South Africa - Lighting designer Tim Dunn used two grandMA full-size, one grandMA light, two NSPs and two grandMA mediaPC with grandMA video to illuminate the Miss South Africa spectacular in Sun City, while Kabelo, Unathi, The Bala Brothers, Hi 5 and Brandon October added some musical extravaganza to the event.

"After working on the Whole Hog platform for ten years, discovering the grandMA control system was a revelation for us," related Dunn, "The features of the desk not only make lighting programming faster and more productive but the cues are restructured and look totally different. Being able to personalise the desk to create a completely comfortable control system to work with is also a great feature"

Together with the NSPs one grandMA full-size controlled the conventionals and moving lights. The other one was used to operate the two mediaPC which de

UK - Element Labs, the award-winning manufacturer of LED video technology, has opened a London office to better serve its growing customer base in the UK.

Located at Perseverance Works in London's Shoreditch design district, Element Labs' neighbours include architectural, design, and other creative firms. The new office is conveniently located to provide demonstration, project management, and technical support services to London and the broader UK market, as well as continental Europe.

"Expanding our presence in Europe beyond our Germany office is essential as our international business continues to grow," says Nils Thorjussen, president and CEO of Element Labs. "The opening of our London office demonstrates our ongoing commitment to our extremely important UK customers."

The new office includes an extensive demo facility loaded with the full-range of Ele

USA - Branson, Missouri-based Theatreworks recently supplied 10 Robe ColorSpot 575AT moving lights for the Palm Springs Pavilion Theatre in Palm Springs, California.

"Robe was selected for its price and quality," stated Bob Finical, senior manager of Theatreworks, which has over 30 years' experience in production design, covering all areas of the professional entertainment industry.

The fixtures were supplied to Theatreworks by Robe America's West Coast office who, Finical explains "really excelled themselves in organising a demo at our shop in Branson, showing us first hand all the great features and functionality of the CS 575."

The Palm Springs Pavilion Theatre is a concept of Dick Taylor Productions, designed to provide live, family entertainment on a year-round basis. It is located in the heart of downtown Palm Springs on Tahquitz Canyon Way directly

USA - XL Touring Video recently completed its project as video contractor for Rock Star Supernova's You Can't Stop The Party 2007 World Tour, which kicked off in January in Hollywood, FL, and finished up the American leg at the end of February.

XL worked with production designer Brian Hartley to provide an 8ft XLTV custom-designed MiPix Globe populated with 2,500 MiPix LED, which was suspended over the crowd, stage left; four Mainlight Soft LED High Res panels, hung upstage, three portrait-style Barco D7 panels configured two wide x three high were positioned in front of the soft LED panels and two High End Systems Catalysts.

XLTV's president, John Wiseman, said: "Rarely do we get a chance to work so closely on the front end as we do with Tommy Lee on all his projects. For RSSN, we were given the chance to bring in our favourite creative team including Nick Militel

UK - Entertainment lighting supplier White Light was reunited with long-time collaborators The Admirable Crichton and Private Drama for Party Under Construction, a showcase for the best in the events industry that took place at Number One Piccadilly, London.

Overlooking Piccadilly Circus, with spectacular views down onto Eros, the Under Construction theme of the party came from the venue itself still being a building site! Nonetheless, it was transformed to host a spectacular party for over 600 guests, who enjoyed performances from the casts of Chicago and Tap Dogs and by Private Drama, food and party design by The Admirable Crichton, sound by Delta and event lighting courtesy of White Light.

White Light's lighting designer Jason Larcombe used a comprehensive range of equipment from White Light's diverse hire stock to create lighting that highlighte

Russia - Arena Club In the town of Severomorsk near Murmansk in northern Russia recently emerged from the site of an old cinema, outfitted in the latest lighting technology from Martin Professional, and has quickly become the region's most popular entertainment venue.

Martin distributor A&T Trade was commissioned to create a club atmosphere for the multifunctional space, one that included dynamic as well as static lighting. "Use of the installation depends on the type of event," says Denis Bessonov, director of the company MasterMedia. "The fixtures support the work of the professional artists as well as creating different lighting effects on the dance floor. They are used to reflect the mood of the various musical styles."

