USA - A grassy desert oasis in Indio, California 125 miles east of Los Angeles has become home to the annual two-day Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the end of each April. Now in its seventh year, Coachella concert-goers enjoy music from some of rock's biggest stars and upcoming bands with a stunning backdrop of polo fields, mountains and palm trees.

Coachella is slated as one of the most forward-thinking music and arts festivals in America. This requires a sound system that can live up to this ethos. Accordingly, rental company Rat Sound provided Turbosound Aspect loudspeakers for two of the five main performance stages. This year, the attraction of Madonna's festival debut drew record numbers of fans - reportedly in excess of 60,000 on each day - out into the heat, which soared close to 100 degrees. Thousands packed into and around the Sahara tent, which was double

Germany - beyerdynamic's TTS 300 system is allowing visually impaired fans can enjoy live football commentary along with the electric atmosphere at German stadiums during this year's World Cup. Dedicated live commentary is delivered via a specially adapted mobile TTS 300 System, which includes custom headsets for the fans, a transmission unit for the commentator and a transport case with integral charger.

During last season this system was used and appreciated by fans at several local clubs. Holger Ahrens, visually impaired member of the 'Sportfreunde Ronhof' fan club, said: "The technology was good and reliable throughout play. The system enables a clear reception of the factual reporting and, at the same time, allows users to participate directly in the stadium atmosphere."

Spielvereinigung Greuther Fuert, a Bundesliga football club, has now installed permanent sea

UK - Drapes specialists J&C Joel has produced a new fabric sample card, illustrating 54 of their most popular and wide ranging fabrics 'in the flesh'. The idea is to give clients a practical, user-friendly reference media - that hangs on the wall - offering an immediate impression of what specific fabrics feel like to touch. Information relating to each sample includes construction, dimensions and fire retardancy, and is printed in English and Mandarin - reflecting J&C Joels' increasing export trade with Asia.

The reverse of the sample card showcases the diverse range of J&C Joel projects. It includes some fabric related projects - like Belfast Opera House, The Coliseum in London and Blackpool Grand - all Matcham Theatres, where J&C Joel's fabric expertise has been instrumental in recreating period internal draping and curtaining. There's also plenty more projects involving stag

UK - AVW has again won the prestigious Product of the Year Award in the Engineering category at this year's ABTT Theatre Show - for Pegasus, its new Power Flying System. The company previously won the award in 2002 for its Impressario motion control system.

Anton Woodward, managing director of AVW, was presented with the award by Secretary of the ABTT, Robin Townley at the annual ABTT awards dinner, and commented: "We are very pleased to win this award, though of course Mike Barnett should take most of the credit!"

The Pegasus Power Flying solution, comprising the Alpha, Beta, Delta, Omega and Pi hoists is designed to complement the Impressario stage automation system, so that AVW can offer the complete power flying solution. In collaboration with respected mechanical design engineer Mike Barnett, AVW has designed a range of hoists for use in theatre and entertainmen

UK - Theatre sound specialist Orbital is pleased to announce another hugely successful showcase as part of The ABTT Theatre Show (14-15 June, Royal Horticultural Halls, London). Having exhibited at the show for eight consecutive years', the company claimed a record traffic flow on their stand over the two-day event, which underlines the Show's position as a key event in Orbital's marketing calendar.

Scoring a hat-trick for Orbital at the ABTT's annual industry awards and gala dinner, its CSC Show Control software scooped the Sound Product of the Year award. Representing the third time the company has received this prestigious accolade, CSC is solely distributed by Orbital, and offers a unique blend of flexibility and ease of use. It delivers an advanced software based sound playback and system control to a wider audience.

Robin Townley, the ABTT's Honorary Secretary, pr

China - PALM Expo 2006 was slated as China's premier international exhibition for the entertainment technology industry. Running from 31 May to 3 June, it spanned 60,000sq.m over its four days and covered a total of 12 halls at the China International Exhibition Centre in Beijing, where Turbosound exhibited in conjunction with Chinese distributor Phoenix Audio & Lighting Technology Ltd.

TA-890 touring enclosures and TA-880 trapezoidal install products were on show, along with the TSW-218 double 18" horn-loaded sub from the widely acclaimed Turbosound Aspect range of loudspeakers. Also making an appearance was the TCS-101C and TCS-151C from the TCS Compact series.

