Germany - Nature One, one of Europe's largest festivals for electronic music, celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2-4 August. Consequently the event, which has been based on the former Pydna rocket base in the Hunsrück mountain region since the second year, was simply dubbed ‘The Twenty Five’.
As always, at the centre of the festival site was the huge dancefloor, named Open Air Floor and as in previous years, Gerdon design was responsible for the entire production design. Here dancing takes place in the open air, while the majority of lighting technology - as in a real club - is above the heads of the audience, attached to a 26 x 26m truss construction which was raised to a height of 15m.
Although Nature One does not rely on a lush and decorative backdrop constructio

Europe - Philips Professional Display Solutions and Hutchison Technologies worked together to bring transformational change to a leading fitness club with a UK and European roll-out of high impact LED video walls and digital signage. Founded in 1982, David Lloyd Leisure operates David Lloyd Clubs, providing family orientated fitness and leisure facilities across 99 UK sites and a further 15 across mainland Europe.
Looking to meet the demand for HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and the explosion of boutique-studios, the fitness giant met the trend head on with the creation of Blaze. Housed in its purpose-built studio, the standalone instructor-led facility combines cardiovascular training with strength, boxing and martial arts skills to give an intense workout.
Available in 54 sites (with more being added throughout 2019 and beyond), David Lloyd Clubs required a

UK - Edinburgh-based production services and dry hire company, Blue Parrot, has taken delivery of Scotland’s first Ayrton Perseo-S IP65-rated LED fixtures. The occasion also marks Blue Parrot’s first investment in Ayrton fixtures which are destined for a very busy life in hire stock.
“We've just received our shipment of 14 Ayrton Perseo IP65 units and we're very excited,” says Blue Parrot managing director, Jonnie Clough. “We’ve been searching for a solid solution for an IP fixture of this kind for ages.”
Perseo is Ayrton’s first multi-function, compact, powerful, IP65-rated fixture developed for intensive outdoor use. Perseo produces 27,000lm from its 500W LED source, and sports a fully weather-proof housing with a new water-resistant menu navigation system to handle “whatever the weather can throw at it”.
Clough was first introduced to Perse

USA - Behind the Scenes reports that its recent Survey to Assist in the Development of a Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Initiative in the Entertainment Industry received “an incredible response from the industry” with over 3,300 people completing the survey.
An initial look at the survey results confirmed that the long hours, pressures of deadlines, lack of resources, and uncertainty of employment have taken a very hard toll on our industry. These affect not only mental health, but physical health as well, and impact relationships with family and friends. Unsurprisingly, over 90% of respondents have experienced anxiety while over 80% have suffered from depression.
What is also apparent from the responses, and very encouraging, is that many individuals want to step up and help colleagues they feel are struggling but simply don’t know how and are very

Czech Republic - Prague-based Elvia-Pro has taken on the distribution of German fibre network specialists BroaMan in the Czech Republic, following a request from private commercial station, TV Nova.
Formed in 1993, Elvia-Pro specialises in management, engineering and project work within the broadcast sector, and manufactures and installs equipment for OB and DSNG trucks, specialising in main broadcast organisations such as Czech TV, TV Nova, TV Prima, TV Barrandov and production houses.
It was TV Nova who were largely responsible for the new distribution arrangement. “They came to us with a request for BroaMan devices,” recalls Tomáš Kocáb, Elvia-Pro’s sales product specialist. BroaMan technical sales manager Maciek Janiszewski made a professional presentation at TV Nova, leading to the new distribution deal, which was formalised on the BroaMan stand at the IB

