USA - For the March world premiere of One of the Good Ones at the Pasadena Playhouse in Southern California, lighting designer Jaymi Lee Smith turned to Elation’s new Proteus Odeon LED profile fixture to fulfil a number of lighting roles.

The Odeon, a full-featured 30,000-lumen moving head that houses a variable CRI LED engine, allowed the designer to find the best blend of intensity and colour accuracy to accurately form the onstage lighting while energising the theatre with full-on effects after the final curtain. 

Founded in 1917, Pasadena Playhouse, distinguished as the official State Theatre of California and honoured with the 2023 Regional Theatre Tony Award, stands as one of the nation’s most prolific theatres, having staged thousa

UK - British pro audio manufacturer Wharfedale Pro will be returning to the Royal Armouries this May for PLASA Focus Leeds. The Wharfedale Pro team will be on hand to introduce visitors to all the latest products in the brand's ever-growing portfolio, as well as supporting business partners with upcoming projects.

“PLASA focus Leeds is always a great opportunity to connect with our UK market outside of London,” says Peter Peck, marketing manager at Wharfedale Pro. “We’ll be sharing a cross-section of our product portfolio on the booth with a focus on our u

USA - Supporting Shaindy Plotzker’s performance at The New Jersey Performing Arts Centre on 6 April was a deeply immersive, multi-level set design on a substantial (18ft deep and 13.5ft trim) stage.

At times, this expansive set evoked images of an ancient courtyard, at others it inspired with majestic mountain-like imagery. Lighting designer Moshe Baskin and programmer-operator Max Blackman brought this spectacular panorama to life with help from 170 Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied by Shaya Alder’s Eagle Production.

Baskin described how the desi

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ETC Ministar

ETC introduces the High End Systems Ministar, a game-changer in our automated lighting product line. Ministar brings exceptional versatility and performance at an affordable price point; with a compact footprint, punchy output, and a professional feature set, Ministar fits the spec and budget for small to medium-sized venues.

Romania - When WJB Media was looking to build the first certified Dolby Atmos Music Studio in Bucharest, together with Ines Sound, they turned to LEA Professional to amplify the space.

The team’s end goal in creating the studio was to ensure more engineers and artists could experience the immersive effects of Dolby Atmos first-hand. The studio, which runs a 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos system with Lipinski speakers and four LEA Professional amplifiers, is already attracting musical talent from far and wide.

The visionary behind the studio is legendary sound enginee

Germany – Remora has announced the launch of its inaugural product: Remora PRO. This innovation, based on the Headphone 3.0 platform from Sonical Inc, introduces an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) wireless connection.

The product's design connects seamlessly with all existing audio sources via analogue and USB interfaces, and is adaptable to all headphone models. Moreover, the Remora PRO offers full Bluetooth support, ensuring backward compatibility with ‘billions of existing wireless audio devices’.

Mark Wade, head of products at Remora explains, “By using C

Denmark - Lighting designer Niller Bjerregaard, of Happy Light Guy, who has achieved global acclaim for lighting metal arena tours, has found that his current work for singer-songwriter Jacob Dinesen’s 40-city 2024 tour of Europe has led him to reignite many ideas from his early work for King Diamond.

“I joined Jacob Dinesen Band in 2017 for a lengthy tour of Denmark as the new LD and production designer,” said Bjerregaard. “Now, I am with his current tour, and it’s been a great learning curve for me to get involved in that scene coming from metal music.

USA - AtlasIED has announced the appointment of Michael Bridwell as vice president of commercial audio sales.

Bridwell will report to Michael Peveler, vice president of sales, and will support the growth of AtlasIED’s performance audio segment, featuring the Atmosphere platform, Aimline Series, IsoFlare Series, AS Series, and all commercial audio products.

“I’ve known Michael for quite some time, and I couldn’t be more confident in this addition to our team,” said Peveler. “His commitment to professional development, team building, and cultural

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Strictly FX Highlights

Strictly FX was founded in 1996 by industry veterans Mark Grega and Ted Maccabee. Our expertise and knowledge of the world’s leading pyrotechnic, laser, and flame manufacturers allows us to curate astonishing live events. With over 500+ shows performed a year, there’s good chance you’ve seen some of our work!

USA - 1 Sound is releasing a high-powered cardioid floor monitor called the CM38. 1 Sound drew inspiration for this monitor from the experience of founder and designer, Lou Mannarino, as a front-of-house engineer. The need arose from a spectrum of experiences, from working televised live orchestral concerts, where producers did not want to see monitors on stage in the camera frame, to mixing rock concerts for renowned musicians and singers and understanding their needs.

This is an efficiently run, bi-amped floor monitor that has an impactful sound with outstanding

UK - Office rentals specialist Halkin recently opened new premises on King William Street, in the heart of the City of London’s financial district. Distributed across four floors, the workspace required an extensive AV system that would fit the brand’s technology standard and enable collaboration and ease of use for clients. London-based AV and IT specialists, Tateside led the integration of a complete AV system across a total of eight meeting rooms.

“We have worked with Halkin on several workspaces over the past couple of years,” reveals Jack Cornish, tec

Europe - Shure has introduced the Nexadyne dynamic microphone platform with Shure Revonic Dual Transducer Technology.

Available now in cardioid and supercardioid polar patterns, Nexadyne vocal microphones achieve state-of-the-art polar pattern consistency, unparalleled noise reduction, and best-in-class professional touring performance, so sound engineers and performers can confidently provide front-row vocal clarity to every corner of the venue, every time, says the manufacturer.