"We also displayed the TCS-C50T ceiling speaker - a product designed specifically for the voice evacuation, paging and background music markets - and custom designed TCS Compact products, which illustrate th

Russia - More than 400 architects and designers gathered for the seminarLux: Light & Luxury, which was organised by company Mercury, and Lighting Design Center (illuminator group) within the XI international exhibition Arh Moscow.

On the 3 June in the Central House of Artists, well known Moscow architects and designers gathered to discuss the role of lighting design in creating the luxury image of world leading brand show-rooms.

The central theme of the seminar was a unique Russian project - Barvikha Luxury Village. The architect Yuri Grigoryan (Project Meganom), the author of Barvikha Luxury Village project, and Boris Knyazev, CEO of the Lighting Design Center (illuminator group), described the experience of their creative co-operation.

International experience of co-operation of lighting designers and architects was presented in the seminar by Claudio Valent

UK - Large format projection specialists E//T//C UK projected onto the historical Didcot Power Station last night - to celebrate the start of Oxfordshire's 1000th birthday celebrations on June 21, the longest day of the year.

The projected artwork was a 50 x 50 metre image of the Oxfordshire 2007 logo. It launched an action-packed programme of festivals and special events celebrating the county's very own millennium, co-ordinated by Oxford Inspires.

The image was beamed onto one of the 114 ft high cooling towers of Didcot A - one of three of npower's coal-fired power stations - by two overlaid 6KW PIGI Projectors, situated 200 metres away on wasteland that's part of the power station complex.

The projectors were programmed by Karen Monid, who together with Michael Barry, engineered the projection project for E//T//C UK. It was a relatively straightforward job technically, bu

UK - The Hurlingham Club in London provided the perfect setting for those attending PLASA's AGM and Members Lunch on Tuesday 6 June. Over 180 members and special guests were there to enjoy the day, learn more about the Association's achievements over the last 12 months and meet with industry colleagues.

Adrian Brooks, vice-chairman of PLASA, reflected on how PLASA - originally known as BADEM - first found a role delivering a trade show for discotheque equipment manufacturers, and on the remarkable growth of the PLASA Show and the Association since that fledgling start 30 years ago. He went on to reflect how the continued success of the Show had allowed the organisation to focus on initiatives intended to develop the industry further. Ambitious projects such as the National Rigging Certificate and qualifications for the PA/VA sector are central to PLASA's commitment to raise prof

UK - The 10 days from 7 June were busy ones for leading entertainment lighting supplier White Light: as well as their regular work supplying new shows around the country, the company also made a number of 'public appearances', including its own Graduates Open Day, a visit to the Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference, and its stand at the 2006 ABTT Show.

The Graduates Open Day is now an established annual event, where White Light throws the doors of its Wimbledon base open to anyone contemplating a career in the technical or design sides of the entertainment industry. This year's Open day was attended by 26 students who got to experiment with the latest lighting equipment from a range of manufacturers as well as listening to a careers advice from a panel of established industry figures including David Amos, Kevin Sleep, David Harvey and Mike Le Fevre and then a 'keynote

UK - Serious Stages continues its successful relationship with the Hampton Court Palace Festival, once again supplying the main stage for the 2006 summer entertainment and music programme. This event includes appearances by world class artists as diverse as Kiri Te Kanawa, Eric Clapton, Glyndebourne Touring Opera and Jools Holland and His Rhythm and Blues Orchestra.

Serious has supplied the stage - including decking and access ramp - and roof for this event since the Festival began 13 years ago with IMG as clients and Keith Morris as production manager, and has designed a bespoke flat roof structure tailored exactly to fit the Base Court area deep in the heart of the Palace grounds. This is scenically dressed to complement the surrounding architecture, brickwork and colouring.

The flat-roofed stage is built from a combination of MaxiBeam trussing for the box at the top and GS

The Netherlands - The organisers of Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2007 say that an unprecedented demand for stand space has prompted the addition of a fourth hall at the Amsterdam RAI.

Overall, 400 exhibitors are expected to attend ISE 2007, up from 300 at this year's event in Brussels. ISE's organisers have signed up companies including Thompson Grass Valley, Sony, Eiki, Crestron, Mitsubishi, Kramer and Extron are returning and will be occupying significant floor space at the show, while Canon and Yamaha have been signed up as exhibitors for 2007.

