UK - West Country sound company, Evosound Pro Audio, managed PA requirements for the recent Night Surf event held at Lusty Glaze in Newquay, Cornwall, employing its Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing system to run FOH and monitors for bands, which included headline performances by Reef and The Kooks.

Night Surf is a sporting and music event, comprising a surf contest during the day with participation from many pro surfers, and a music event by night including a mixture of local talent and renowned bands.

Evosound first purchased an iLive system, comprising an iDR-48 MixRack and iLive-T112 Control Surface, in 2010, and has recently ordered a second, duplicate iLive system.

"'The flexibility & user friendliness of iLiveT112/iDR-48 means it is never in our warehouse and always out on hire. In my view, iLive has rapidly become an industry standard and continues to exceed ou

UK - Tower Productions recently provided a turnkey package in the grounds of Cardiff Castle for a Heineken Cup Final event, comprising power, heating, lighting, audio, video and networking.

Site access restrictions meant no large plant could deployed so Tower synchronised four 100kva machines from their own stock to give a 400kva generation package with 100% redundancy.

Christie Roadster HD18ks, Philips Vari-Lite VL3000 spots, and a dozen ETC Source Four profiles looked after the external branding/projection onto the castle walls with Dominator and NovaLight High Ground searchlights for aerial effects. 40 green 400W HQI's provided a solid base colour to the castle walls.

Inside the marquee, an array of HD plasma screens from Tower's newly formed AV department were recessed into the set showing the game, associated branding and information, live camera and a Sky HD feed.

In

Malaysia - At the Malaysian Grand Prix, part of the Formula 1 World Championship, Mercedes GP Petronas held their high-profile annual event. In partnership with Anglo-Swiss watchmaker Graham London, they arranged a party with music, fashion and much more at Simfoni Lake in Kuala Lumpur's City Centre.

The 'Mercedes GP Petronas Formula 1 Team' celebration was organised by CD to raise awareness of premium partners Mercedes and Pretonas as well as serve as a business opportunity for Mercedes Benz Malaysia and Petronas clients and business associates.

Working with CD Events, Kumar Shan and Yeap Hong Gee, early adopters of Hippotizer in Malaysia, created a video display for the occasion. They used two Hippotizer GrassHoppers networked via HippoNet and an HP Gigabit Switch connecting to four 15K Sanyo projectors to create some impressive curved screen projection. Front of House was c

World - A group of pro audio companies have formed an organisation to promote a standard system control architecture for professional media networks. Eight manufacturers have formed the group, whose mission is to secure the standardisation of the Open Control Architecture (OCA), a media networking system control standard for professional applications.

The Alliance has been formed to complete the technical definition of OCA, then to transfer its development to an accredited public standards organization. The standards organisation will render the OCA specification into an open public standard for control of professional media network systems.

The founding members of the Alliance are: Bosch Communications Systems, d&b audiotechnik, Duran Audio, Loud Technologies, Media Technology Systems, PreSonus, Salzbrenner Stagetec Mediagroup and TC Group.

Developed recently by Bosch Commu

Australia - One of the most popular events at this year's Vivid Festival held in Sydney was FireDance, a performance of dancing flames choreographed to music.

Using 40 jets of flame - higher than a three-story house - FireDance exploded several times a night every night of Vivid Sydney - making Campbells Cove in the Rocks, the world's biggest campfire.

Choreographed to music using the same technology that controls the Harbour Bridge fireworks every New Year's Eve, FireDance featured two different shows, alternating between each other on the 18 incendiary nights of Vivid Sydney. One show was more pop music with the firejet flames dancing to the Katie Perry hit Firework, remixed by renowned artist Peewee Ferris, whilst the other show saw them in a choreographed balletic performance to the magic of Stravinsky's Firebird Suite.

FireDance was produced and created by Howard & Sons

UK / Australia - PLASA has confirmed the line-up of international speakers for the PLASA sponsored international seminar programme at ENTECH 2011.

Taking place from the 19-21 July 2011 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, ENTECH has been Australia's leading biennial trade show for the entertainment, live events and corporate installation sectors for 17 years. Visitor attendance to the event has always been strong and this year it will be further strengthened by the co-location of the SMPTE conference and exhibition - a major event for the broadcast, pro-audio, audio visual, lighting, staging and commercial integration markets.

