UK - Broadcast audio specialists Red TX was at London's O2 Arena on 29 September, to capture the broadcast audio for Unity - A Concert For Stephen Lawrence.

Artists including Rita Ora, Beverley Knight and Jessie J were joined by Emeli Sande, Ellie Goulding and Ed Sheeran for the concert, which was held to mark the 20th anniversary of Stephen's death in southeast London.

Red TX was commissioned to handle the broadcast audio by Paul Dugdale, who was directing the project on behalf of ACME TV. Dugdale previously worked with Red TX during the summer when the company recorded The Rolling Stones in Hyde Park.

For the Unity concert, which was broadcast on BBC 2, Red TX used its main Red 1 outside broadcast vehicle, with engineers Tim Summerhayes and Ollie Nesham at the controls.

"We knew the event was going to be challenging due to a tight schedule and the shear amount of ar

UK - Pop rockers McFly celebrated 10 years at the forefront of the music industry with panache and some help from Robe's latest technology ... in four sold-out shows at London's Royal Albert Hall.

The RAH's Lighting department were appointed as lighting contractors and senior technical manager Ollie Jeffery contacted award winning international lighting designer Tim Routledge to create a design using their own extensive house rig - featuring 130 moving lights - plus a large quantity of 'specials' including 24 x Robe Robin Pointes and 40 x Robe Robin LEDBeam 100s.

These were supplied by Brighton based TSL. Project manager Frankie Du Toit organised WYSIWYG, patch and systems liaising with Routledge directly on behalf of the Hall.

Jeffery comments, "TSL didn't just provide us with a dry-hire service, it was a complete managed package backed up by a first class service.&quo

USA - D.A.S. Audio reports that Dynamic Productions USA, a full event production, sound, lighting and staging company headquartered in Orangeburg, NY with offices in Miami, FL and New Jersey, is the first firm in the nation to take delivery of a new Aero 40A Advanced Line Array System (ALAS).

Brian Rosenblum, owner of Dynamic Productions USA, purchased 24 Aero 40A enclosures and placed them into service almost immediately-and with great success. The system's first use occurred in Ramapo, NY. The concert included performances by rock band .38 Special as well as country and southern rock extraordinaire the Charlie Daniels Band. Rosenblum discussed his experience with the company's Aero 40A line array system.

"For this project, we had to provide coverage for an audience of roughly 6,500 people," Rosenblum explained. "To accommodate this, our setup included all 24 A

UK - The newly re-opened Albany Theatre in Coventry is the latest Central Theatre Supplies customer to purchase a Zero88 Orb XF lighting console.

The theatre which reopened in February 2013 had been dark for four years and having discovered their own console had been badly damaged in storage , the theatre was loaned a Strand Console by the Royal Shakespeare Company. When it came to replacing the console , Stephen Hocking from the Albany had already experienced the Orb XF supplied to the Palace Theatre Redditch (where he used to crew) and realised that this was the desk for them.

An onsite demo by Richard Lambert of Zero88 saw the Orb XF connected and patched easily to the theatres own DMX network and tasks which the crew had struggled to do effectively on the Strand console, were achieved quickly and easily.

During a separate site inspection by Keith Rogers , service manager

UK - The first ever Technical Theatre Awards (TTA) - celebrating the best of 'behind the scenes' skill and talent - were presented at a well-attended ceremony at the PLASA Show at London's ExCel.

Fifteen awards were announced on the Theatres Trust stand in the midst of the PLASA hubbub.

Sponsored by AVW Controls, dbs Solutions, Load Cell Rental, Mayflower, Philips Entertainment, PLASA, Production Resource Group (PRG), StageBitz, Stage Jobs Pro, The Fifth Estate Ltd and Triple E, the TTAs are also very kindly supported by Lighting&Sound International and The Theatres Trust.

Host for the evening was prolific multi award-winning lighting designer Rick Fisher, perhaps best known for his work on Billy Elliot the Musical and An Inspector Calls. Recent credits include Great Expectations at Bristol's Old Vic, The Herd at The Bush Theatre, and Inside Wagner's Head at the Linbury Stud

UK - Robe lighting enjoyed a super busy 2013 PLASA exhibition at its new location of ExCeL London, where they showcased nine new products and won their third PLASA Innovation Award.

Robe's CEO Josef Valchar comments, "We are really happy. There was a constant stream of people to the booth, interest in all the latest products and of course, we are delighted to win another Innovation Award, which is a great recognition of all the hard work and foresight of our product design and R 'n' D teams."

