Italy - Superstar singer / songwriter Vasco Rossi staged seven stadium shows in Rome and Milan this summer playing to over 400,000 fans, complete with a lightshow to match the occasion designed by his long term LD, Giovanni Pinna.

Pinna used 68 Robe Robin LEDBeam 100s which were used as specials and for highlighting the ebullient audiences that flocked to see Rossi whose controversial and hugely successful career has spanned four decades, spawned 27 albums and several spats with authority. He is one of the great Italian showmen who is passionate about his performances and famous for his live interaction and very strong bonds with the crowds when onstage.

For these shows Pinna took the set design by Gioforma based on the album artwork as his starting point for lighting. The stage was custom designed for the show and he crammed every available centimetre with lighting fixtures -

Japan - UK event and installed audio specialists Out Board has appointed S.C. Alliance Inc as its new Japanese distributor for TiMax2 SoundHub audio showcontrol matrix and TiMax Tracker performer tracking system.

SCA hosted a TiMax workshop in Tokyo where Out Board director Robin Whittaker presented and demonstrated the principles of TiMax delay-based Source-Oriented Reinforcement (SOR). Delegates learnt how variable audio localisation could be applied to wireless vocal mics using the TiMax2 SoundHub dynamic delay matrix, and how this could be automated via continuous control by Out Board's market-leading TiMax Tracker performer tracking system.

TiMax2 SoundHub's sound effects and playback server capabilities were also demonstrated using multiple atmos and spot effects played off the units internal hard drive, with looping, editing, volume profiling, delay panning and synchron

The Netherlands - Fresh from blowing minds at the Lightening in a Bottle festival and its successful debut in Miami for MMW, Pure Groove has announced that it will be providing the sound for Amsterdam's Lost in a Moment. Featuring acts such as Dixon, Ame (DJ), Howling (live), David August, Gerd Janson, KiNK (live), and Baikal, Pure Groove's future sound technology is "perfect to take the crowd on their sonic journey," says the company.

Pure Groove recently partnered with Danley Sound Labs, to create a series of sound systems targeted at nightlife and music industries. Possessing over 25 years' of festival and nightclub production experience, Pure Groove Systems are ideal partners for Danley's foray into the music world, and will be installing Danley's award-winning audio technology in the nightclub, concert and festival arenas.

Danley holds 13 Aerospace

Future-proof Theatre - The Chichister Festival, one of the largest theatres in southern England has officially reopened after a £22m revamp. The first play in the main 1,300-seat auditorium is a new production of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, starring Rupert Everett as Salieri and Joshua McGuire as Mozart. Artistic director Jonathan Church said the theatre had been "future-proofed" for audiences for the next 50 years. "This building wasn't built by a politician or the Arts Council," Church said. "It was built by local people - and that engagement has been what enabled us to celebrate 50 years."

Change Of Plan - Microsoft's plan to compete with Netflix and Amazon by producing its own TV shows has come to an early end, as the firm announces 18,000 job cuts. Xbox Entertainment Studio will close by the end of the year, Xbox chief Phil Spe

UK - Sonisphere Festival made a triumphant return to the UK in July, celebrating 40 years of rock music at Knebworth Park. Co-headlining the Bohemia stage, alternative metal band Therapy? played their 1995 classic album Infernal Love, accompanied by a stunning light show featuring a selection of fixtures from Chauvet Professional and trussing structures from TRUSST, backed by Chauvet.

Lighting designer Pete Davies prepared an impactful yet compact, tour-friendly package, primed for easy transportation across Europe for a series of festivals. Low-energy LED fixtures were the natural choice for both Davies and the band, keen to minimise their carbon footprint, without compromising the quality of the audience experience.

The creative solution incorporated eight TRUSST truss uprights, in a combination of 1m and 2m lengths, each with a Chauvet DJ SlimPAR QUAD 6 IRC at its ba

UK - MilTec (UK) Ltd and Ninetwentyfive Productions are holding an open day on Wednesday 20 August at: The Burrell Theatre, Trennick Lane, Truro, Cornwall TR1 1TH.

On show will be the successful Blakite range of speakers along with the new GBA series of ClassD, amplifiers with on-board signal processing. All production and installation companies along with club and bar owners are invited. Doors open at 10 am and the day will run until 4pm. For more information regarding the event contact Peter Maddison on 07961 838469 or Swenson Kearey at Ninetwentyfive Productions on 07886 131346.