Three keynote speakers have been confirmed as part of the PLASA programme, each bringing their expertise in the lighting, audio and rigging sectors to the event.

Lighting designer Rob Halliday is an internationally respected lighting program

USA - grandMA2 featured on the latest US tour of Hillsong United, the Christian band drawn from the Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia, which has grown from a worship team supporting youth meetings at the church to a defined touring band that travels worldwide.

Hillsong United's latest US tour spanned venues from LA's Staples Centre to Boston's Orpheum Theatre. Among the equipment complement was a grandMA2 full-size front of house for lighting control and a grandMA2 light as backup.

Ian Hendrick, who designed the tour's lighting and programmed and operated the grandMA2, has been using MA Lighting consoles for more than a decade. "I don't see any reason to stop," he says. "The original grandMA was a solid platform that was powerful enough for anything you could throw at it, scalable from the smallest gig to the biggest extravaganza, and surprisingly user friend

Russia - Martin Professional's Representative Office in Russia recently celebrated its first anniversary - a year of "unprecedented growth and success" - at a special party with partners and friends at club Lookin Rooms in Moscow.

Key rental companies, representatives of installation firms, major dealers, industrial retailers and leading journalists were all on hand to share in the celebration with Martin's Russian team.

The evening's programme included talks by Martin Professional's vice president of distributor sales, Bruno Garros, and head of the Russian Representative Office, Mikhail Kuznetsov. Also on the programme were several surprises like a draw with the main prize a trip to the Martin factory in Denmark.

"Russia is our most important market from a growth perspective and is currently the largest market outside our traditional subsidiary markets,"

USA - Looking to trim ticket prices despite soaring fuel costs on its Love Come to Life Tour, Nashville-based Christian rock band Big Daddy Weave slimmed down production by trading conventional loudspeakers and amp racks for Meyer Sound's Mina compact line array loudspeakers. This tour was the first for Mina, the newest addition to Meyer Sound's Milo family of self-powered line array loudspeakers.

"Taking an equipment truck simply wasn't an option," states the band's production manager and FOH mixer, Matthew Grunden. "To cut costs, we had to fit everything into a trailer behind the bus. The MINA arrays were key to making that happen."

With tickets for some shows as low as $10, Big Daddy Weave's tour hit the road in March, zig-zagging between Wyoming and Florida through spring and summer, playing 800 - 1,000 seat venues that include churches, meeting

USA - Bosch Security Systemsreports that more than 4,000 customers have interacted with Bosch products on the Safe & Sound Tour. Since its debut at the ISC West Conference & Exposition in Las Vegas, the tour has travelled more than 3,500 miles to stop in 12 cities across the Western region of the U.S.

"Customers appreciate the opportunity to explore our offerings without the need to travel to a trade show. In turn, we benefit from more focused attention over a longer period. The return is higher for both the customer and for Bosch," said Jeremy Hockham, president of sales - Americas, Bosch Security Systems. "The truck also exposes customers to the breadth of our portfolio - opening up new opportunities for dealers looking to expand their solutions offerings."

Featuring high definition video surveillance, access control, intrusion and fire detection,

UK - Organisational changes at Midas and Klark Teknik have seen the departure of former managing director John Oakley at the beginning of June.

Midas and Klark Teknik are now undergoing a restructuring of the management team to accommodate Oakley's departure and allow for better integration within the shared services of the parent MUSIC Group. Newcomer Ian Riley, who joined Midas and Klark Teknik from Harman earlier this year, takes on the role of VP Operations and R&D, while Jonathan Chitty is VP Customer Support, a new division which handles day-to-day commercial and financial matters.

On the manufacturing side, the MUSIC Group has invested $10m in a dedicated manufacturing facility for the Midas and Klark Teknik brands, with another $10m in state-of-the-art SMT and optical inspection systems. Also driving the next phase of Midas and Klark Teknik's development is the expandi

UK - Entries are now open for The Theatres Trust second annual People's Choice Award, following a launch event at the ABTT Theatre Show 2011.

Entries are invited from entertainment industry manufacturers/suppliers with a product that they consider is making a difference to theatres sustainability, either through design, manufacture or operation. Successful applicants products will be displayed on The Theatres Trust's stand 2-M14 at PLASA 2011 from the 11-14 September and visitors to the show will cast their vote for the People's Choice Award.

