USA - VER has entered into an agreement to merge with an entity controlled by Production Resource Group LLC (PRG). To facilitate the implementation of this pre-negotiated transaction, VER has filed voluntary petitions for reorganisation under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. These filings only affect the company's North American operations, says the company. The agreement is part of a transaction supported by VER’s second lien lenders, including funds managed by GSO Capital Partners. VER expects to continue normal operation during the restructuring and says clients “can be confident that their project will not be interrupted”. Digby Davies, CEO of VER, comments: "Entering into this agreement and undertaking the court-supervised restructuring process will greatly reduce VER's outstanding debt
UK - PLASA Focus Leeds is bringing the world’s latest entertainment technology to the North of England on 1-2 May at the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds. Visitors can expect new releases from top brands, an array of immersive workshops, and leading-edge seminars covering lighting, live sound, rigging, AV and staging. The show is the perfect place to see brand new products for the first time in the UK, including the highly anticipated grandMA3 lighting console. Visitors will also see Martin Audio’s Wavefront Precision Series, Vari-Lite’s VL2600 range, Sennheiser’s Wireless G4 System and Robe’s MegaPointe. The seminar programme serves many different tribes, from immersive audio and theatre refurbishment, to festival lighting and set design software. There is something for everyone at the industry leading show. The reinvention of the Chester Storyh
Italy - KLANG:technologies has appointed Mods Art as distributor for its advanced range of 3D personal monitor mixing systems in Italy. Mods Art will be adding KLANG:technologies to its portfolio of 15 premium brands, which includes Solid State Logic, Yamaha and Outline. General director and chairman Giacomo Larìa, comments: “I first heard about KLANG:technologies when working for Yamaha Music Europe and have followed its progress closely since then. We chose to distribute KLANG as they are innovative and establish new standards for monitoring. The products also offer the high performance and excellent build quality that are essential for the brands we offer our customers. We work with the best brands in the industry and KLANG is an ideal fit for our business.” Phil Kamp, KLANG:technologies’ head of sales, adds: “We are pleased to welcome Mods Art as our
UK - The Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) has launched #SaveStageLighting campaign to seek an exepmtion for stage lighting from the EU’s proposed Ecodesign Working Plan 2016-2019, which would require all light sources across venues and theatres in the EU to meet a notional efficiency target. The organisation says in a statement: “The #SaveStageLighting Campaign must demonstrate to the EU Energy Directorate the widest possible cultural opposition to these proposals. Theatrical performances rely on theatrical lighting - it is the glue that binds every aspect of a performance together. Theatre lighting relies on having the right tools available to create just the right effect at just the right moment. “A successful outcome to the #SaveStageLighting campaign is essential to secure exemption for stage lighting from these proposals. The consequences of failure w
USA - Allen & Heath digital mixers were once again in abundance at this year’s South by Southwest Music and Media Conference (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. Mixers from the whole range were used in venues across the city, from corner bars and impromptu stages, right up to the British Embassy Music showcase which saw performances from rising stars like Che Lingo, Pale Waves and Idles, as well as established UK artists including Gaz Coombes and Frank Turner. Hosted at Latitude 30, the British Music Embassy showcase sees a new act and engineer every 40-minutes, so having a system that combines ‘walk-up-and-mix’ usability with extensive built-in processing is essential to the smooth running of the event. To accomplish this, British production company, CATO Music, installed a dLive C3500 system and two S3000 systems to cover FOH, monitors and house continuity. Ano
Estonia - Built in the 14th century, the unusually shaped Hobuveski building in Tallinn, Estonia, originally served as a mill and was later used for storage. In 2003, the circular structure was converted into a theatre and events venue and has since become recognised as one of the most extraordinary theatres in Europe. A recent refurbishment saw the installation of modern technology, including a Gio @5 console, ColorSource luminaires and Sensor3 power control from ETC. Until recently, the 140-seat venue relied on makeshift solutions for performances. With no real infrastructure, changing from one production to another involved building a new, temporary lighting and sound system, almost every time. In 2017, the Hobuveski received the investment and permission it needed to proceed with a major refurbishment. The revamp included a much-longed-for permanent installation of light