Arena is housed in a two-story building with a ceiling height of 12m. The original plan called for lighting fixtures to be fixed on the

UK - Adlib Lighting supplied equipment and crew to Mika's recent tour. Adlib designer Ian Tomlinson was brought onboard by tour manager Jamie Butterworth - the two have previously worked together on Mylo.

Adlib's head of lighting Pete Abraham says: "It's exciting to be working with such an amazing breakthrough artist as Mika. There's a massive buzz about him and he's a great live performer. Ian came up with a highly adaptable and dynamic rig that fitted a variety of venue sizes." These ranged from the Birmingham Barfly to Koko in London.

Tomlinson started with floor-based trussing to build a structural outline for the stage. To give it a quirky flavour - matching Mika's interesting performance style - he chose a semi circle of truss that rested on the floor at the back creating an arched effect, flanked by two quarter circles, which also appeared as arches.

Onstage

UK - HSL supplied a 12-way Kinesys automation system, 220 ChromaQ ColorBlock DB4s and 4 Robe DigitalSpot DT5000s to LD Rob Sinclair for the latest leg of Keane's Under The Iron Sea world tour, which featured a series of sold-out UK arena shows.

The lighting supply was a joint production between HSL and its Blackburn neighbours Lite Alternative. This combination worked well on the recent Human League tour which Sinclair also directed.

HSL's Mike Oates says: "It's great to be working with Rob again. He has a unique vision and creative direction, and is always coming up with new and innovative ideas and presenting us with new challenges."

Sinclair wanted his lighting design to be flexible enough to give the band plenty of space when they needed it, whilst also to being able to close the show right in at more intimate moments. He chose to do this using pantograp

Croatia - Prism Sound's recently appointed distributor Intercom is putting the finishing touches to its new audio facility in Zagreb, which will be officially opened at the end of April 2007. Housed in the centre of the Croatian capital, Intercom's Piece Of Cake Studios will incorporate two control rooms, a critical listening room and studio offices.

Intercom managing director Damir Begovic says: "The primary purpose of Piece Of Cake Studios is to serve as a regional demonstration facility for the pro audio equipment brands that we distribute in South-East Europe. We believe that hearing is believing and with fantastic pro audio brands on our roster it made sense to have a properly equipped facility where prospective clients could literally get their hands on this equipment and try it for themselves."

Piece Of Cake Studios will also be available for commercial projec

UK - Keane's audio crew chief, Ant Carr, has selected a 24-channel Allen & Heath GL2400 multipurpose console for the band's new studio, a converted barn in the South of England.

As well as a rehearsal space, Keane will be using the premises to write new material. The band is currently rehearsing for its forthcoming UK arena tour, which will be closely followed by a tour of South America in April.

Freelance engineer, Ant Carr, started working with Keane when he was part of the Skan PA Hire team in Reading, where he covered system tech duties for several band engineers. "I had a look at what consoles were available before deciding on the GL2400," he says. "I had a set budget and in all honesty, there wasn't another desk available for the price that could provide the professional features that the band needs."

(Jim Evans)

USA - Daft Punk's conceptual show, featuring a fusion of lights, LED and video required the addition of a separate stage at the Bang! Music Festival in Florida.

Andre Serafini, technical production manager for the event, explained: "This was very much eleventh hour. As soon as we saw the renderings of their huge triangular set, a mass of Pixel Line, Versa Tubes and video wall we knew there was no way we could put other acts on in front of them without revealing the magic."

Promoters, Haddad Productions, also saw the dilemma and without hesitation ordered in another 60 x 40 outdoor stage. "We also had to pull in another PA system," continued Serafini. "My company, Beach Sound Incorporated, already had the other four stages covered, but we were max'ed out equipment wise with some simultaneous corporate events elsewhere in the States taking the last of ou

UK - Soon after taking over the former Wardour Street nightclub, The Trap, and converting it into Stringfellows Soho, the impresario after whom it is named had a change of mind. Peter Stringfellow decided that while his table dancing concept would work in Soho on the midweek nights, the weekends would be better suited to a full-on luxurious nightclub, capable of taking on the West End's elite. And by changing the venue's name to The Wardour he knew he would also avoid confusion with his Covent Garden club of 26 years.

By this time London-based Viba Sound had already filled the Wardour Street venue with distributed 12" ceiling speakers. "While these would have been fine for the girly nights, with the new direction something with much more punch was now required for the dance weekends," said the company's Peter Kellet. So he opted for a complete Nexo solution.

