Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
City Theatrical - Banner - July 2025

Events

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UK - For the past ten years, Hyde Park has been a second home during the summer months for Star Events Group whilst the company provide staging requirements for the park's live music events.

This year saw Tez Sheals-Barrett make her debut as Star Events Group project manager for the event. The first show in the series featured the Foo Fighters, who played to an 85,000-strong crowd on 17June. "We arrived in Hyde Park on 10 June to start the main stage build, allowing just five days in advance of production arriving on site!" says Sheals-Barrett.

"We had a lot of involvement with the band's production team due to the specific nature of the numerous structures they required. These included a specially designed thrust to allow Dave Grohl to run from the stage to the front of house towers and we had crew on hand throughout to make sure they got exactly what they want

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UK - Now in its 15th year, the Rhythms of the World Festival takes place over two days in the beautiful old town centre of Hitchin in Herts.

Promoted by Bob Mardon, the event has grown so quickly that 160 performances now take place over 10 stages, making it the largest free festival of world music in the UK. Last year it was estimated that more than 40,000 people thronged into the town. All of which puts increasing pressure on local PA/rental company Rossco (and their Martin Audio PA fleet), who have been involved with the event for the past six years.

Run by Ross Sharples and Mark Donovan, Rossco were again responsible for equipping the six main stages with no fewer than 72 Martin Audio enclosures - including the premier stages in the Town Square and Portmill Lane. These witnessed classic performances by Osibisa and the huge kodo drums of Dulsori, a dynamic traditiona

LSi 40 - Banner - July-Nov 2025

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UK - Sound Division Group report that demand for plasma displays was stretched to the limits during the recent FIFA World Cup. While all their existing hire stock of media displays was out on duty the company also made some notable sales to high profile venues.

"It proved to be a breathtaking three weeks," reports managing director, David Graham, "so much so that we immediately augmented our existing stock with a further 12 NEC 42in and 50in models."

Among the notable London venues that either hired or purchased displays were Charles and Adam Breeden's All Star Lanes and The Lonsdale. While the former ordered a 50in display, three 42in plasma screens were distributed around the exclusive Notting Hill bar restaurant.

1 Lombard Street brasserie in the City purchased three 42in plasmas, while the upmarket restaurants Beach Blanket Babylon and Nozomi also lai

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UK - The British Bridal Exhibition, which takes place in the picturesque spa town of Harrogate, has since 1987 grown into the world's largest trade bridal exhibition, attracting key bridal buyers from the UK and overseas.

Rick Lawson of Funtime AV was the LD for the show and his brief was to design a series of distinctly different lighting states to enhance a catwalk show by a number of different designers. He explains: "We used a combination of Mac 250 Kryptons, Mac 250 Washes and Mac 550s. Among the benefits were high light output, sharpness of image and the speed and quietness of the motors. Also due to an extremely low ceiling all the units have to be situated on the floor, so the fact that all the units were part of the same range, gave a visual uniformity when it was rigged, which looked a lot tidier than using several manufacturers."

He added: "I chose th

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USA - Buford Jones, Meyer Sound's tour liaison manager, has added his illustrious credentials to the company's education program with a new seminar offering that focuses exclusively on all aspects - artistic, technological and psychological - of FOH mixing. Entitled The Mixing Workshop, the full-day presentation draws extensively on Jones' three decades of top-level FOH touring experience with the elite of rock and country acts: Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, James Taylor, Faith Hill, Counting Crows and Clint Black, among many others. The most recent workshop was held on June 7 at Full Sail, a private media and entertainment school in Winter Park, Florida, following the seminar's debut on April 6 in Studio C of the Soundcheck rehearsal facility in Nashville. Meyer Sound maintains an office at Soundcheck and has installed loudspeaker systems in the facility's fou

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UK - Hawthorn Theatrical recently provided major sound reinforcement for two high-profile events which took place simultaneously - requiring the collective use of around 130 Martin Audio Mini line array enclosures.

The larger of these was the Playtex Moonwalk 2006 event in London's Hyde Park, in which an audience of 15,000 packed into a 60m (wide) by 150m (long) marquee.

Hawthorn fielded eight hangs of W8LM Mini Line Array, ten deep in the front, supported by two hangs of eight enclosures at the rear.

Bands playing through this system included The Fabulous Dough Boys and Marcus Malone's Motown Party Band - in addition to aerobics instructors who warmed up the participants before their sponsored walk for breast cancer research.

According to Hawthorn's head of sound, Iain Reinhold, the brief from the organisers was for an even level of sound to be distributed througho

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Italy - Outline's Butterfly line-array was used on 10 July at Rome's Circus Maximus at the celebrations which welcomed back the members of the Italian soccer team, after their victory in the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

During the long night of celebrations, an estimated crowd of one million supporters arrived from all over Italy to pay tribute to their sports heroes. The sound system included 28 Butterfly Hi-Pack CDH 483 and 12 Victor Live subwoofers, powered by Outline's Series T power amplifiers and controlled by Genius 26 processors, also manufactured by Outline.

Mounted on four strategically-positioned scaffold towers, the Italian company's compact systems seemed almost 'invisible' amid such a huge crowd, but reinforced the speech with their usual high level of naturalness and intelligibility, say the company.

The audio rental firm responsible for the operation (commissio

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UK - Finsbury Park in London became a wash with colour and sound for The Rise Festival, brainchild of London's Mayor Ken Livingston. The free music festival was designed to celebrate London's multi cultural diversity and opposing racism.

