UK - Singer songwriter Passenger (aka Mike from Brighton, as he introduces himself) may be one man busking with a guitar, but this is busking with a difference. Fans turn up in their droves to his impromptu gigs. Both they and production manager and FOH engineer Simon Kemp have discovered the benefits of Sennheiser's LSP 500 wireless loudspeakers.

Announced on his Facebook page only a matter of hours before each performance, and drawing crowds of up to a thousand at a time, Passenger's latest 'busks' have seen him perform in Manchester, Brighton and on London's South Bank outside the Tate Modern and they certainly haven't been disappointed in the quality of the audio.

Simon explains why he chose to use the LSP 500s. "I looked into this long and hard," he says. "The whole vibe of these gigs is that we need to be able to turn up anywhere and be completely self con

Israel - As the largest PA company in Israel, Sincopa Sound & Light has recently used its newly acquired Optocore digital returns racks to service major concerts by Justin Timberlake and the Rolling Stones in Tel Aviv's giant Park HaYarkon for up to 50,000 fans.

In the case of Timberlake they were able to meet the spec by deploying Optocore's sophisticated fibre distribution system comprising four XR6-FX interfaces at the FOH, stage and delay tower ends. One device was configured 8AE/8MI and the other three 8AE/8LO.

Transmission to the L-Acoustics PA and delay towers was via Optocore AES, Analogue and Ethernet on a redundant loop, with two AES lines from the DiGiCo SD-7, through a routing/summing Lake LM-44 to a total of five AES lines on the Optocore rack. These were configured for AES and analogue, while an analogue line was connected for backup.

The two Optocore stage rac

Angola - Doo.Bahr Nightclub, in the Angolan capital of Luanda, recently took delivery of the largest Martin Audio sound system ever shipped to the Portuguese speaking African country.

The work was carried out by Phil Clark and Neil Kavanagh of UK-based Old Barn Audio. They were commissioned by the owners, who also operate the Oon.Dah Restaurant below it in the EdifĂ­cio Escom, Luanda's tallest tower.

Phil Clark takes up the story. "We had already designed the original system 18 months ago, with assistance from Nigel Meddemmen at Martin Audio, but it was such a roaring success that we were asked to return and make the system louder to satisfy the DJs. This we did by upgrading the nightclub with more subs, bigger amps and processing."

Doo.Bahr is one of Luanda's chicest cocktail bar/lounges with an outdoor terrace offering spectacular views. It was originally designe

Australia - Four Robe Robin MiniMes have been supplied for use throughout the Museum of Australian Democracy (MOAD) located at the Old Parliament House Building in Canberra, ACT, by Elite Sound & Lighting, also based in the city.

The fixtures are mobile and are being used for a variety of applications involving temporary exhibitions and small events which are constantly staged in the venue.

Elite is one of Australia's leading rental companies and has a substantial number of Robe products - nearly 300 moving lights - in regular hire stock.

Elite MD Darren Russell explained that they have also enjoyed a close working relationship as the in house audiovisual provider for external clients within the venue but also as a supplier to MOAD, which includes introducing them to new, interesting and appropriate technologies as and when they come to the market.

This is exactly what hap

Sweden - Lighting design for Swedish rock band Kent has again featured a strong SGM package.

LD Uffe Jansson of Hysterical Design has taken on the task of delivering Kent's two festival shows as part of their new concept Kentfest, where the Swedish band, now celebrating its 24th anniversary, provides its vision of how a festival should be.

Kent is the festival's headline act, and Uffe Jansson was determined to create a lightshow that matched their status. "For me the important thing is to accentuate the band's music with lighting to make it a great concert. It is a fine line to use the right amount of effects for each song, when you have about 600-700 fixtures," he informs.

Besides the regular festival rig, Jansson added about 120 P-5 wash lights and 35 XC-5 colour strobes exclusively for Kent's performance. "My goal was to incorporate the entire stage,

UK - When Busted/McFly supergroup McBusted announced that it was going to tour the UK in Spring 2014 the band wanted something visually spectacular, so approached LEDsynergy, via SimS custom guitars, to build five LED encrusted guitars to be a key visual element of each stage performance.

Not content to have dot-marker LEDs positioned on the neck of their guitars, McBusted wanted the entire body of each guitar encrusted as well. The three lead and two bass guitars were developed and tested in around five weeks and delivered well before final rehearsals and the opening performance just prior to Easter.