USA - ADJ Lighting has announced six spring road tour dates to demonstrate its latest lighting, video and audio technologies. The company will highlight the latest lighting technologies that were on display at NAMM 2018, plus new products set to debut at Prolight + Sound 2018 in Frankfurt. Four of the six tour stops are open to ADJ dealers and end users. These locations are Los Angeles, Englewood, NJ, Miami, and Nashville. The other two locations, El Paso and Salt Lake City, are end-user only events. “We always get such great feedback directly from users during our ADJ On Tour events,” said Alfred Gonzales, national sales manager of ADJ USA. “There’s nothing quite like meeting one-on-one to demo ADJ products to installers, rental houses, event producers and mobile entertainers. ADJ has such a wide variety of lighting, audio and video technologies from almost ev
Creative Funding - A package worth more than £150m to help the creative industries thrive has been unveiled by the government. The creative industries sector deal includes a new fund, worth £20m, that towns and cities will be able to bid for a share of. The money will be used to invest in creative and cultural activities and has been set aside following the success of Hull’s turn as City of Culture in 2017, which saw almost £220m invested in tourism and culture, and nearly 800 jobs created. The government has also pledged £33m towards “immersive technologies”, such as interactive art shows and “augmented reality experiences in tourism”. In addition, £2mwill be provided to support a “sustainable talent pipeline”, with a package to ensure “there is a larger and more diverse intake of talent and a broader range of routes into the creati
USA - InCord made their second donation to Behind the Scenes on 16 March during the recent USITT Stage Expo reflecting a percentage of profits from sales of their Theatrical Safety Netting Systems. The Behind the Scenes is a charity that provides entertainment technology professionals who are seriously ill or injured with grants that may be used for basic living and medical expenses. Joe Menhart, InCord’s theatrical sales manager, presented the cheque. He comments: “All of us at InCord take pleasure in supporting such a worthy charity as Behind the Scenes. Both InCord and Behind the Scenes are dedicated to the well-being and safety of personnel. I can’t imagine a better pairing and this contribution gives much greater meaning to our Theatrical Safety nets.” Rick Rudolph, the chair of Behind the Scenes, accepted the cheque along with other BTS Board member
UK - Peterborough-based touring and event power company Pearce Hire recently hosted a workshop on generator safety measures. Organised by James Eade, with Patrick McGinley from the HSE, the event was set up for a group of Health and Safety Executive (HSE) electrical inspectors with the aim to shed light on the application of generator safety measures, especially in relation to earthing requirements, and to discuss safety concepts proposed by Eade for new IET guidance on the subject. Eade comments: “The current guidance on generator earthing in particular has not seen many changes for years. The advent of modern technologies such as inverter generators coupled with the widespread availability of residual current devices for protection is driving a need to revise current practices.” Current British standards and associated guidance categorises generators broad
Germany - Currently on the European leg of their WorldWired tour, which opened in North America last summer, heavy metal heroes Metallica remain as fresh as ever. And a lot of that has to do with the imaginative set devised by production designer, Dan Braun and built by Tait Towers. Meanwhile, experienced lighting designer Rob Koenig called on 16 of GLP’s new JDC1 multi-faceted strobes to light and punctuate the show, and at the same time minimise the amount of devices populating the stage floor. These were supplied by Premier Global Production (PGP) of Nashville. Braun’s concept had been to do away with a conventional lighting truss entirely, and have a three-dimensional moving video on multiple plains, so that every seat in the house would see the show from a different viewpoint. Not only was he able to use kinetic movement, interacting between the video
UK - The first UK stock of the new ProLights OmegaPIX next generation LED video screen has gone straight to Lincoln-based event production company Peachy Events Services for use on a diverse range of client applications ranging from corporate events to outdoor music festivals. Peachy Events were looking to upgrade to a higher resolution screen in the popular 3.9mm pitch specification. It was important that the chosen solution's price point and advanced feature set could provide them with a good rental return on investment. Director Dave Broughton comments: "We are delighted to be the first UK event production company to adopt the ProLights' OmegaPIX LED screen. With the festivals season only a few months away, we expect it to be in high demand for outdoor live events as well as indoor use. “The 3.9mm pixel pitch and fantastic screen resolution means content wi