(Jim Evans)

USA - On 9 June, the Galen Centre in Los Angeles became the centre of the gaming universe as Xbox held a global briefing for media and Xbox fans at the annual video game show, E3. Broadcast live on Spike TV and on the Internet, some 140 Elation ELAR Q1 colour changing Par lights supplied by Illumination Dynamics made their debut in the elaborate stage set.

The Microsoft Xbox 2014 media briefing is used as a platform to launch new games, as well as take a look at previously announced games. Lighting design for the event was handled by Emanuel Treeson of NYXdesign, who specializes in creating immersive experiences with light and has been designing projects for Xbox since the launch of the Xbox 360 in 2005.

"For Xbox, I wanted a narrow beam fixture that could be placed in an expansive array but one where the LEDs are more spaced out than a typical Elation ELAR panel," h

USA - University Christian Church (UCC), located on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, recently upgraded its sound reinforcement system with Tannoy column line array loudspeakers.

Curt Taipale, owner of Taipale Media Systems (TMS), headquartered in Allen, Texas was tasked with designing the new system. He worked closely with SAV, a Plano-based system integration company that handled the installation.

"The existing sound reinforcement system was more than 20 years old," explains Taipale. "I worked alongside Media & Technical Coordinator Jack Stewart to nurse it along for a time but it soon became clear that we needed to make an upgrade."

The traditional cruciform design of the sanctuary has seating in the main sanctuary along with upper and lower seating in side transept areas. The last pew on the main floor is 120ft from the ma

UK - The successful, high-powered and influential partnership between Yamaha in association with Jazzwise, the All-Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group, PPL, and 606 Club continues into a record eighth year providing funding, performance and recording opportunities to the cream of young jazz musicians, nominated for special consideration by the Heads of Jazz at the UK's leading conservatoires/universities.

This year's jazz scholars to benefit from the scheme received their awards at the All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group's annual 'Summer Jazz' event in association with music licensing company PPL on Thursday 17 July at Portcullis House, Westminster.

The 2014 Yamaha Jazz Scholars had the opportunity to perform their own compositions live in front of an audience of Members of Parliament and esteemed delegates from the UK jazz world and music industry. On the

Europe - The Rolling Stones have just finished the European section of their 14 On Fire tour with another spectacular lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe of Woodroffe Basset Design (WBD) which included 54 Robe Robin Pointes amongst 200 plus other moving lights.

The 54 Pointes - the first to be incorporated into a design for the band and the first time that Woodroffe has used Pointes on a major concert touring show - were provided by award winning UK lighting rental company, Neg Earth.

They were located on 12 sections of HUD truss running upstage / downstage either side of the massive stage.

The Pointes were used extensively thought the show to create high impact washes, gobo looks and big beam effects shooting right out into the audience.

WBD's design associate Terry Cook explains that the team particularly liked the brightness, the linear prism, the zoom and the a

USA - Little Big Town is hitting the road with a bigger production than ever before with new technology provided by Bandit Lites. Bandit added the Ayrton Magicpanel-R to its ever expanding inventory, providing its clients with the latest technological advances to give audience members a brilliant show.

The Magicpanel-R is comprised of a 6x6 matrix that boasts continuous double rotation on two axes while generating clearly defined beams. Each fixture offers 11500 lumen and a centre beam intensity of 1,350,000 candela, but only consumes 450 watts. The result is a stunning look twice the size of a 45mm optic with 30 percent less power consumption.

Lighting designer (and recently nominated CMA SRO lighting director of the year) Chris Shrom is utilizing 28 Magicpanel-R panels on Little Big Town's summer tour in a four column, seven row set up that can be adjusted on gripple ladders

USA - American alternative rock band Third Eye Blind (3eb) is taking its Festival Tour to venues across America, and Clay Paky's A.leda B-EYE K20 LED-based moving lights are hitting the road with them.

3eb's production and lighting designer Mitchell Schellenger, of I Like Lights in Denver, created a look for the band that echoes the sunset set times of some of their gigs. "The band doesn't always have a headline slot, and when that happens they don't have the luxury of performing in complete darkness," Schellenger explains. "So we decided to mimic the look of sunset with warm pretty light on stage. To do that we needed really bright fixtures."