Ultra compact SMD LEDs were used as they are both lightweight and cost effective; having all the colours within the same thin 'chip-bulbs'. These were positioned just 10mm apart and programmed to not only display a myriad of colours but also produce moving patterns and even full

UK - East Anglia-based CEG productions has added a range of Robe Robin lighting fixtures to its rental stock - with fixtures already out on dry and wet hire across the company's diverse range of customers.

CEG's recent investment from Robe includes the Robin Pointe, Robin LEDWash 600, Robin LEDBeam 100 and Robin CycFX8.

CEG's director Ben Bowles explains, "After embarking on a thorough investigation of fixtures that are available on the market, we picked the Robin range. We already own a small selection of Robe's AT series and so we had experienced the high level of customer support from the manufacturer. It was only natural to extend our product range with these new products.

"The Pointe is an in credibly flexible and useful fixture - proving very popular with our growing base of LD clients. We're most excited about the CycFX 8 - although this fixture is a punt fo

UK - National conference and live events services provider Saville Audio Visual has just been appointed as AV supplier to the Jockey Club Racecourses for the Northwest region.

The appointment covers flagship racing venues at Haydock Park, Aintree and Carlisle racecourses. Saville has provided support for events in the venues many times and both parties felt the time was right to enter into a strategic partnership aimed at providing the best possible technical event support for the venues clients.

Carl Pastor, operations manager at Aintree Racecourse commented, "The established close links formed with Saville and the strengths offered by their network of distribution outlets in the North West means that together we can offer a great package to existing and new customers at our three North West venues."

Saville has over 40 years experience in delivering audio visual

Brazil - Allen & Heath is playing an important role in the playback, broadcast and transmission of the 2014 FIFA World Cup taking place in Brazil. Supplied by distribution partner, Teleponto. multiple Allen & Heath consoles are being used at several stadiums, in various remote broadcast trucks, and in the master control rooms.

Fox Sports Brazil, a key broadcaster of the games, is using a GLD-80 digital mixer connected via Dante to 3 LAWO consoles and 3 RTS matrixes for broadcasts from Rio de Janeiro. Broadcaster, Sigma, is using a Qu-16 and a Qu-24 compact digital mixer, plus two iDR-16 and an iDR-48 iLive MixRacks.

Fox Sports' Sao Paulo studio installed a GLD-80 earlier this year. As part of the system, an AR2412 remote I/O rack was selected as a master unit, with two AR84 expander racks installed in the Fox studio with the mixer. This system is being used to provide audio fe

USA - The CBS broadcast of the 2014 Tony Awards, which aired 8 June, was one of the most complex in the event's history. From host Hugh Jackman's sprawling, bouncing, opening number to the on-stage gathering of all winners for a closing rendition of On Broadway viewers were treated to a fast-paced production that included a record 17 musical acts and a live orchestra in Radio City Music Hall.

Managing RF system design and frequency coordination for Firehouse Productions was Vinny Siniscal. "With so much real estate to cover, so many frequencies to manage and so many live bands, I specified Shure UHF-R systems again this year," he states. "When I'm doing a live network broadcast, that's my preference. Even though the product has been around ten years or so, I know there's nothing else out there that I trust to be robust enough to survive in such a crowded RF

Spain - Ibiza superclub Space Ibiza was the first venue to launch its 2014 summer season in style, with a 10 hour party together with a spectacular lighting rig designed by Eduardo Valverde which included 42 x Robe moving lights.

In addition to creating the lighting, video and stage design which incorporated numerous LED elements Valverde also undertook programming and operation of the opening show which featured a multi-DJs line up making the vibes. This was spectacularly high in impact to match the profile of the club and the occasion.

The Robe fixtures comprised 30 x Robe Robin Pointes and 12 x Robe Robin LEDWash 300s, provided by Madrid based ASL Light Solutions.

The party began at 4 pm and ended at 2 am so he needed fixtures that could withstand being worked non-stop - and to the max - for the duration as well as ones that would register in daylight.

The LEDWash 300s

USA - In a significant development for users of Audinate's Dante audio networking technology, Symetrix has announced that the latest version of its popular SymNet Composer software will support native configuration of select Dante-enabled Attero Tech and Stewart Audio products.

Settings affecting I/O levels, routing, and more may be defined with SymNet Composer 2.0, which gives customers the ability to consolidate design on a single software platform where previously multiple platforms were required.