The Netherlands - AV solutions manufacturer Peerless-AV has announced the opening of a new warehouse in Weert.
This is the latest step in the company’s European expansion and Brexit strategy. Located on the Netherlands and Belgium border, Weert is strategically positioned with sea and land transport links.
“The opening of our new warehouse in Weert means we can continue to exceed customer service levels with reduced delivery times and increased flexibility to fulfil the continued growth and demand we are seeing for our products in Europe,” comments Keith Dutch, managing director for EMEA at Peerless-AV. “There will be no change to the operation of our UK warehouse. We’re pleased to say that both the warehouse in UK and Jebel Ali Freezone in Dubai have been stocked heavily this year owing to ongoing growth across EMEA generally.”
(Jim Evans)

UK - Prolight Concepts Group has appointed Ollie Wilkinson, who will represent the company as in-house technical sales manager. Wilkinson has been working in the lighting and entertainment industry for over 12 years and was previously employed as head of lighting for ArranPaul. He brings a broad working knowledge from his experience of planning and organising equipment and staff for nationwide touring shows and lighting large scale events.
“I am looking forward to stepping into the role of technical sales manager here at Prolight,” says Wilkinson. “I feel my wealth of experience and knowledge of working hands on in this industry will benefit the company in many ways. It’s a fantastic team and I am excited to be part of the journey.”
(Jim Evans)

USA - Prolights will show its latest technologies at the upcoming LDI Show on stand 2953 (Prolights) and 2354/2346 (A.C. Lighting).
Prolights will present an in-booth show involving over 200 lighting fixtures every hour starting at 11:30am. The booth features the time-coded show and interactive demo stations which will allow visitors to have hands-on product demonstrations.
The exhibition will be the occasion to celebrate the success of the Prolights brand in the North American market which is being accomplished through the close cooperation with distributor A.C. Lighting. LDI also provides the stage to showcase latest products including Pixiewash XB and popular fixtures including the Eclipse FS profile.
The Prolights stand will host multiple events including an Italian “Aperitivo” that will be served on Friday, 22 November from 4pm.
LDI 2019 will also
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USA - DMX control specialist ELC Lighting will unveil its latest innovation, designed to enable the creation of fully-redundant DMX networks.
Until now, redundant DMX networks could be built right up to the ethernet-to-DMX node. However, the last link in the essential chain of lighting data - the DMX cable itself - always remained vulnerable as a single point of failure. With the new Redundant DMX feature, lighting production crews can rely on ELC Lighting’s dmXLAN nodeGBx system to provide automatic, seamless take-over in the event of damage or disconnection of the DMX cable, or even of partial network failure.
"The lighting industry asks for more and more redundancy, to ensure that the show always goes on," says ELC Lighting’s support and application specialist, Henk-Jan Blok. “In today’s production environment, it should be inconceivable that a system should

USA - AV Stumpfl will present its AT64-Shift system for large mobile projection screens and the new Pixera media server software version 1.2 at this year's LDI show in Las Vegas.
With the AT64-Shift, it's possible to assemble a large mobile projection screen in minutes and to adjust its' height in a matter of seconds.
No extra measuring is needed to ensure that the frame is level, due to a clearly marked height scale.
Based on the same principles as the revolutionary T32-Shift, the AT64-Shift projection screen legs can be used for much larger mobile projection screens and are compatible with all mobile AV Stumpfl screen systems.
Another highlight of AV Stumpfl's LDI booth will be a presentation of the new Pixera version 1.2 software, which was released only a few days ago.
Pixera itself is a multi-award winning 64-bit system for real-time media proc

UK - Void Acoustics has added two additions to its touring audio catalogue in ArcM 12 and ArcM 15, part of the Arcline series.
ArcM 12 is a lightweight, versatile monitor, with multiple working angles, allowing use as either a near field booth monitor or conventional stage wedge. The aesthetically-pleasing low profile design creates cleaner stage lines and a more visually appealing view for the audience. In addition, pole mounting or wall mounting is possible for front-of-house purposes.
Acoustically, FEA analysis has significantly reduced port noise and air distortion, says Void. The 12” ArcM 12 is unpowered, allowing it to integrate with touring operators’ existing infrastructure. With a frequency response of 60Hz - 18kHz ± 3dB, the maximum continuous output is 130dB, reaching 133dB peak output.
In terms of mobility, measures have been taken to reduce wei