The Robe stand was the largest of the exhibition in surface area and occupied a prominent position at the back of the hall. It was designed by Nathan Wan and also featured an eye-catching light-show - also designed and programmed by Wan, utilising all the new and latest products to a special soundtrack.

This ran every half an hour, and attracted even more people to the booth t

Indonesia - Allen & Heath has launched a training and certification programme for digital consoles in Asia. Asian distribution agent, Global Market Management, has put in place an ongoing training certification tour for the GLD and iLive digital systems across the region.

The tour began at PT Kairos in Jakarta, Indonesia, with a three day training event attended by a total of 68 engineers, followed by two days in Thailand training 48 attendees, two days in Shenzhen, China for a total of 102 engineers, Bangkok, Thailand for 53 people and finally Shanghai and Shenzhen again focusing on GLD training for a total of 108 people.

"The engineering team at Allen & Heath has done a fabulous job of designing easy to drive digital mixing products. In fact, stories abound of guest engineers stepping up to a console and being ready to run their show after no more than 10 minutes of ori

USA - Sensaphonics has announced a ringing endorsement from drummer Queen Cora Dunham, currently on tour with Beyoncé. "I started using the Sensaphonics 3D in 2007 when I was with Prince," she says, "and I've been using them ever since. It's an amazing system, so versatile and comfortable - much better than regular in-ears."

The patented 3D Active Ambient uses embedded microphones to capture the on-stage sound surrounding the wearer, allowing the performer to hear everything around them while their ears remain safely and securely isolated. The Queen finds that she uses a variety of ambience settings, depending on the situation.

"There are certain things I have to hear, like audience response. Other times, I like having the option of complete isolation. So I experiment with it and use different settings for different shows," she says. "

USA - Bruno Mars finished the North American leg of his Moonshine Jungle Tour in September ­ a run that consisted of over 40 US and Canadian dates, a spectacular appearance on the MTV Video Music Awards, and an announcement that he will perform at the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show on 2 February, 2014. This month, the Moonshine Jungle Tour continues on to Europe before setting out to Australia and New Zealand in early 2014. Bruno and his band rely on Sennheiser microphones and wireless systems.

At the VMAs, which were broadcast from New York City's Barclays Center and reached more than 10.1m viewers, fans were treated to a thrilling rendition of Mars' new single, Gorilla. Dressed in a leopard skin shirt on a stage awash in green lasers and gorilla imagery flashing on a massive LED screen, Mars delivered a memorable, soulful vocal performance through a Sennheiser

Australia - Joan Baez went on the road in Australia and New Zealand this summer with DPA Microphones' d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones. The musician and prominent activist's audio engineer Jason Raboin uses the mics to achieve the ultimate sound of the grand piano, mandolin and violin that are prominently featured in her music. A long-time DPA fan, Raboin brought them with him to Baez's special performance in late July with Jackson Browne and Emmylou Harris to benefit Downtown Streets Team, an organization aiming to end homelessness.

With two d:votes originally purchased for Dirk Powell - a multi-instrumentalist in Baez's band who wanted free range of movement while playing his guitar, violin (fiddle) or mandolin - Baez's rig now features a total of four d:votes. With the ability to mount the wireless microphone directly onto the instrument, Powell can perform with the gusto o

UK - As the resurgence of psychedelic rock grows stronger in the UK and abroad, London-based Toy has risen to the top of the genre by developing a unique sound that combines numerous guitar effects pedals and keyboards, all of which are connected using Mogami 'Cable for Life' professional audio cables supplied by HHB Communications.

Toy began releasing records with Heavenly Recordings in 2010 to critical acclaim and fan devotion that landed them support gigs for The Horrors and The Vaccines. Billed as a band to watch by both The Guardian and the NME, they have continued to tour heavily throughout 2013, making stops at Glastonbury and Field Day Festivals and opening for Paul Weller and Wire.

With their second Heavenly LP due for release on 8 December, Toy will continue to perform throughout 2013 in NYC and Mexico and as the support act for Placebo's European arena

UK - Organisers of Manchester's unsigned music festival Raw Fest presented cheques worth over £3,000 to two industry charities at a star-studded ceremony on 26 September at Band on the Wall.

Production suppliers and training centre Backstage Academy supported the festival at Jackson's Boat in Manchester on 15 June to raise money for charities that help disadvantaged and underprivileged groups launch careers in music and backstage production.