"As of this release, integrators will no longer need Audinate's Dante Controller as well as separate software packages for each manufacturer's products," comments Trent Wagner, senior product manager at Symetrix. "Supported Attero Tech and Stewart Audio Dante-enabled products can now be configured and managed right alongside to SymNet hardware. Integrators who have

Ghana - PR Lighting's comprehensive portfolio of discharge and LED automated lighting were in full evidence at the recent 15th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA), organised by Charterhouse Ghana.

The company's subsidiary, Charterhouse Production, also masterminded the technical infrastructure at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) for an event that seeks to foster the development of the Ghanaian music industry and reward the artistes, producers, recording labels and other industry professionals. They handled all aspects of the event, provision of lights, stage and set design, full production and event management.

According to Charterhouse Production event executive Eli Tettey the technology was scaled up for this year's Awards. "We used a lot of new equipment from PR Lighting, incorporating LED screens into the set design - and a lot more people attended.&quo

Twickenham Ticket - A 100-seat theatre that will be both a producing and receiving house is to launch in west London, opening in September with the musical Sweeney Todd. The Twickenham Theatre will be based above the London Road pub and is the brainchild of theatre producer Tony Green, who claimed Twickenham had not had an arts venue available to production companies for more than 250 years. "By offering a new dedicated venue for quality theatre and other entertainment we can give locals the opportunity to experience some of the West End on their doorstep, and Londoners a reason to come to Twickenham," he said. The venue will offer a flexible rehearsal and performance space, which will be available to visiting companies and local community groups.

School Report - The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts will open a sixth form college in 2015 following

UK - Top UK amusement park, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, are using Jands' flagship Vista L5 console to control the lighting on their latest production of the world-famous Hot Ice Show ice skating spectacular.

One of the UK's most popular attractions, with nearly 20,000 visitors per week, skaters travel from across the globe to take to the ice in Blackpool for what has become the world's longest running ice show. Included in the impressive line-up are stars from ITV's Dancing On Ice, as well as Olympic and professional skaters.

Hot Ice Show is created, produced and directed by Amanda Thompson OBE and presented by Stageworks Worldwide Productions at the Pleasure Beach's ice skating theatre, The Arena.

To create the production's dynamic and highly theatrical feel, a spectacular light show, explosive pyrotechnic fire effects and a dramatic music soundtrack comp

Poland - SGM has announced the appointment of LTT Lighting & Theatre Technology as its new sole Polish distributor.

LTT, Poland's leading, and longest serving distributor of professional lighting fixtures, consoles and other technology, say they are excited to be offering products from what they describe as "one of the world's most promising LED fixture manufacturers".

The relationship between LTT and SGM's CEO Peter Johansen, in fact dates back to 1997, and the latter states, "I have always enjoyed a fruitful relationship with the company and I look forward to working with them once again in this new era."

LTT say that the main attraction to them has been the speed of SGM's evolution. "To stay relevant in the market requires the ability to anticipate future developments in technology and customer needs," says LTT commercial director, Pawel Mroz

UK - Long-time ambassador for Optocore fibre signal interfaces, HD Pro Audio's sales director, Andy Huffer has strengthened his relationship with the Munich based network specialists - by placing the focus on sister company, BroaMan.

Once Optocore had decided to set up Broadcast Manufactur (BroaMan) to extend the Optocore infrastructure (and distribution options) into broadcast applications such as studios, OB vans and sport events, Huffer admits "it all clicked into place."

When he first saw MUX-22, the latest addition to the BroaMan portfolio of routing and repeating devices at this year's Frankfurt Prolight+Sound Show, and sensed its full I/O capacity and configurability, it really ignited his interest.

Consequently, his company - which specialises in the sales and distribution of a range of premium pro audio brands - gave BroaMan's MUX-22 device a prime spot on

UK - SSE Audio Group has been appointed a Soundcraft Vi Select dealer, and with the company's established reputation as a Vi User, wasted no time in securing one of the first Soundcraft Vi3000 digital consoles off the production line.

SSE sales director, Alex Penn, confirms: "We have a long history with Soundcraft's Vi Series." He continued "We saw the new console for the first time at Frankfurt Prolight+Sound; it sits neatly between the Vi1 and Vi4 and offers many new features which will secure the longevity of this series, which has always been popular with engineers."

Marking a massive technological upgrade to the Vi series, Vi3000 offers many advantages, including the much requested access to Universal Audio's plug-ins and Soundcraft Realtime Rack plug-in engine - both points picked up on by Penn.