The

Germany / USA - During the same financial quarter in which Bosch completed their acquisition of pro audio industry leader Telex Communications (resulting in the formation of Bosch Communications Systems, a business group of the Bosch Security Systems division, on 1 January 2007), substantial cash investments were put into effect at the Straubing, Germany and Morrilton, Arkansas facilities manufacturing the Dynacord and Electro-Voice product lines.

Bosch's immediate commitment to the improvement and expansion of these factories literally adds concrete to the common goals that brought Bosch and Telex together - high quality without compromise, brand stability and long-term growth. By keeping production rooted in each brand's country of origin, Bosch reinforces a dedication to brand quality and, of course, the associates who live near and work at these plants.

Following millions

UK - Cable specialist VDC Trading has supplied the cable and connectors needed to install three new studios at EMAP Radio's Mappin House in London. The new studios, which are now up and running, are being used to provide on-air facilities for the Kiss services across London and nationally on DTT, Sky and DAB. The Kiss network shows, which originate in London, also come from these studios.

EMAP Radio's National Director of Engineering, Alex Lakey, says the studios were installed as a replacement for facilities that were built seven years ago when Kiss moved to Mappin House from its old base on Holloway Road. "After seven years of abuse by Kiss DJs, the mixers were well past their sell-by-date and the original installation had been modified too many times," he explains. "We also needed to add extra facilities when the Kiss brand was extended into the former Vibe FM

Belgium - Following successful line-array installations in Belgian concert halls such as Roma in Borgerhout(W8L/W8LD) and the AMT complex in Antwerp (W8LM), cultural centres are becoming more and more intrigued by what Martin Audio line arrays have to offer, says the company.

Martin Audio territorial distributors, Ampco Belgium, report that after careful market investigation, followed by a W8LM demo, it became clear that this would provide the best solution for De Schakel's main hall in Waregem. Measuring 19m wide and 20m deep, the 536 seats stretch right down to the front of the stage - thus to give every seat almost identical sound quality and coverage was no easy task. But the W8LM Line Array concept proved it could cope with this demand and deliver from a small footprint precisely what the customer wanted.

Local supplier, installer and rental company Big Dynamic was appoin

UK - Kinesys automation and control systems have been specified for several recent high profile concert tours including The Killers, The Feeling, Muse, Nelly Furtado and Keane. The Kinesys system is being increasingly chosen by lighting designers to add a new visual dimension to their creative canvas, says the company.

A 14-way Kinesys system - along with all rigging and crew - was supplied by Summit Steel for the UK section of The Killers tour. This was a sub-hire to lighting rental contractors Siyan. Lighting designer Steve Douglas' upstage truss featured four contemporary chandeliers - consisting of steel wire rope drops of lights - rigged onto a truss flown on two Kinesys motors. This was brought in and out at the appropriate moments.

Downstage were three box shaped lighting pods, each suspended on four Kinesys motors - all half tonne CM Lodestar JJs running at up to 21-me

UK - Bandit Lites is once again supplying lighting equipment and crew to the X-Factor Live arena tour, which is playing a record number of shows over six weeks around the UK. This is Lighting Designer, Matt Jensen's first tour with X-Factor, which is production-managed by Sarah Hollis for Production North and project-managed by Bandit's Lester Cobrin.

Jensen's design is big and 'televisual' in keeping with the environment from which the show originated, and it is also what "the majority of the audience would expect," he explains.

The set was designed by Production North's, Iain Whitehead and includes a central staircase walkway and a series of hydraulic lifts from below the stage, which gives the show an epic feel. There are three upstage LED screens with the central screen splitting to form a stage entrance.

With ten artists on the bill, the other aesthetic

UK - Wembley Arena has beaten off international competition from Zurich, Barcelona and Ireland to win the Best International Arena Award at the recent 18th Pollstar Concert Industry Awards held in Los Angeles.

This is the fourth time Wembley Arena has been awarded this accolade, and the first since the £36 million refurbishment of the Grade II listed building, undertaken by Quintain Estates and Development, who own the Arena and an additional 70 acres of land surrounding Wembley Stadium.

The new-look Arena, re-orientated to face the Stadium, has attracted a record number of fans since reopening its doors in April 2006 after a 15-month refurbishment programme.