The second annual outdoor event grew threefold to welcome almost 1,000 people to the historic inn on the banks of the River Mersey in Sale this year, with Mr Scruff as the guest headliner supporting a line-up of 20 up and coming acts. The event supports unsigned artists and gives them a platform to perform in a professional festival environment.

LS-Live supplied its Mini Stage for the main performances and STS Touring, HSL, Euro Ge

Brazil - The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup took place in Brazil, matching top football teams from around the globe. The event is staged by FIFA, the international football federation, in the host country for the following year's World Cup. The Confederations Cup brings together the world's top eight teams, one from each of FIFA's six geographical confederations, plus the host nation and reigning world champions. Each match was broadcast live to a global audience.

"This event was the perfect place to show how Shure's Axient wireless microphone system can help ensure success for any event," says Igor Del Ventura, Shure market development for Latin America. "We made arrangements with FIFA to use the system at several Cup matches, including the opening and closing ceremonies. The systems were used for live broadcast as well as Infotainment." FIFA explains Infotain

UK - The official launch of the Britannia Row Productions Training centre was celebrated with an event following the completion of the first Live Sound Technology course. The party was attended by representatives of partners from the industry and the education sector, as well as press and tutors involved in the course. The organisers were particularly pleased to welcome the mayor of Wandsworth, Cllr Angela Graham.

The occasion of the successful completion of the first Live Sound Technology course run at the centre was highlighted in speeches along with the achievements of successful trainees who were running the live sound of the evening.

Britannia Row Productions director Mike Lowe reflected on the nature of live sound work: "It is a vocation and to my mind, cries out for vocational guidance and training from within industry." He highlighted Britannia Row's support

UK - The MA VPU (Video Processing Unit) received the most attention for MA Lighting this year at the PLASA exhibition in London on the booth of its UK distributor, Ambersphere Solutions.

The revised versions of the MA VPU plus and MA VPU basic offer even more functionality and performance than their already sophisticated predecessors. And with the brand new MA VPU light, MA hit the market with a media solution for more budget conscious projects - offering nearly the same power as the MA VPU plus and basic.

Michael Althaus, MA Lighting's managing director, was happy with the trade show's feedback: "PLASA 2013 saw MA Lighting's system solutions taking a big step forward again. We expanded and enhanced our media elements, offering the market a wider range and set new hardware benchmarks. With HD resolution on any MA VPU and multiple HD layer processing in parallel, as well a

South Korea - Since 1993 'Open Concert' has been one of the most enduringly popular music programmes on Korean TV. Aired every Sunday night for an hour on KBS (Korean Broadcasting System), it's staged in the KBS Hall at the broadcaster's HQ in Yeouido, Seoul in front of a live audience of nearly 1700.

Lighting for the show is designed by KBS's Mr Lee Kwan Han working closely with the KBS lighting design team. Currently on the rig for the weekly show are 40 x Robe Robin 1200 LEDWashes and 38 MMX Spots which were purchased earlier in the year by the KBS Hall to be added to their house lighting system.

They are proving ideal for lighting the show, giving Mr Lee all the creative latitude he needs to produce a rich and varied collection of looks and scenes for the different artists each week.

The Open Concert line-up includes a wide range of genres in singing, music and performan

UK - London's Royal Albert Hall continues to entertain and delight over 1.5m people every year with over 370 shows per year in the main auditorium in 2012 and close to 200 events in its secondary event spaces

Long-time audio suppliers to the Royal Albert Hall, Sound by Design won a highly competitive tender process, thus retaining their contract in September. As a result of this, the Royal Albert Hall and Sound by Design took the decision to completely renew its sound system. However, this time, the winning tender was with a new Halo Compact system from UK loudspeaker manufacturers, EM Acoustics.

Sound By Design's founder and MD Andy Callin said the principal reason for choosing Halo Compact over anything else was, "it's outstanding accuracy and coherency and an ability to maintain control of the dispersion over a distance of 50+ metres."

"It isn't very often

UK - Manchester lighting specialist dbn supplied rigging, lighting equipment and design plus bespoke draping for the Co-Operative Retail Trading Group (CRTG) annual Supporters Awards and gala dinner event, which was staged at Manchester Central.

Pete Robinson project managed for dbn. Both he and the company have been involved in the event for the last six years, each time working closely with technical production management providers A To V and also directly with the client, to interpret their brief and help bring the venue alive with the atmospheres required.

