South Africa - Robert Grobler, a lighting designer for Gearhouse Group South Africa is a Vectorworks Spotlight enthusiast who has used the programme to design some of the country’s biggest shows. One of the recent concepts that Robert designed was the Castle Lite Unlocks Post Malone concert held at the TicketPro Dome Johannesburg on 18 June.
An event with international acts comes with its own pre-requisites and between the expectation of the audience and the client, Robert Grobler had to ensure the planning and execution of concept would be world-class. Glenn 21, the events consultation company that organised this event, came to Gearhouse with an idea and Robert was tasked with taking this idea and making it happen.
Robert has used Spotlight for all his drawings 2009 a

Australia - B&H Australia equipped Bunurong Memorial Park with a complete AMX by Harman networked AV solution.
Created in 1996 by the Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust, Bunurong Memorial Park offers settings for a variety of celebratory and commemorative events. Nestled beneath a protective tree canopy, a series of intimate indoor spaces and sensory-rich gardens provides an inspirational environment for funerals, visitations, memorial services and more.
At the heart of the 247-acre site is a complex housing two visitation rooms, three chapels, five multi-function rooms, offices for funeral directors, a café and a florist shop. In order to support services and functions in a wide range of spaces, Bunurong officials hired B&H Australia to outfit the building with a comprehensive, easy-to-use AV and building control solution. B&H Australia chose AMX med

China - Since it was founded 21 years ago, Cellosound has grown to become the premier audio production company in Guangzhou, the city at the heart of the most-populous metropolitan area in mainland China. An Alcons Audio LR28 system is the latest addition to its inventory, bringing HiFi-quality sound at concert SPLs to Cellosound’s biggest events.
Cellosound was founded in 1998 with a used DDA mixing console and a couple of small PA systems. As the Chinese economy started to rapidly expand in the early 2000s, the company’s customer base grew and Cellosound has regularly upgraded its rental inventory.
By late 2018, its customer base had grown to the point where a high-end solution for major events was needed. “Our customers were requesting a system for touring and EDM events and we knew that, to continue our growth and development, we needed a complete, large for

Germany - The Great Tropical House lives up to its name. Completed in 1907, it remains one of the largest and most impressive self-supporting greenhouses in the world, housing more than 1,400 exotic plant species. On Friday 19 July, the impressive structure took on another important function when it served as the centre of the Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden’s Botanische Nacht, an annual one-day summer festival organized by TLT Event AG that features music, magic shows, fantastical tales and non-stop fun in the heart of the German capital.
Glowing like a giant space ship, the massive domed structure that turned out for this night-time event. Outlining the building’s architectural features captivated the large crowd and adding to its stunning appearance were 110 Chauvet Professional ÉPIX Strip IP fixtures that Denny Arndt featured in his lighting design.
Coordinati

UK - The end of May saw Brompton Technology complete two one-day training courses at the new Manchester HQ of visual technology specialist FIX8Group.
The course was led by Brompton technical support specialist Sarah James and attended by both local Brompton partners and locally-based freelancers, who were taken through the fundamentals of operating the company’s state-of-the-art T1, S4, M2 and SX40 LED processors and XD data distribution unit.
With screens and rigging provided by Manchester-based Brompton rental partner A to V, Sarah took the attendees through the processors’ easy-to-use interface, as well as giving them hands on experience with handy features such as ChromaTune colour correction, On Screen Colour Adjustment (OSCA), Dark Magic for colour smoothing in low brightness conditions, On screen display (OSD) and Genlock.
Neil Trenell, creative dir
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ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features. 