The transformed Arena is part of a mammoth £2.6 billion regeneration project that will include a 17-screen cinema and a boulevard lined with restaurants bars and cafes. The scheme is expected to inject

Germany - Renkus-Heinz will be hosting a series of seminars and workshops during ProLight + Sound at Frankfurt. This year's topics include: MCR (Multi Channel Reverberation) Systems, RHAON/SYGMA, ICONYX Certification, EASE 4.2 and Media Matrix/Networking.

During the MCR (Multi Channel Reverberation) Systems seminar, participants will be given an in-depth view of a modern Multi Channel Reverberation system now being successful operated in several theatre installations in Europe. Peter van der Geer from Team Projects will demonstrate the benefits of having such a system in a theatre or concert hall.

In the RHAON/SYGMA seminar, Ralph Heinz will guide delegates through the company's new digital platform RHAON, which through using a CobraNet based platform enables signal distribution, full supervision and control as well as remote access and control of the internal digital sound pr

UK - Cheerleading event organiser Future Cheer has invested in its own PA system for its increasingly popular events in the UK. The Electro-Voice RX system, powered by EV amplifiers and used in conjunction with EV radio microphones, received its championship debut at Loughborough University this month.

In the hands of its resident sound engineer Everard James, Future Cheer's RX system made its first appearance at one of the five regional competitions leading up to the national championships.

The Heart of England Cheer & Dance Championships were staged in the 2,000sq.m Sports Hall at Loughborough University and featured cheerleaders from 48 competing teams. James positioned RX212 and RX115/75 stacks left and right of the performance area, driven by EV CP4000 and CP3000 amplifiers, and teamed with a new DX38.

The RX system was specified by James, an experienced DJ and recordin

UK - To celebrate the rebranding of the company and the launch of its new website, Northern Light is running a competition to find a name for the character illustrated in the logo. As part of the continuing brand strategy development - which started with a revamp of the logo in June 2006 - work began on completely redesigning and repopulating the corporate website last year.

The new look site has a much more contemporary look and feel and will evolve over the next few months to incorporate e-commerce capabilities such as an online shop and hire booking system, says the company.

Lois Ferguson, marketing manager at Northern Light, said: "As it stands, the relaunched website is very much in phase one of our redevelopment plans. We have updated the information on our services - aimed at our very diverse client base - and brought the overall look of the site into the 21st cent

UK - George Michael is to play the first concert at the new Wembley Stadium, it has been confirmed. The former Wham! star will perform at the 90,000 capacity venue on 9 and 10 June as part of his British and European stadium tour.

Alex Horne, managing director of Wembley Stadium, said it was "fantastic news" that Michael would perform the first concert at the prestigious venue, adding: "He's no stranger to this great stage having performed at the old stadium with both Wham at Live Aid and as a solo artist." Muse will also be among the first acts to play the revamped stadium, having previously announced a date on 16 June.

The new £757 million venue was due to reopen in August 2005 but was delayed following a series of hold-ups and legal wrangles that led to a number of musical and sporting events being postponed. Among them were concerts by Bon Jovi, R

USA - Sarasota County Fairgrounds, a multipurpose venue with a seating capacity of 4,000, was the venue for a bout between local China Smith aka 'The Dragon' and an unknown, where Smith punished his opponent with a 'knock out' in the first round.

The 72kW PAR Can show was controlled using an LSC maXim XXLP, provided by Piston Sound. The owner of Piston Sound, Leon Pitts purchased the maXim more than 12 months ago, and has used the console on a number of productions including large and small concerts, fashion shows and now boxing matches throughout the Florida region. The maXim's powerful features and user-friendly design made controlling the lights simple and a blessing for the production crew, he says.

The maXim is available in six models, from 24 faders to 120 faders, and the optional PaTPad moving light controller further extends its capabilities by adding features like pal

Europe - Lighting&Sound International magazine is making an unprecedented special offer to European industry professionals at the forthcoming ProLight&Sound exhibition in Frankfurt (28-31 March).

For the first time ever, L&SI is offering full-time professionals on the European mainland the chance to sign up for one year's FREE subscription to L&SI magazine - a subscription that would usually cost around 75 euros (£50). Visitors to the show can sign up for this great offer by visiting the PLASA/L&SI stand at the Hall 8.0 Walkway, stand J80. (Look for the VPLT, ESTA & PLASA signs).

(Lee Baldock)

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