UK - When John Legend and his 11-piece band performed at this year’s BluesFest for his only UK show of 2019, it was through a Martin Audio MLA loudspeaker array provided by Capital Sound at the O2 Arena.
Introduced to the event by production manager Neil McDonald in 2017, Capital’s crew won plaudits both from Legend’s own production manager, Chris Stinebrink, and FOH engineer, Paul Klimson (Theory One Productions).
“The MLA system caught my attention from the instant [system tech] Ben Turnbull started the tuning,” he explains. “Both he and [FOH tech] Dave Preston made me feel right at home, and even before Ben dug into the tuning, I noticed that the MLA rig was forward sounding. It didn’t sound like we were in the O2 but at an outdoor festival and I could only surmise that all the energy was coming out of the front of the array with very little spill off

Germany - At the eighth Electro Magnetic open air festival , almost 60 DJs and live-acts performed on different floors in the UNESCO World Heritage Völklinger Ironworks, a large industrial compound, developed at the end of the 19th century. In 2019 and for the first time the Electro Magnetic Festival celebrated two nights at Völklinger Ironworks.
RCF audio-systems were used on all floors. German event company Triacs was responsible for the technical implementation of the main floor and implemented a RCF HDL 50-A system.
Triacs used several RCF modules on the main floor. Two 10 HDL 50-A line array modules (hanging) together with 16 SUB 9007 (Sub Arc Cardioid) were in place as the main PA. Additionally eight HDL 30-A were used as near-fill. Four TT 1-A covered the VIP zone. TT 052-A modules in combination with In-Ear acted as the monitoring for the control rooms (light

USA - Chris Hoff, FOH engineer for rock band Styx, relies on JBL 7 Series Master Reference Monitors to help him dial in studio-quality sound during live performances.
Styx released The Mission, their 16th studio album and first original release in over 10 years in 2017. When the band began touring to support the new record, they enlisted the help Chris Hoff. In order to deliver consistent sound in a wide range of venues, including some with less-than-desirable mix positions, Hoff relies on JBL 7 Series Monitors to make sure his live mixes stack up to Styx’s studio recordings.
“We multi-track every show and I needed a way to compare the live mix I’m doing to the albums,” says Hoff. “The only way to really replicate what's going to be coming out of a PA is to have reference monitors in front of you. It makes it easier for me to bounce back and forth betw

Europe - Alan Parsons is probably one of the most demanding artists. In the late '60s / early' 70s, he worked as a sound engineer on milestones in music history, including the Beatles albums Abbey Road and Let it be, as well as on Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother and Dark Side of the Moon. As a musician he experienced in the 80's the highlight of his career with his Alan Parsons Project. At that time, however, he barely performed live, as the technology at that time was unable to reproduce the sound of his songs as he had produced them in the studio.
Meanwhile, professional audio technology has caught up, and so dared Alan Parsons to tour again with his recent album The Secret. PM Blue from Hamburg was responsible for the eight-day tour of the musician through Germany. The lighting concept was realised in cooperation with AVM from Schwanewede

Indonesia - Guns N’ Roses, continue on their Not in This Lifetime tour – the third highest grossing tour of all time. The 48,000 fans at their GBK Stadium show in Jakarta were treated to a set of new and classic songs from the band’s extensive library.
The crowd was also treated to the clarity of the Clair Brothers i218 speaker system, which was the first choice for sound reinforcement and also happens to be the largest format system available in Indonesia.
Clair Brothers’ audio consultant in the region, Wayne Grosser reports: “The i218 system has been the first choice for touring artists in the GBK Stadium - it’s been a great success for many of the local promotors and production companies. I would particularly like to thank Indonesian production company and Clair Brothers rental partner, Total Audio, and its sound director, Sadat Effendy, along wi