Visitors to stands at both the ABTT Theatre Show and PLASA 2011 will be able to see a variety of information on the Trust's European Regional Development Fund-backed 'Ecovenue' sustainability project, which is improving the sustainability of 48 London performing arts venues.

At PLASA 2011, after three days of visitor voting, the award w

USA - LDI, the annual US trade show and conference for the entertainment design and technology industry, has announced a five-year partnership with PLASA, the international entertainment technology trade organisation.

The purpose of the agreement is to expand the reach of both PLASA and LDI, and broaden training options for industry professionals.

According to organisers Penton Media, PLASA's international reach adds a broader global dimension to LDI. The Technical Standards Updates track, now from PLASA (formerly ESTA) will again form part of LDI's training line-up this year, giving LDI professional attendees the latest information on essential issues at the heart of the industry.

PLASA will be able to share its technical updates with the industry at large and benefit from the additional US exposure for its trade show and association. By partnering with LDI, PLASA also adds

USA - Opened just two months ago, Orlando-based restaurant and night club Draft chose dBTechnologies loudspeakers to provide sound to its patrons. Describing itself as a casual dining-lounge, Draft Orlando offers lunch, dinner and late night drinks with a backdrop of energising tunes.

Comprising 12 dBTechnologies Arena 12 speakers, the main sound system was specified by Owens AV Design. Bob Owens, owner and audio equipment installer was pleased with how easy it was to install, and he reports, "The customer was really happy with the sound quality."

Built from the ground up, casual dining lounge Draft Orlando boasts a host of other technology including Panasonic LCD televisions and Kramer video switching alongside the dBTechnologies boxes.

(Jim Evans)

Israel - Robe moving lights once again were the primary moving light fixtures used for the Israeli Opera's Aida at the 2011 Dead Sea & Jerusalem Opera Festival, a co-production with the Les Choragies d'Orange in France, staged in the outdoor purpose built amphitheatre at the foot of Masada Mountain by the Dead Sea.

As with the first Masada event in 2010, for which the whole site was built in the rocky desert terrain, lighting for the production was created by Avi Yona Bueno (Bambi), with the majority of the performance lighting equipment supplied by UK based rental company HSL, including all the Robes.

Technical production for the whole site was co-ordinated by Tel Aviv based The Design Group, production managed by Eyal Lavee working closely with Elad Mainz and Eviatar Banayan.

Robe was again specified - with 96 of Robe's most powerful 2500 series units chosen because

UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians reports that its 33rd ABTT Theatre Show maintained its position with the number of visitors remaining constant with last year's record attendance, and 15% up on previous years.

Despite recessionary marketing cutbacks, the Royal Horticultural Halls were yet again filled to capacity with over 100 exhibiting companies, with many launching new products and services, says the Association.

Show director Roger Fox comments, "We're thrilled to have held our position with visitors and exhibitors alike. Despite the heavy downpours we maintained the quality of the visitors and presented a show that was typically packed with innovation. The dedicated seminar programme and our annual Awards were boosted by support from JELF Insurance and our aim is to create an even better event in 2012."

The 2012 ABTT Theatre Show takes place

UAE / Latvia - Following the recent announcement of the IBS Group's partnership with theatre equipment designer, manufacturer and installer JR Clancy, the Group's IBS Solutions division has announced that it is partnering with Company NA, a Latvian company producing its own lighting and control equipment.

As the official GCC distributor for the Company NA branded products, IBS Solutions will offer the full range of LED fixtures, fluorescent floodlights, strobes, splitters and dimmers through its office in Dubai Investments Park to the region as a whole.

Founded in 1994 by Aldis Janevics and Normund Blasans, Company NA started out as a rental company which over the years has been involved in high profile events such as the Eurovision Song Contest, and only in more recent times developed into a designer and manufacturer of lighting equipment.

"One of the advantages

Slovakia - Wireless Solution Sweden AB and Kvant have announced an OEM agreement to offer the W-DMX technology factory installed into the Kvant line of Spectrum lasers designed for spectacular indoor and outdoor applications. Headquartered in Bratislava, Slovakia, Kvant is one of the biggest high-tech laser manufacturers worldwide.

Director, Dr. Pavol Kubošek commented, "When it comes to lasers, offering the ability to operate them with wireless DMX is a huge bonus. Of all the systems on the market we found W-DMX to be the most reliable and robust available."