Enter Clay Paky B-EYEs, which Schellenger had read about and seen in video clips. "I wanted to get my hands on them - they looked really awesome," he recalls. 4Wall Entertainment Lighting's Nashville office

Japan - The newly-opened Vanity Osaka nightclub in Osaka features a bold lighting design by Michael Meacham that draws upon the brightness, colour and pixel mapping capabilities of over 400 fixtures from Chauvet Professional.

Meacham of iDesign Productions (Miami) has designed some of the highest profile clubs in the world. He faced a special challenge when lighting Vanity Osaka. "This is a single level club with both sides of the dance floor elevated for VIP seating, so my design was going to be broad, horizontal and expansive," he said. "The challenge I faced, though, is that there are these huge structural columns that land right in the centre of the dance floor."

Instead of trying to "work around" the wide columns, Meacham used EPIX 2.0 bars and EPIX 2.0 strips along with some adroit pixel mapping to incorporate them into his stunning design.

USA - To attract a younger, media-savvy demographic, The Crossing Christian Church in Las Vegas has installed a concert-grade Meyer Sound system. The design features the JM-1P arrayable loudspeaker and the 1100-LFC low-frequency control element, Meyer Sound's most powerful loudspeaker for the 30 Hz to 85 Hz frequency range.

"It's great to finally have a system with enough headroom so that we can push it hard when needed, and have it respond with a smooth increase in gain, without distorting or changing the tonality," says Bob Meyers, principal audio engineer at The Crossing.

For uniform coverage of the wide, 1,800-seat room, the system relies on four main clusters of JM-1P loudspeakers, with four in each end cluster and five in each of the two center clusters. One UPA-1P loudspeaker provides down-fill under each cluster, while six UPJunior VariO loudspeakers supply f

UK - For the fourth year running Adlib supplied audio crew & equipment for Capital FM's Summertime Ball phenomenon staged at Wembley Stadium, London.

The line-up of A-List artists included David Guetta, Ellie Goulding, Miley Cyrus, Enrique Inglesias, Pharrell Williams, Calvin Harris, 5 Seconds of Summer and numerous others.

Adlib's resident KSE system engineer Tony Szabo once again designed and specified an L-Acoustics K1 / K2 PA system to complement the new stage design.

For the first time at the Capital shows, Adlib opted for DiGiCo for consoles at both ends of the multicore, this lead not only by artist requests but also Adlib's recent heavy investment in the premium audio console brand.

Full A and B line systems were run flip-flop style for the main stage revolve system. This was to facilitate the exceptionally tight changeovers. The unforgiving event schedule again fo

UK - Blue Peter is one of the longest running shows in television history. So much history, it is a national treasure. Richard Martin Lighting (RML) has been involved in the show for a long time now and continues to support lighting designer Lee Allen, who is always keen to try out the latest innovations on his shows.

This was the case when RML invested in the new Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K20. What makes interesting and different is a completely new feature: the front lens may be rotated to create lots of small bright compositions, which may be opened and closed like petals. By adding colours and dynamic graphics, the B-EYE generates never-seen-before graphic light effects.

Blue Peter was one of the first RML shows for the B-EYE's and Lee reports, "The great beam effects are very quick to achieve with the shape function, this mode keeps the number of channels

Ireland - The flexibility of a Roland M-200i live digital mixing console configured with the Roland S-1608 Digital Snake proved to be the solution for Recks Audio for an unusual, one off outside broadcast from a lighthouse.

Working for national radio station Today FM, the Clara based professional sound company were tasked with broadcasting a live, three-hour radio show from the Hook Head lighthouse in Co. Wexford - the oldest intact operational lighthouse in the world. The broadcast included the presenter abseiling down the lighthouse (whilst presenting!) and a live band performing inside the lighthouse - as well as the production of the daily radio show itself.

With each element posing its own audio challenges, this outside broadcast required an audio setup with a small footprint yet with enough inputs and outputs to handle both sends and returns for the microphones, band and

Czech Republic - Dancefloor, s.r.o. has completed the installation of an Audica Professional MICROseries system in Café Placzek in Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic and historic capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia.

Brno Café is located in a building that dates from the 1930s. Built by famous local architect Arthur Eisler, and renovated by the RAW studio, its striking style includes the attributes of 'First Republic', modern design, Viennese style and austere functionalism, and Dancefloor chose Audica MICROseries to provide an audio system that merged with the minimalist interior.