Indonesia - ChamSys has been spreading the word about the benefits that its line of lighting consoles offers programmers and designers. Aziz Adilkhodjaev, the company’s international business development manager, has just completed a four-country tour that took him to Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and South Korea to conduct training sessions on the ChamSys MagicQ MQ500 Stadium and other consoles offered by the company. Adilkhodjaev comments: “We had an enthusiastic response to our training sessions wherever we went. There is a strong desire at all levels of the lighting industry everywhere for affordable, user-friendly consoles that are both flexible and powerful enough to run any kind of lightshow or display.” Aziz credits ChamSys distributors ASIIS in Surakarta, Indonesia, Forerunner Technologies in Manila and Live-Lab Company Ltd. in Seoul with contr
USA - Hog 4 lighting console range manufacturer High End Systems has launched Season One of Hedgeucation, a new online video series that demonstrates how easy it is to learn and use the Hog 4 platform. All episodes can be found on a new landing page on the HES website, www.highend.com/learnhog4. The first season of many, Season One gets viewers up and rocking quickly, focusing on use of the compact HedgeHog 4 console to patch, programme and operate a live show. High End Systems’ Joe Haller hosts the series, offering practical Hog tips and tricks along with a true Texan sense of humour. A nail biting season finale shot at the Majestic Theatre in Madison, WI shows programmers how to use what they’ve learned to light a live performance. Extras including Hog 4 show files and additional course material can be downloaded from www.highend.com/learnhog4. Senio
Middle East - Nexo has announced the appointment of Yamaha Music Gulf FZE (YMGF) as its official re-exporter to the Middle East and Africa. Established in 1997 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation, Yamaha Music Gulf provides its territory with the full line of Yamaha integrated professional audio products offering complete systems solutions for the broadcast, sound reinforcement/installed sound, touring, commercial recording, and post production applications as well as musical instruments and consumer audio products. Jean Mullor, CEO of Nexo, comments: "This new partnership with Yamaha Music Gulf will help us meet the growing demand for our high-quality sound reinforcement solutions in the Middle East, Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Our two companies share the same philosophy and we aim to offer the professional audio market something
UK - Monacor UK, the UK subsidiary of German company Monacor International, has announced an exclusive distribution partnership with RocknRoller to supply the UK and Irish markets. The new deal will see Monacor UK stock and distribute a wide selection of RocknRoller Carts and accessories, as well as providing after service support through their own UK service centre. Vice president of sales for RocknRoller, Dave Andrus said, “We are delighted to welcome Monacor UK as a partner for these key territories. Monacor UK is a long-established company and offers us their exceptional local sales and marketing expertise as well as a stable logistical solution for RocknRoller products.” Neil Clayton, managing director for Monacor UK added, “We have long been aware of the RocknRoller brand and their excellent product portfolio, and see them as a perfect fit alongside o
UK - Around 60 of the UK’s leading live mixing engineers, theatre sound designers and representatives of audio rental companies assembled in the legendary Studio Two at London’s Abbey Road Studios in March for an informal workshop on Yamaha’s RIVAGE PM series digital mixing systems. “This was a way of giving key members of the UK pro audio community a chance to informally network and learn more about Yamaha’s RIVAGE PM series systems, in an inspiring location and friendly, low-key atmosphere,” says Yamaha Commercial Audio UK/RoI sales manager Alex Warren, who co-ordinated the event with UK/RoI marketing manager Chris Irvine. After meeting for a complimentary lunch, followed by a bracing walk along Abbey Road to the studios, guests were welcomed by Chris. This was followed by an interesting potted history of the studios by its head of audio products, Mirek S
UK - The Institute of Sound and Communications Engineers wrapped up another successful ISCEx event with increased attendances at its annual exhibition and seminar day. ISCEx is a one-day exhibition and seminar programme held annually by the Institute of Sound and Communications Engineers at Coombe Abbey Hotel and Country Park. Open to members and non-members, the ISCEx exhibition and seminar programme is precluded by the Institute’s annual general meeting and networking dinner events, held on the previous day. The ISCEx 2018 seminar programme was kicked off by Dr Chris Cocking, senior lecturer at the School of Health Sciences, University of Brighton presenting the Hopkins-Baldwin Lecture, a presentation entitled Busting the Myths of Mass Evacuation. Following extensive research by Chris and his colleagues into crowd behaviour during emergencies and the implic