For more information visit us at www.etcconnect.com

UK - The Goodwood Festival of Speed takes place in the grounds of Goodwood house in Sussex and brings together every aspect of the past, present and future of the automotive industry.
Two eye-catching stands at the 2019 show which took place in early July, were those of Mini and BMW, who both worked with leading marketing agency TRO to realise their visions.
Video provision was an essential promotional part of both stand-designs and TRO contacted Hertfordshire based specialists pixl evolution to deliver solutions. Recently-launched sister company audio evolution was brought in to supply sound systems for both areas. Paul Wood acted as pixl evolution’s project manager for the week-long build and four-day show, with Peter Russell managing events on behalf of audio evolution. High value aesthetics were the order of the day and it was essential that all provision was del

Russia - Recent years have seen the Russian Orthodox church expand its programme of church building. At Moscow’s Khodynka Field, worshippers at the new Church Of Saint Sergius of Radonezh were distracted by having problems hearing services, but Yamaha’s VXL Series slim line array speakers have solved the issue.
Khodynka Field, a few kilometres north-west of Moscow city centre, saw the first Russian flight in 1910 and quickly became the city’s first commercial airport. Finally closing to aviation in the early 2000s, since then the site has been redeveloped as housing, offices, sports venues and open spaces for Moscow’s expanding population.
Located at the end of one of the former airport runways, the Church Of Saint Sergius of Radonezh was opened in 2017 to honour one of the Russian Orthodox Church's most highly venerated saints, as well as the many airmen and w
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Create new traditions – Cameo P6 - High Output Full-Spectrum Ellipsoidal

Cameo's P6 is a future-proof LED profiler with a powerful 600 W RGBACL engine and 16,000 lumens. It’s an energy-efficient replacement for 2.5 kW halogen profile lights in theatres and venues. With excellent light quality and natural colour rendering, it fits perfectly in theatres, musicals, TV studios, congresses, and live events.

With an LED life of 50,000 hours and low power use, the P6 cuts energy costs and supports the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ goals for climate neutrality by 2050. It also meets updated eco-design rules for lighting.

www.cameolight.com/p6profile

USA/Europe - ETC has formally acquired the ArcSystem, BlueSystem and CueSystem product lines from UK lighting manufacturer GDS.
Effective today (1 August), the US company assumes the global manufacturing and distribution responsibilities for the three ranges, which it used to manufacture exclusively in North and South America since 2015.
The agreement was first announced in December 2018 and signalled ETC’s intentions to expand its influence into the architectural lighting sector.
David Lincecum, ETC vice-president of marketing, comments: “Bringing these family lines into the ETC fold allows us to reach more parts of the world with ETC’s quality architectural lighting solutions and unmatched customer service. With this expansion, ETC increases venues’ access to bea

USA - Bandit Lites has announced three staff promotions at its Knoxville headquarters.
General manager Giff Swart has been named client representative and production manager. Swart, who has spent over 15 years at the company, will oversee local work at Knoxville, including numerous University of Tennessee events, more than 100 annual philanthropic endeavours and all events at the high-end resort Blackberry Farm.
Brad Hylton has been promoted to facilities manager where he supervises the Knoxville facility and staff. With the Knoxville location recently being transformed into a sales and installation-focused facility, Hylton will be responsible for all aspects of freight, sales inventory, coordination of project preps and the upkeep and organisation of the building.
Also receiving a promotion is lighting technician Alex Becker, who becomes a sales and productio

USA - Dynamic Productions USA recently made a significant investment in the new Chauvet Professional Maverick MK3 Profile.
“Our main reason for purchasing the Maverick MK3 Profile was to expand our inventory so we can continue to offer clients a wide range of lighting solutions,” says John Fitzgerald, the company’s technical director. “There are many ways that we will be using these fixtures. They will be on our festival stages throughout the summer, as well as with some of our A-list touring acts. We also see the MK3 Profile being a big help on our corporate side for events.”
“The Maverick MK3 Profile is an exciting breakthrough product, one that is the result of a long and dedicated R&D effort on the part of our entire team,” says Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “We’re very pleased that a universally respected quality-driven company like Dynam