The side entrances to the café and the large glazed window are combined into the façade by steel sections lined with polished gold travertine, which is also abundantly used in the interior. With great attention to detail, the interior space is decorated i

UK - Another month, another sporting success for Rubber Box. With the company's distro products having previously been used on such sporting events as the Commonwealth games, the Olympic games and Formula 1, to name just a few - this summer the Tour De France became the latest sporting event to utilise Rubber Box products.

"were delighted to be approached by The Technical Department (the team behind the power at the Tour De France 2014) to provide power distros to enable their services at this major sporting event to run smoothly - and of course didn't hesitate to help," the company says.

The Technical Department Ltd provided electrical services, crew, generators, cabling and switchgear for various aspects of the Tour De France Yorkshire leg. Video screens were laid out across the region, along with a 20,000 strong fan zone in Harrogate and support for the Marshals.<

Asia - Powersoft recently kept up with its reputation to share knowledge in sound engineering by organising a Sound School training tour in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Tokyo with its distributors Electronics & Engineering in Malaysia and Matsuda Trading in Japan.

Attendees experienced what the Armonia Pro Audio Suite software has to offer through a practical hands-on live demo and to learn technologies behind Powersoft's amplification.

"Every single course attracted around 40-50 attendees," says Luigi Chelli, Sound School trainer and Powersoft sound engineer, "I was initially concerned about the level of difficulty but everything went smoothly. The audience was well prepared, receptive, and able to follow even the deepest technical parts of the training."

The Powersoft Sound School offers the highest level of professional training to sound system designer

USA - The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), better known as the Detroit Auto Show, is one of the largest automotive shows in North America and annually features many national and worldwide introductions from the world's most renowned auto manufacturers.

Perennially held at Detroit's Cobo Center, the 2014 NAIAS showcased the industry's latest innovations to more than 800,000 attendees over the course of nine days. As a critical component of the show's experience, over 1,400 Martin Professional lighting fixtures were deployed by a number of leading production partners and lighting-provider Christie Lites across the entire show, including booths for Chrysler, Nissan, Infiniti, Ford, Lincoln, Acura, Volvo, and more.

Chris Wojcieszyn of Lighthaus Design teamed with Bruce Spillman, onsite lighting designer, who oversaw the execution and focus for Chrysler's booth, to d

USA - When the world's biggest Spanish-speaking celebrities gathered in Miami for the 10th annual Premios Juventud awards show on 17 July at the BankUnited Centre, Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) was once again backstage with a custom RF entertainment and intercom package to manage frequency coordination for the festivities.

Presented by Univision, Premios Juventud (Youth Awards) is an awards show that nominates Spanish-speaking celebrities to celebrate their artistic achievements in 27 unique categories within the areas of film, music, sports, fashion and pop culture. In an interesting twist, the awards show asks the public to nominate their favourite singers, athletes and actors for award consideration and to then subsequently choose the winners through an online voting portal. Past winners include high-profile pop culture celebrities such as Shakira, Daddy Yankee, Antonio

USA - St. Madeleine Sophie is a Roman Catholic Church in Schenectady, New York. The church has a modern architectural design with a fan-shaped sanctuary and an attractive, wood-beamed ceiling.

St. Madeleine's open ceiling promotes good acoustic diffusion but its ceramic tile floor, hardwood pews and painted walls contribute to an overall 'live' sound quality. In this environment, St. Madeleine's previous point-source audio system was unable to provide good vocal clarity and it suffered from uneven coverage, frequent feedback and a noticeable rear-wall bounce.

St. Madeleine's contacted Dominick Campana of Pro Sound Associates in Guilderland, NY to design a new sound system. Campana chose a Community Entasys ENT-FR full-range column coupled to an ENT-LF low-frequency column for each side of the chancel and a Community dSPEC226AN DSP processor for loudspeaker management and syste

Belgium - Arto, one of Belgium's leading service providers, has scheduled several high-profile events for its Nexo STM modular line array system. Among them, the Couleur Café, Franco Folies and Summer Festivals in Brussels, some of the biggest music festivals in the country.

Vincent Tempels and his team at Arto were among the first to invest in Nexo's new flagship line array technology. Arto added 36 sets of STM to its inventory at the end of 2012, and has deployed small, medium and large configurations, ranging from David Guetta in concert to civic and corporate events.

Building on a long relationship with Nexo concert sound products, Arto's engineers have found the STM concept and operation to be highly intuitive, and uniquely suited to the rental company business model.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary in its Tour& Taxis location in Brussels, Couleur Café is

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