USA - Producers, musicians, DJs and music industry professionals came together at the Capitol Studios in Hollywood earlier this week to honour producer Quincy Jones with an AKG Lifetime Achievement Award.
Held in Capitol’s historic A and B studios, guests were treated to a performance by Quincy Jones protégé and multi-Grammy award winner, Jacob Collier, along with a variety of immersive experiences that celebrated the microphone and headphone brand’s iconic past while showcasing its rich future. The evening culminated with host and broadcast journalist Nic Harcourt presenting Quincy Jones the AKG Lifetime Achievement Award, for Quincy’s contribution to music since the early 1950s.
“For almost seven decades in this business as a musician, composer, arranger, conductor and producer, I have always gone for the music that gives me goosebumps. And whether it was

Columbia - RCF has appointed the newly-created RCF LATAM as its distributor for Central America, Colombia and the Caribbean.
The company has strong roots in the professional audio industry, boasting more than 20 years’ experience.
Although RCF LATAM’s main office is located in Miami, collaboration with new commercial partners in Colombia will now ensure full availability of inventory.
RCF LATAM director, Jose M. Gonzalez, comments: “Our company is fully committed to the distribution and positioning of RCF as a leading brand within the designated markets. The owners of RCF LATAM have successfully distributed the RCF brand for several years, and their aim is to develop the brand in the weakest markets and support its presence generally in Latin America.”
RCF export sales manager, Luca Agazzi adds: “We wanted a new company focused 100% on RCF, that

USA - Obsidian Control Systems will be showing the powerful NX 4 lighting controller with Dylos pixel composition engine at LDI 2019 in Las Vegas. Designers, programmers and operators are invited to Booth #602 for a look at this powerful console in the Onyx platform and experience the creative possibilities with Dylos.
The NX 4 is the newest member of the innovative Onyx lighting control platform. Equipped with a range of professional features and using the latest in industrial components, the NX 4 is designed to handle even the largest show with ease. With a well-arranged combination of motorized and manual faders, along with an array of playback buttons, the NX 4 offers 44 total playbacks in a compact yet extremely powerful package.
Obsidian Control Systems offers Dylos in each NX 4 console, a pixel composer that far exceeds the capabilities of regular pixel-mapping

USA - A string of innovative products will be shown by Elation Professional at the Las Vegas Convention Centre. Visitors will have the opportunity to see the 50,000-lumen Proteus Maximus, Elation’s all-purpose Beam/Profile/Wash power luminaire. With a custom designed 950W LED engine and large 180mm front lens, Maximus has the power to cut through at even great distances and with IP65 protection can be exposed on outdoor shows.
Joining the Maximus is the 45,000-lumen Artiste Monet, a recent PLASA innovation award winner. The Artiste Monet is a full-featured LED Profile offering outstanding projection quality, a comprehensive FX package, dynamic framing and a wide array of colours via an innovative SpectraColor colour mixing system. SpectraColor uses traditional CMY but adds RGB flags and CTO to produce colours that were previously impossible to achieve.
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Switzerland - In the summer of 2019, the Béjart Ballet Lausanne gave new performances of Dixit, the ‘cinema-ballet-theatre’ show written and directed by Marc Hollogne, in tribute to its founder, Maurice Béjart. To take the audience on the choreographer's story and work, the company relied on Modulo Kinetic and its real-time tracking module, KineMotion.
To pay tribute to its creator, the Béjart Ballet Lausanne worked with Marc Hollogne to write and direct Dixit, a show that combines dance, acting and video projection to tell the story of Maurice Béjart's life and work.
To bring this show to life, the Béjart Ballet Lausanne used Modulo Kinetic, Modulo Pi's media server solution, as well as KineMotion, its real-time tracking plug-in.
Lucas Borgeaud, technical director of Béjart Ballet Lausanne, reports: “We had already used video in some

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