USA - For rock or pop shows with large, exalted audiences, it is common for engineers to face the challenge of audience leakage. For Eddie ‘El Brujo’ Caipo, monitor engineer for Gwen Stefani’s Just a Girl residency at Planet Hollywood’s Zappos Theatre in Las Vegas, that’s not the case.
Recognising the importance of delivering pristine sound in every performance of the popular show, Caipo employed DPA Microphones’ d:facto 4018V Vocal Microphone to deliver clear, natural sound.
“Throughout her 20-year career, Gwen has tried many microphone brands and she has definitely noticed a difference with DPA,” he says. “She has told me that she can hear herself more clearly on her in-ears, and this allows me to keep her volume lower and protect her hearing.”
When Caipo was first introduced to DPA’s d:facto, he was blown away by the capsules’

UK - In the late 1980s, the Theatre Royal Windsor underwent a minor refurbishment in which Stage Electrics provided new production lighting panels, moved and refurbished the existing dimmers, ensuring the theatre was operating in line with health and safety standards of the time. Nearly 30 years later, the company has returned to the theatre to upgrade their mains supply and 50 year-old dimmers.
“After a long period of service, the theatre’s dimmers were finally coming to the end of their lives,” explains Saul Eagles, business development manager at Stage Electrics. “With some of the dimmers being nearly 50 years old, the theatre contacted us to discuss their options for replacement.
“As the theatre is dependent on ticket sales to operate, the option of an extended dark period was unfeasible,” Eagles adds. “The project needed to be completed rapidly, wi

UK - HK Audio’s Linear series of loudspeakers have been specified as part of the sound system at Nightrain, a new live music venue in Bradford.
Founded by Bradford trio Chris Dove, Andy Kettle and Keith Tempest, the club transformed the former Yates and Arena sports bar on Queensgate into a 400 capacity venue that plugs the gap between smaller venues and larger ones, such as St George’s Hall. Nightrain, named after a Guns N’ Roses song, is set to host a diverse selection of live acts every week-end and select weekdays, welcoming local as well as touring acts. The venue is also open throughout the day as a bar and games room.
Mike Smith and Brian Glover of Sound Alliance were commissioned to design and install an in-house sound and lighting system capable of satisfying the most demanding acts.
Having themselves relied on a variety of solutions from German ma

South Africa - Johannesburg rental company MGG supplied the full technical production package for the Africa Play Conference.
Hosted at The Maslow Time Square hotel in Pretoria earlier this year, the conference is a partnership between the Lego Foundation, the Department of Basic Education of the Republic of South Africa, UNICEF South Africa and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA).
Four hundred delegates from around the globe, including educators, policy-makers and researchers, joined together to share insights and come up with ideas to help equip children in Africa to become creative and life-long learners. The emphasis was to explore learning through play and how this could improve the quality of early childhood development and become an integral part of the education system.
“To add an element of fun, MGG was asked to include L

France - Continuing a run of successful festivals as the house consoles of choice, Allen & Heath’s dLive and SQ digital mixing systems headed to Festival Musilac in Aix-les-Bains to provide audio support across FOH, monitors and comms.
Charged with supplying audio for the entire festival, rental company Dushow worked with Allen & Heath’s French distributor, Algam Entreprises, to provide dLive as a house console option on two stages. The dLive systems supplied included S7000 and S5000 surfaces, paired with DM64 MixRacks and fitted with fibreACE cards for optical links with the stage.
Bruno Dabard (application engineer at Algam) comments: “dLive is becoming more and more popular amongst the engineering community in France - it has an extraordinary balance between high-quality sound and powerful tools, all in a reliable package. It’s more than just a cons

The Netherlands - In late May and early June, Dutch star Marco Borsato became the first artist to play five sold-out stadium shows at De Kuip, home of Feyenoord Rotterdam football club. A Yamaha Rivage PM7 digital mixing system helped ensure that the performer, his band and an array of guest vocalists gave a quarter of a million fans an unforgettable experience.
Borsato has consistently been one of the Netherlands biggest and most successful singers since winning Dutch TV talent contest Soundmixshow nearly 30 years ago. Playing to 50,000 people at each show, the four evening and one afternoon concerts ensured that fans of all ages were able to enjoy a huge and spectacular stadium production. It included an 80m wide stage set, pyrotechnics and a 1000sq.m. LED video screen, the largest ever used on a Dutch live show. The singer himself said: “It doesn’t get any bett