ISE managing director Mike Blackman says that a massive upturn in the AV systems integration market, and recent strong performances at InfoComm and CEDIA are behind the surge in exhibitor interest for ISE 2007. CEDIA has just closed in London with record attendances and a packed conference programme. "This year, we have seen

UK - The PLASA Show (Earls Court, London, 10-13 September 2006) is now welcoming nominations for the popular PLASA Awards for Innovation, which will once again form a major attraction at the event this year. At last year's show, no less than 68 nominated products covering various product areas within lighting, audio, staging and AV, were displayed on the Innovation Gallery, which is sponsored by Lighting&Sound International magazine and situated right at the entrance to Earls Court's ground floor.

Judged on the grounds of their 'Innovation' alone, the nominated products are closely assessed by a panel of expert industry practitioners, chaired by L&SI magazine's Technical Editor, James Eade. There are nine awards available in total - eight Awards for Innovation of equal standing, plus an Award for Environmental Impact, which

UK - Preparations for PLASA06 at Earls Court in September are hotting up with the announcement of this year's feature-packed agenda for DJs - in particular the headlining events of DJ Sunday.

PLASA06 will give DJs a chance to get their hands on all the latest gear and mix with some of the best-known names in the business, offering DJs everything they need to get great sound and fantastic visuals, with hands-on demos of everything from stylish turntables to cutting-edge VJ kit.In fact, all the major developments in DJ and VJ technology will be on show - decks, CD players, mixers, video kit, effects, software, samplers, samples, styli and headphones - spanning both analogue and digital domains. And there'll be other gear to check out too, with over 300 pro audio, lighting and video companies previewing major new products.

Exhibitors with new DJ and VJ products confirmed to date

UK - Specialist rigging supply company, Rope Assemblies, won the best standaward at the ABTT Exhibition in the Royal Horticultural Halls for its innovative, giant game called "LOLER revisited using Snakes and Ladders".

The Retford based company had a giant two metre square snakes and ladders board on the back wall of their stand. Visitors were invited to test their knowledge of the LOLER regulations as they progressed up the board. Completion of the game with all questions correctly answered wonthe player one of a number of prizes from new rigging gloves to head torches, Frogs, to Rope Assemblies unique rigging multi-tool.

Having counted the number of prizes given out at the end of the show, a knowledgeable 200 people had played and won.

"We were delighted to win this award, it was quite a surprise when our name was called out at the ABTT Dinner. Many thanks t

UK - Leading UK loudspeaker manufacturer Turbosound is set to further increase its penetration into the Asia market at PALA 2006, to be held in Bangkok, Thailand from 20-22 July. Exhibiting in conjunction with its Singaporian distributor Total Solutions Marketing on Stand B36, Turbosound will be showing the new TA-500 Aspect Wide and the TSW-218 horn-loaded bass cabinet, along with TSB-118 bandpass subwoofers and the trapezoidal lightweight self-powered 2-way TQ-315DP.

"Total Solutions and Turbosound will also be at the AVL Thailand show in Bangkok at the end of July," says Turbosound's Middle East and Asia sales manager Tim McCall. "There we will be taking part in a live loudspeaker shoot-out/demonstration there against other leading manufacturers with a combination of our new TA-500 (Aspect Wide) and TSW-218 loudspeakers. This allows both existing and potential

UK - The Society of Television Lighting Directors (STLD) is holding a Generic Lighting Shootout and Sponsors Exhibition at Pinewood Studios on Saturday 5 August 2006 from 11.00 - 17.30. The event will be held in TV One, one of a pair of TV studios at Pinewood which are the home to programmes such as The Weakest Link, Test the Nation and My Family.

The event will focus on comparing the latest profile spots, fresnels, softlights, cyc lights and followspots side-by-side in a TV studio environment. Come and see how well a 90° profile spot performs. How many cyc units are required to evenly cover a 15m cyclorama? Can LED units be used to replace the traditional cyc lights and groundrows?

The performance of the displayed products will be viewed on camera, and a panel of expert lighting directors will be on the lookout for the best products in a number of categories

Greece - The 51st Annual Eurovision Song Contest, a televised live event, took place on 20 May at the Olympia Sports Arena in Athens, Greece.

After five weeks of set-up and two weeks of rehearsals, the indescribably lavish production which included more than 65 tons of trussing, more than 23 European solo artists and bands competed for the title, while a jury at the venue and viewers at home voted for this year's winner.

The Athens based Adamson rental partner Enttech, took on the welcome challenge of designing the audio for this massive production with the help of consultant Scott Willsallen (previous work includes the sound design for the 2004 Athens Olympics also with Enttech). There were some obstacles to overcome, such as having to fly the sound system really high, to accommodate TV cameras and massive lighting rigs, but also finding a comfortable balance for sound

UK - Event 2006, John Hornby Skewes & Co's trade-only music show held recently at the company's head office site in Garforth, West Yorkshire, proved once again to be a success on the pro audio side. Both JHS Pro Audio specialist sales managers, Neville Raine and Stuart McKay were on site during Event's four-day duration to discuss and offer advice, along with HK Audio's own team of Andreas Mayerl and Christian Stumpp.