“Nexadyne is the next chapter of Shure’s storied history as the leader a

Italy - Prolights’ VersaPar has been included in the lighting setup for 100Minuti, the new prime-time show on the La7 network, hosted by Corrado Formigli and investigative journalist Alberto Nerazzini.

Provided and installed by AMG International, the VersaPar units will be used throughout the duration of the show, illuminating the studio's perimeter and contributing to creating a captivating setting. These LED PARs are ideal for broadcast environments, thanks to their high luminous output, extensive zoom range, and advanced colour mixing capabilities.

Qatar - The opening ceremony of the AFC Asian Cup at the Lusail Stadium in Doha, on 12 January 2024 featured an impressive lighting design by Roland Greil and his team.

Greil chose a grandMA3 system to control the lighting. This comprised four grandMA3 full-size consoles for the production and four grandMA3 light as mobile consoles in the stadium, supported by 12 grandMA3 processing units XL. In addition, a further three grandMA3 full-size consoles were used for preparatory work at the previz studio.

“The full redundancy as well as the incorporation of t

Australia - American singer-songwriter Noah Kahan played a vibrant, sold-out show at Perth’s Red Hill Auditorium in Western Australia in front of 5000 fans.

Lighting director, programmer and operator Alexandra Lutz-Higgins utilised a largely Robe lighting rig supplied for this show by lighting and visuals rental specialist, Showscreens, also based in Perth. The company has recently invested in Robe Fortes.

The Robe count totalled 22 x Fortes, 21 x BMFL WashBeams (four running on a two-way RoboSpot system), plus 32 x Spiider LED wash beams.

Chase

UK - The multi-use requirement of Cardiff Students’ Union’s Great Hall presented SWG Events with several challenges when designing and installing a frontline PA. The venue is a multipurpose space with a capacity of 1,500 and a variety of needs. First, the PA system needed to meet the approval of incoming circuit bands and productions, and at the same time be completely adaptable to a wide range of events. Since live music events are hosted in more than one space within the building, the PA needed to be demountable and reappropriated together in various locations.

USA - Creative Technology is the first in the US to take delivery of Elation’s new high-intensity Proteus Radius beam light. Powered by a Solid-State Phosphor-Converted (SSPC) light engine, the Proteus Radius emits an ultra-narrow 0.9° beam that looks breathetaking mid-air and can reach astounding distances.

Ian Dobson, technical director-lighting at Creative Technology, first saw the fixture at the LDI show in December and immediately recognized its potential. “We were in need of a fast-moving, eye-candy style light suitable for corporate settings that is li

UK - At last October’s AES Convention in New York City, Fourier Audio and DiGiCo announced that it would soon be releasing the transform.engine, a new Dante-connected server designed to run VST3-native software plugins in live environments.

Six months later, with positive reviews from touring professionals using beta test versions of the product, the two companies have announced that the transform.engine is now officially available for purchase through pro audio dealers worldwide.

“We are thrilled to have received wonderful feedback from our beta teste

Europe - Swedish metal band Amaranthe recently performed a near-sold out, 24-date tour of Europe promoting their latest studio album, The Catalyst, which was released in February.

The band’s lighting designer, operator and project manager, Lutz Neemann, together with systems technician and LD No2, Daniel Scheuch, used 14 Ayrton Diablo S fixtures as their main source of key lighting. Ten Diablo S were rigged on lighting towers and a further four on top of a truss set on a dolly as part of the floor package.

“I chose Ayrton Diablo S for this run

Ireland - Former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, is on a 40-cities-in-24-countries The River Is Rising tour, travelling with Nashville-based designer and programmer Keith Hoagland.

Vendors vary from place to place, but Hoagland works hard to ensure that the Chauvet Professional Color Strike M is always in his rig.

“I put it at the top of my list,” he says of the fixture. “The Color Strike M serves a dual purpose for me. It gives me great colours and coverage as a wash unit. Then, when I want to turn th

USA - Bandit Lites has appointed Matt Day as its new human resource director. Day earned his degree in Business Administration from UVA-Wise. He joins Bandit Lites with nearly two decades of expertise in human resources.

“Working in human resources is more than just a job; it’s about being part of something bigger than yourself,” said Day. “Every day presents new challenges and opportunities to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others. One of the most fulfilling aspects of this role is assisting others to resolve issues that they cannot fix them

Late Opening - Comedian Peter Kay and indie rock duo the Black Keys have rescheduled dates at the Manchester Co-op Arena due to the venue still not being “ready”. The £365m venue, which is meant to be the biggest indoor arena in the UK, was meant to open on Tuesday 23 April, with Kay set to perform an opening show. But the date has been pushed back several times amid safety problems and technical setbacks.

Writing to his fans on X on Friday, Kay said: “To everybody with tickets, my apologies once again but unfortunately the Co-op Live still isn’t ready an

UK - Almost a decade in the making, containing stories never before told and pictures never before seen, and written with the insight of someone who was at the very heart of it, A Sense of Theatre, a remarkable new book providing a unique, eye-witness account of the birth and subsequent triumph of Britain’s National Theatre, launches to the public on 1 May 2024.

The book is the final work of the pioneering lighting designer, theatre consultant and author Richard Pilbrow, who, with his work on the book complete, sadly passed away at the end of last year.

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