France - On 14 July 1789, troops stormed the Bastille in Paris during the French Revolution. Just one year later, the first Fête de la Fédération was held to celebrate the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in France, following the inspiration of a French textile worker, who presented his design for a festival celebrating the Bastille’s storming.
Now formally La Fête Nationale, the tradition continues each year with parades, music and firework displays. More recently, Lawo has become an integral part of the celebration.
Central to the Paris celebration is the Concert de Paris, held at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. It is one of the largest classical music events held anywhere in the world and is followed by a spectacular fireworks display, attracting thousands of live spectators.
The concert is broadcast on France Inter, on France 2, and to 3.13 mill

UK - A group of industry colleagues are set to cycle 100 miles across the UK to Olympia London on 14th September (Saturday) to raise money for the entertainment industry charities Backup and StageHand.
Organised by PLASA and the Production Services Association (PSA), the initiative follows on from the success of last year’s bike ride, when industry representatives rode from Chippenham in Wiltshire to London Olympia on the Saturday before the PLASA Show.
This year's challenge will follow a similar route, starting at Chippenham's Premier Inn and finishing at Olympia. Those interested in taking part should contact PLASA's Nicola Rye (nicola.rye@plasa.org).
Peter Heath, PLASA MD, comments: “Th

Cultural Affairs - Nicky Morgan has been appointed culture secretary by new prime minister, Boris Johnson. She replaces Jeremy Wright in the role, which he had held since July 2018. Morgan, who is MP for Loughborough, said her appointment to the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport was “an enormous privilege” and described it as a “fabulous role”.
She said: “DCMS’s dynamic and much-loved sectors are at the heart of what makes the UK a great place to live, work and do business. They are our global calling card, encouraging investment, driving innovation and making the UK a country people around the world want to visit. I will be working hard to make sure the future for our world-leading sectors is a bright one.”
Morgan campaigned to remain in the European Union before the 2016 referendum and is a staunch opponent of leaving the EU without a deal

UK - Lighting designer Matt Tyler used Prolights LED fixtures to provide lighting for space-age performances by Orbital, Public Service Broadcasting and The Radiophonic Workshop at Apollo 50, a one-off event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.
Tyler utilised his own stock of Prolights Luma 700s, Diamond 19s and StudioCOB FC PARs to create the dynamic looks. “I needed to use quality fixtures that could truly do justice to this iconic event,” he explains.
Millstone Sound provided lighting and sound production, whilst Tyler purchased the Prolights fixtures from exclusive UK distributor, A.C. Entertainment Technologies.
Held at Cornwall’s Goonhilly Earth Station to celebrate the technological accomplishment of the Arthur satellite dish, which in 1969 beamed the moon landing footage live to 200m people in Europe, the anniversary was mark

USA - With most music festivals these days being multi-stage productions, sound reinforcement providers have become remarkably adept in speedily switching over backline setups and minimizing downtime between artists’ sets. But Wilkesboro, North Carolina’s annual Merlefest, reinforced by Greensboro-based SE Systems, was able to take that transition speed to a new level this year thanks, in part, to DiGiCo mixing consoles and the manufacturer’s new 4REA4 networked audio solution.
Established in 1988 in memory of Eddie Merle Watson, the son of bluegrass icon Doc Watson, as a fundraiser for Wilkes Community College, the festival has pushed the boundaries of what Watson called “traditional-plus” music to feature acts as diverse as Elvis Costello, the Doobie Brothers, and Zac Brown Band.
SE Systems has been the sound provider from the beginning, and the systems ha

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