.

That was followed by a three-day regional training with Martin distributor staff from India, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, and Korea. The regional training covered the LC Series and LC Plus Series LED panels as well as the P3-100 System Controller, headed by Martin product manager Tony Van Moorleghem; and the Maxxyz, Maxxyz Modules, Maxedia 4, Martin ShowDesigner 5 and Martin's RADAR informati

South Africa - Gearhouse South Africa supplied the technical infrastructure - including rigging, sound, lighting, video, media, power and backline - for The 31st annual Loerie Awards. This is the major element of the Loeries Festival.

Themed Feed your Ego, the 2009 event poked fun at the sometimes egocentric aspects of the ad industry - with the aid of content projected from Gearhouse's suite of Christie projectors.

The two nights of awards were staged in Cape Town's Good Hope Centre, a 6,000 capacity theatre venue, and Gearhouse was working for production company H-Factor, who created the production design for the event. The first night's awards were related to print media and communication design, and the second to TV, radio and digital/electronic. Both were recorded by SABC for broadcast.

Technical production was by Steve Collins and the project was m

UK - HSL supplied all lighting and necessary rigging - including 8 A&O 7K Falcon Beams and Flowers and over 100 Robe moving lights for a DVD and Holiday TV Special performance by Sting at Durham Cathedral.

Lighting designer for the two shows was Manfred 'Ollie' Olma of Koln-based mo2 Designs. The show was presented by Sting backed by 35 guest musicians, including string and brass sections, and was staged in the heart of the cathedral.

HSL project manager Mike Oates comments, "It was a great privilege to get the chance to work in such an amazing building and also with Ollie, who is one of the most respected LDs in the business. The project entailed huge challenges as this was the first gig of this scale that had been staged there, which produced some superlative teamwork between the production company, our crew and the cathedral staff, resulting in a truly inspirational ev

USA - Wybron's Mobile Showroom sets out on its second leg of dates beginning Monday, 2 November, in the Washington, DC, Baltimore and New Jersey areas.

The Mobile Roadshow combines a survey of Wybron products with an educational component, intended to reach a segment of the lighting market overlooked by trade shows and provide one-on-one interaction with dealers and scions of the lighting world.

"This is a terrific opportunity to get some face time with the people who carry Wybron products, and with the people who could benefit from doing so," said Wybron sales manager Dusty Hudgins. "Our last few days in Texas were fantastic, and feedback couldn't be more positive."

(Jim Evans)

USA / Germany - The majority stockholder of Procon MultiMedia AG, Günther Fielmann, and the members of the board Morten Carlsson and Christian Müller, have concluded an agreement with Production Resource Group LLC (PRG), mother company of MHG Media Holdings GmbH of Dusseldorf, to accept a voluntary public tender offer of MHG regarding their shares in Procon MultiMedia AG.

The obligation to accept the voluntary public tender offer is subject to the condition that MHG offers a purchase price of at least EUR 1.30 per stock in cash to all stockholders. The intended voluntary public tender offer will be subject to several conditions, among others the provision of governmental approvals until 29 December 2009 and the achievement of the minimum take over threshold of 80 percent. Including the shares held by other members of the Fielmann family, which are included in the abovementione

USA - The latest version of the draft standard, BSR E1.28 - 200x, guidance on planning followspot positions in places of public assembly, is available for public review through 28 December 2009. The document can be downloaded for free at http://www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php. Comments should be submitted before the ,End Date' shown on the website.

The E1.28 document offers guidance on the planning of permanent followspot positions. It is a guidance document, not a mandatory compliance document. The document offers recommendations on the locations of the followspot positions within the venue, the power likely to be needed, the waste heat generated, the amount of space likely to be needed, and the fall protection and egress issues to be considered for the operators' safety, among other things.

The E1.28 document was developed at the urging of some followspot v

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