With a variety of new HK Audio product ranges coming onstream and various upgrades of established existing systems, Event had plenty to offer new and existing pro audio customers. To set the scene, trade visitors to the show site were greeted with the sight of a fully-flown hang of Cohedra on a line array tower, matched by a tower hang of the new Cohedra Compact (CoCo) system, offering an ideal opportunity to assess the performance of the systems. Already, Cohedra

UK - Stage Electrics is providing full technical and site production, transport, logistics, marketing, ticketing and administrative infrastructure for the Summer Sounds Spectacularseries of events around the South West of England.

Incorporating ten 5000 capacity green-field sites, the 21 concerts over 10 weekends feature four different formats of entertainment - a Queen / Abba tribute night, the Blues Brothers party, a Rat Pack tribute and a Glenn Miller Band. The shows are tailored to attract families and holiday-makers across the region.

Tour production manager John Radford is working with a team of up to 28 people and three 45 trailers of equipment plus a selection of site vehicles, landrovers, people carriers and cars. Other key personnel include Jono Rose (technical project manager/lighting designer) Jon Rimmer (site manager), Chris Vass (sound design), Brian Clear

USA - The Great American Country Network (GAC) again produced a 4 of July Television spectacular on the banks of the scenic Tennessee River in Nashville and enlisted the services of Bandit Lites to make the event the shining star of the year in Nashville. Butch Spyridon from the City of Nashville put together a world-class staff to produce the event. The staff included Dennis Freeman and Chuck Young as production managers and Mike Frogge as lighting designer. Console operators were John Lucksinger and Larry Bostser.

The Nashville Symphony Orchestra was accompanied by country music legend Ronnie Milsap, current country superstar Josh Turner, and one of the newest sensations on the scene Danielle Peck. The star filled evening was a huge success capped of by one of the largest fireworks displays in the US on the 4 July. This event is recognised as the third best 4 of July extravaga

Germany / The Netherlands - Spotrental supplied 14 Gladiator IV spot lights for the extravagant opening ceremony of the 2006 football World Cup in Germany, which started in Munich's Allianz Arena.

Triple World Cup winner Pele carried the trophy onto the pitch with German supermodel Claudia Schiffer at his side, followed by 150 former World Cup winners, as the hosts put on a spectacular show.

Spotrental is the world's largest dedicated followspot light rental specialists, servicing events all over Europe from their Dutch facility. They have a comprehensive range of state of the art spotlights to suit every application in live events and broadcast.

Spotrental's policy of vigilant maintenance and testing underpins the reliability of these lights when lighting events like the ten-minute opening of the World Cup, says the company. Viewed by a live audience of 100,000 and 150milli

Greece - The 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, held in the O.A.K.A. hall in Athens, was an outstanding event once again. German company Procon supplied the lighting system, which included about 500 moving lights as well as a number of Barco video and Schnickschnack LED systems. The video and LED systems were built into motorized movable staircases on the stage. In total, 44 DMX lines were used, divided into four lighting worlds: moving lights, LED, white light and video/media server.

The complete lighting control was via MA Lighting's grandMA system - four grandMA full-size and a grandMA light, plus backup and 22 NSPs (network signal processors). A fibre-optic network with four HP switches was installed to maximise the stability of the lighting control technology network, say MA Lighting.

The complex control network was realized by two years of cooperation between mo² Design GmbH

UK - At a informal on 6 July, Sean Albuquerque (Chair, RIBA South East) awarded Nicolas Chisholm (headmaster of the Yehudi Menuhin School) and ABTT member Mark Foley (principal of architectural practice Burrell Foley Fischer LLP), a RIBA Award lead plaque for Foley's design of the The Menuhin Hall situated within the school at Stoke D'Abernon, Surrey - a winner in the RIBA Awards 2006 - South East category.

Described by the judges as "magic in maple", the full award citation reads: "This building has been delivered on an exceptionally tight budget but is none the poorer for that. Set in the green belt and within earshot of the M25, the hall is conspicuously located in a prominent position on a site that slopes gently away from the loose collection of school buildings strung along the skyline.

"The Hall is the building. Externally, it is simple, econo

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