"The Realtime rack can also be used with our exis

USA / UK - Having completed the first European leg of her Prismatic World Tour and now starting dates throughout North America, Katy Perry invites her audiences into a visually stunning concert experience. "Everything with Katy is larger than life so the design needed to reflect that. The stage itself is a statement," points out show director and designer Baz Halpin. Helping Halpin and Perry make that strong visual statement is PRG Nocturne.

Supporting her album, Prism and calling the tour the Prismatic World Tour, Perry had a vision of where to start in the look of the show's design. "She wanted a large triangular LED Video screen on a triangular stage," explains Halpin. "That was the basis of the design - the shape. Everything else plays into that." Halpin conceived the enormous 70' wide by 34' tall automated tracking triangul

Malta - W-DMX by Wireless Solution Sweden once again helped pull off the impossible at Malta's 10 year anniversary celebration of joining the European Union. Malta's accession to the EU in May 2004 began a new chapter in the island's history and it was a common goal to make the anniversary a truly spectacular event.

The celebration would not have gone on as planned without Wireless Solution delivering a system setup of 8 W-DMX universes to span Malta's Grand Harbour to four points with up to 1000m distance - and all delivered within three days.

The main focal point, the walls of historic Fort St Angelo, were lit up with a stunning light display followed by a glittering array of fireworks that worked their magic over the Grand Harbour at midnight, all to the delight of thousands of spectators. Nearby Senglea Point and Villa Bighi served as additional backdrops for the audiovisu

UK - Manchester-based lighting specialists dbn Lighting specified Clay Paky fixtures when designing a lightweight and versatile rig for the renovation of the city's Grade II listed, multi-purpose Albert Hall.

The early 20th century gothic chapel underwent major renovation to convert it into one of the city's most happening music venues. Stephen Page of dbn Lighting was called upon to design a lightweight and versatile lighting solution that could take care of all genres of entertainment lighting.

"The weight capacity of the Albert Hall's roof is limited so we couldn't use anything too heavy," explains Page. "I also wanted the equipment to be as discreet as possible so size of fixture was also important. The reliability and compact build of the Clay Paky fixtures was therefore key in my decision to use them."

Page specified the Clay Paky Sharpy, complement

UK - Critically-acclaimed indie pop four-piece The 1975 have been driving fans wild on their world tour, including a sold out show at London's majestic Royal Albert Hall where the power and brightness of 12 Philips Vari-Lite VL3500 Wash FX luminaires provided spectacular illumination for the Manchester-born boys.

Show and lighting designer Tobias Rylander, of design house Seven Design Works, worked alongside lighting designer Darren Purves to specify the VL3500 Wash FX luminaires which complemented the remarkably physical design's clean lines and epic style aerial projection. This concept was inspired by Rylander's passion for architecture and art, particularly the artist Anthony McCall, who is renowned for his work with forced perspective, glass and prisms and bouncing light off of reflective surfaces.

"The band had a very distinct graphic design in the album artwork,&qu

Romania - Viva! magazine recently celebrated its 15th anniversary at the picturesque Mogosoaia Palace in Bucharest. As the most anticipated glossy event of the year in Romania, the party was attended by 1,200 local show business celebrities, the ladies marking the glamorous red-carpet garden party by wearing long gowns and gentlemen showing up in tuxedos.

SGM's local partner, production company FIVE'S, supplied the lighting equipment for this high-class venue and incorporated the versatile SGM range into their design. The company witnessed SGM's product presentation at Prolight+Sound earlier this year, and instantly knew that this was the LED range that they were seeking.

Thus, the new G-Spot moving head made its Romanian debut, with six units lighting up the red carpet corridor together with six SixPack blinders. Marketing Developer, Titus Percea, explains: "We were happ

The Netherlands - With the start of the new Formula One Grand Prix season Dutch satellite uplink specialists, Multi-Link Holland and BP Satellite Solutions, have again been brought in to provide broadcast facilities to their clients at all GP circuits worldwide.

Both companies have a history of collaboration on a number of projects. Multi-Link Holland, founded by Bob Snieder, and BP Satellite Solutions, under Patrick Hendriks, provide satellite uplink and downlink facilities, wireless cameras, multi-camera and edit facilities. They also provide data and DVB-T transmissions - single and multiplexed-channel - for their own respective broadcast clients.

In order to enable fibre distribution over long distances in a more efficient and economical way than previously, for this season they have adopted BroaMan's new MUX-22 video, audio and intercom module. MUX-22 is part of BroaMan's

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