This year, the venue was split into two sections. A fully operational fairground was installed in one half, and the dinner for 1000 people into the other. The dinner area featured a stage in the centre of the room and dbn was asked to create a circus big top visual effect, which they did using hundreds of strips of red a

UK - XL Video was again highly active at the ever-vibrant Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year, reflecting the increase in productions and imaginative ways to integrate video into the plethora of inventive new performances. This year video and projection systems were again supplied to The Pleasance, and for the first time to C venues.

For C venues, one of Edinburgh's leading independent venue producers, curating and hosting the Fringe's largest theatre-based programme, equipment was deployed in eight venues across three sites - C venues' Chambers Street base, C nova and C Aquila.

For The Pleasance, 34 shows featured video elements in 15 different performance spaces.

All of this was project managed for XL Video by Ed Cooper and overseen on site by three hard-working technicians who kept pace with the lively mix of drama, dance, physical theatre, musicals, cabaret, circus and v

Canada - Manley Labs reports that they have signed HHB Communications Canada as their exclusive Canadian distributor. HHB Communications Canada is a major international manufacturer and distributor of recording equipment to the recording, MI, DJ and production sectors of the professional audio industry. HHB and HHB distributed products are sold through all major MI, production, pro-audio and DJ dealers across Canada.

Manley Labs, a privately owned company that designs, manufactures and distributes high-end analog audio equipment, is thrilled about this expansion. "Canada's size presents a big challenge for distribution but it also offers vast opportunities, " said Rick McClendon, vice president of sales and marketing at Manley Labs. "We are confident that the combination of HHB's resources and their excellent staff will guide Manley Labs growth in Canada."

South Africa - Barco Lighting Systems and Stage Audio Works have announced a new partnership that will enable Stage Audio Works to serve as exclusive distributor of High End Systems' products throughout South Africa and the surrounding countries. Effective immediately, this agreement enables Stage Audio Works to make HES' products available to their extensive network of local distributors and resellers. They will also have direct access to product knowledge, support as well as local stock.

Stage Audio Works CEO, Will Deysel, comments, "We have been searching for a lighting brand to add to our portfolio for a while and I am glad that we have been patient about it. High End Systems fits perfectly in completing our complete solution of world-leading brands."

"High End Systems is a well-established manufacturer that have pioneered digital lighting and offer excellen

UK - Doughty Engineering has awarded an aspiring performing arts student for her achievements at a gala dinner hosted by Brockenhurst College. 18 year old Josie Camble was chosen to receive the accolade at the awards ceremony on September 20, held at the end of a week of celebrations to mark the college's centenary and 100 years of education excellence.

Josie stood out as an active member of the performing arts department, and Tara Gadd, Head of Performing Arts, said: "I couldn't think of a better person to receive the award. Josie's commitment to her craft far outreaches her course requirements at Brockenhurst. Alongside her studies she was the lead dancer and choreographer for the Olympic Torch celebration, represented the college at the Christchurch Christmas Festival and choreographed the college's production of Spring Awakening."

She added: "We have an extr

Asia - Mattel's universally beloved Barbie and Ken dolls are performing across Asia in the stage production Barbie Live!. For the young audience in this family show, sound designer Kai Harada has built a sound system based on the Meyer Sound M'elodie line array loudspeaker. Equipment provider is Orlando-based Show Systems.

"It's a dance-heavy show," says Harada, "so we needed a robust system that would cover large theatres or smaller arenas with exceptional clarity-but at levels appropriate for children's ears. I knew that a M'elodie rig would give us those qualities, as well as the flexibility to adapt to different venues."

The show uses up to 24 M'elodie loudspeakers that can be configured as either left-right or left-centre-right arrays, depending on the venue. The system also includes two 600-HP subwoofers, 16 UPJunior VariO loudspeakers for fold

Tourist Boom - Tourists going to concerts and festivals are boosting the UK economy by as much as £2.2 billion a year. Music tourism is also said to provide 24,000 jobs each year, a report by Visit Britain and UK Music shows. Spending by people from the UK and abroad was worth £1.3 billion last year. That includes buying tickets and paying for transport and accommodation plus other indirect spending, which adds another £914m.

Visit Britain says nearly half of the average live music audience is made up of tourists, with visitors from abroad spending an average of £910 while attending festivals and £602 going to concerts. Domestic music tourists spent, on average, £396 while attending festivals and £87 going to concerts.

The report also says that overseas tourists account for 6% of music tourism visits and 20% of music tourism spending.

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