Shelly Li, sales manager for Wireless Solution said, "Kvant lasers are of superior quality and deliver spectacular effects to shows. With the addition of factory fitted W-DMX, users have even more flexibility in their installations. We're very happy to be part of this product line."

(Jim Evans)

USA - PLASA has extended the submission deadline for the fourth annual Rock Our World Awards to 10 July 2011, to allow for more nominations to the popular awards programme. The awards, which recognise groundbreaking achievement by PLASA members, were designed to acknowledge the genius of both the creator of technology and the designers or integrators who apply it, these awards were originated by ESTA and are now expanded as a worldwide programme under PLASA.

Contestants for the 2010 awards showcased a wide variety of achievements, from the simplest problem solver to complex uses of technology that extended the boundaries of entertainment technology. Nominations showcased everything from innovative new products, to unusual applications, to massive events that highlighted the collaborative nature of our industry.

Anyone may nominate a PLASA member for the awards. If you've seen

UK - Lighting designer Oli Richards supported by Richard Martin Lighting (RML) provide Pulsar ChromaPanel's on the long running comedy panel game show, 8 Out of 10 Cats which is back on Channel 4 with Jimmy Carr presenting.

The ChromaPanel is a square colour mixing panel that utilises high-power LEDs to create a vivid panel of changing colour making it suitable for suspended ceilings or decorative wall or set displays.

The show's title is derived from a well-known advertising tagline for Whiskas cat food which originally claimed that '8 out of 10 cats prefer Whiskas'.

(Jim Evans)

USA - Buying a new theatre rigging system is now within reach for schools and smaller theatre owners, via to a simple financing plan offered by J. R. Clancy.

Rigging equipment purchasers can spread payments over two to seven years, with competitive rates that make the arrangement affordable, says the company. It's simple to estimate monthly payments based on interest rates available to municipal venues at the time of purchase. Payments can be made monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually, as the venue prefers.

Most important, the venue will own the rigging equipment at the end of the financing period. Until now, many municipal theatres have opted for leasing agreements for their rigging system. Leasing seems advantageous at first, but extends payments for the life of the equipment-an arrangement that can add considerable cost. The Clancy financing agreement places a flat cost on t

Belgium / UK - For Take That's European Progress Live Tour 2011, ShowTex Belgium was brought in to supply customized and printed fabrics. The prints are based on the cover design of Take That's last two albums, Progress and Progressed.

ShowTex produced five panels, measuring 10m high and 6m wide each. The panels were built up in different layers of ShowTex's Bannerdrape fabrics. Each panel holds two layers of Bannerdrape Silver and one layer of Bannerdrape Print. Bannerdrapes were specifically designed for outdoor use.

ShowTex also manufactured Molton CS Black curtains cascading behind the panels to black out the set behind it. In all 1200m² of flame retardant and waterproof fabrics were produced for the tour.

The prints were realised in cooperation with ShowTex Middle East (ME). ShowTex Belgium integrated 1712 of water resistant ShowLED Classic LED's i

UK - The security training school has been developed in conjunction with the needs of its partner Company AP Security and for training for the security and stewarding industry as a whole.

With its trainers being also active on the circuit at some of the major events and venues throughout UK, it allows for training to be fully up to speed with the current and future proofing requirements of the industry.

The company already works with a back to work agency REED and is currently bidding for services resettlement courses as well.

The school states, "Working in conjunction with the LSC and Train to Gain, we are in some instances able to source part or occasionally full funding for a selection of our courses, the courses we are currently set up to deliver include: NVQ level 2 In spectator safety; NVQ level 3 In spectator safety; SIA door supervisor / close protection / cctv

UK - This year the ABTT Awards were sponsored by Jelf Insurance who during the show launched their Public Liability/PI insurance scheme tailored to the needs of people who work in the entertainment industry.

The Lighting Product of the Year went to The Arc LED Houselight System from Global Design Solutions. The judges were impressed by the wireless dimming performance of these bespoke fittings manufactured to retrofit existing tungsten lighting in auditoriums and Front of House locations. Honourable mentions went to the LEDKO Reflection LED profile spot and the Robe Robin Wash 600.

Shure's new Axient Radio Microphone System took the award for Sound Product of the Year at the ABTT Product of the Year Awards. Axient was recognised by the judging panel for its clever frequency management, as well as its increased spectral efficiency, allowing large numbers of wirele

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