World - Vectorworks, MA Lighting and Robe lighting have developed a new data format - the General Device Type Format (GDTF) - which creates a unified definition for the exchange of device data between consoles, CAD and previsualization software. GDTF offers luminaire manufacturers an open and universal data exchange format that can be read by any console manufacturer and be included in any CAD or previsualisation software. The format is human-readable, royalty-free and easy to implement and maintain. Dr. Biplab Sarkar, CEO of Vectorworks, comments: “The industry has long been plagued by the absence of a standardized way to define the description of intelligent luminaires. Today’s exchange process is fraught with challenges. The workflows are disconnected, time-consuming and often require the manual mapping of data with a high chance of error. General Device Type Fo
Mayoral Warning - London mayor Sadiq Khan has warned the capital risks becoming a “dormitory” city unless more is done to protect cultural buildings from housing developers. Khan said once arts venues close, they are “gone forever”, and the rate at which London is losing live music spaces should be a “concern for all of us”. Speaking at the launch of his cultural strategy at Battersea Arts Centre, Khan said: “Once these things are gone – arts centres, live music venues, they’re gone forever, they’re not going to come back. But we’re also making sure the new generation of developments think about having theatres, community spaces, pubs, because what we don’t want is a dormitory city. So it’s keeping what we have, but also making sure that new developments have this recognition that a good community has good places to live, work and play.” He
UK - Adlib, one of the UK’s longest established technical production companies, has recently invested in Sennheiser’s latest Digital 6000 series as part of an extensive refresh of its RF inventory. The system includes eight channels of Digital 6000, complete with SK 6000 pocket transmitters and SKM 6000 handheld transmitters with MD 9235 capsules. Adlib has also taken advantage of the rackmount rechargeable battery units for both the handhelds and pocket transmitters to help reduce the company’s environment footprint. “We’re getting increasingly busy and we’re finding that there’s a lot of demand for radio equipment to tour around Europe” says Adlib director Dave Kay. “We wanted to invest in the newest technology to give us more flexibility on spectrum usage. We’ve used Digital 6000 for the past couple of years on events such as Capital Radio’s
USA - Ahead of its June ride, the Long Reach Long Riders (LRLR) held a raffle and live auction to back Behind the Scenes during the USITT Stage Expo in Fort Lauderdale on 14-17 March. Sales of raffle tickets, auction items, key donations, and sales of BTS and LRLR-branded swag raised over $15,000 for the charity. The LRLR 2018 ride, dubbed the Gap and Notch Tour: A Ramble through New England, starts on 23 June in Manchester, NH. The riders cover all their own expenses, so everything they raise goes to the charity. Sponsor a rider today at www.behindthescenescharity.org/lrlr. Festivities led off with the traditional kazoo parade led by Bill Sapsis and many of the LRLR. Following the parade, BTS Pledge-a-Product partners InCord (Orchestra Pit Safety Netting Systems) and ETC (irFR and aRFR application for iOS and Android devices) presented checks from the sales of
UK - The first Comfest, a comedy night in support of technical entertainment charity Backup, helped raise £14,000 for the organisation. Held at the Royal National Theatre, London, the event was described as “a fantastic night where all the comedians went above and beyond to say thank you to the industry that supports them”. A particular highlight of the night was headliner Al Murray, the Pub Landlord, performing Under Pressure with a member of the audience. Organisers said Comfest 2019 is already on the cards and thanked all the staff at the National Theatre, sponsors SFL, White Light and TSL, all of the audience members, The Cloggz and the comedians. Upcoming backup events include Golf-fest 2018 which is scheduled for 18 April. The annual live events Charity Golf Day is back and even more fun to be had on the day. As 18 teams go Tee - Tee, we have s
Azerbajan - Martin Audio has appointed PRO AV LLC as its new distributor in Azerbaijan. Based in the capital of Baku, the company was registered in 2012. Today, the partners are Elshan Aliyev and Rustam Hajiyev, and over the years they have built an impressive portfolio of leading distributed brands. In order to bring Martin Audio into the fold, Aliyev had earlier approached MD, Dom Harter, whom he had known from previous companies. “There were many things I liked about Martin Audio,” he said, “notably the quality of the sound, the product line in general and the strength of the brand name. We also liked the fact that they are utterly dedicated to sound systems - rather than running a diverse portfolio like other manufacturers - and their pricing is reasonable. You could say we are more than happy with Martin Audio.” PROAV sees “enormous potenti