The event featuring four live music stages with acts including, The Wailers, Buzzcocks, Graham Coxon (former guitarist with Blur) and a host of other musicians, who provided music for all walks of life from jazz to hip-hop, indie to reggae and everything in between

The audio side was under the control of Willpower who sub-hired systems in from various other rental companies. Reading based Sabre International was one of these and they supplied equipment for two stages, the Big Cuba Fiesta and Mela stage. David Hawkes of Sabre decided to give the powerful RCF 4Pro 7001-A system the job of the Big Cuba Fiesta stage. Hawk's explained: "

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Singapore - IIR and Unusual Productions have announce a merger of their respective international professional sound and lighting exhibitions for the South East Asian region. Under the agreement, Unusual Productions becomes an Associate Partner of PALA Asia and will no longer stage its annual IPALS exhibition. Instead, IIR and Unusual Productions will be jointly associated with PALA Asia, which will be held in Singapore in 2007 at Sing Expo.

Commenting for IIR, group exhibition director Darren Brechin states: "The merger of IPALS and PALA Asia is great news for the region and for the industry, providing for one definitive professional audio, lighting and entertainment technology exhibition. This is something that will greatly benefit the regional market and overseas exhibitors, providing a bigger, better show in a bigger, better location.

"The move to Singapore's Sing

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UK - The Professional Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA) was one of the main bodies representing the architectural, creative and live events sectors at the recent Olympics Business Summit, held in Leeds on Wednesday 19 July.

During the course of the Summit, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) - the body responsible for delivering the new venues and infrastructure for the Games, launched a draft version of its Procurement Policy - which outlines how it will manage the whole procurement process, including its selection and award criteria.

With the UK Government spending £3bn on the physical infrastructure for the Games, PLASA is keen to profile the creative and technical expertise of its membership and is preparing a guidance note for members to help them maximise their chances of winning key contracts. It will also be working with them to ensure they are fully aware

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Thailand - Klark Teknik signal processing equipment was key to ensuring consistent sound quality on what must surely be the biggest dancefloor that Thailand has ever seen - a 1.5km stretch of road in the northern city of Khon Kaen.

Thai PA rental company Benz Sound Systems purchased five of Klark Teknik's new Square One Graphics and two Dynamics units, plus a DN370 graphic equalizer, to control all eight DJ and live performance stages at the Songkran Festival, which celebrates the Thai New Year with rituals that include throwing water and coloured powder at passers by. The KT equipment was purchased from EVI Audio Thailand.

"We converted the 1.5km Kaw-neaw Road into an enormous dancefloor and relayed the live shows from the main stage to another seven stages along the street," explains company owner Benz. "Around 100,000 people took to the street to watch the co

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UK - DiGiCo's marketing director David Webster's brainchild, the Prize Stage at the PLASA'06 After Show Bar, is making a welcome return to Earls Court this year (10-13 September). The bar will once again be sponsored by nine of the industry's major players, each of whom will be giving away fantastic gifts, along with a joint prize of a £1,000, in a free prize draw to be held there between 6.30 and 8pm on 10th and 12th September in the prime position of the show's Central Bar area.

The draw is open to show attendees who have obtained an entry form from the companies involved and comply with the necessary criteria. To win the £1000, participants must have visited each company and had their "Prize Passport" (available from each of the sponsoring exhibitors) fully stamped.

"We're all really pleased that the Prize Stage is happening again," says Webs

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AVW Controls' award-winning Pegasus range of power flying hoists are intended primarily for lifting scenery, lighting bars and curtain tracks, and are designed to offer clients a range of options to fit any requirement. Control is via AVW's own Impressario computerised motion control system (winner of an ABTT award in 2002 and currently in use on Billy Elliot and the London production of Blue Man Group, among many West End shows).

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Stage automation specialist Stage Technologies' latest news includes an interesting installation at the new Leicester Performing Arts Centre, in which the stage and backstage areas are visible to the street outside. The company provided complete automated power flying, including BigTow winches and a MaxisID control system operated by Nomad control consoles.

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Hidden away down in the basement of Lindley Hall was a multitude of smaller stands, and a perhaps surprising amount of passing trade, given the location. At a reduced rate, this area allows smaller companies the chance to have a presence at the show - and by all accounts it was proving very worthwhile.

RWCMD (Royal Welsh College of Music and drama) had taken a stand, and gone even further by sponsoring the purple lanyards that adorned the necks of show visitors. Stage managment lecturer Antonia Collins said: "This downstairs area has really grown. It's great because it means we can be part of the show and let people know about the different courses we have on offer. It is definately worth us exhibiting and we hope to get more of the students involved next year in the stand, but they are always so busy!"

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Following his participation in the US last year with the Long Beach Long Riders charity motorbike ride, Triple E's David Edelstein was shortly to set off on another, longer charity ride across the US, this time taking his young son with him on the back of his Harley! The company was this year exhibiting its range of products for the theatre market, including the 3Way track system, launched at ABTT last year.

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Rope Assemblies, purveyor of a wide range of rigging accessories to the entertainment industry, picked up the Stand of the Year award for its interactive 'snakes and ladders' showcase which was designed to promote knowledge of the LOLER regulations.

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As is becoming its habit at ABTT, theatre sound specialist Orbital announced a major product addition to its portfolio - Zaxcom's wireless microphone systems. The TRX900 transceiver's features include a built-in IFB (interruptible fold back) receiver and a six-hour internal recording facility with Timecode. Other features include RF remote control of body pack; and digital drop-out protection. Also from Zaxcom, the TRX990 is designed for boom pole applications and, the manufacturer says, "takes the place of a traditional wireless transmitter, a 48V phantom power supply, an IFB receiver and a walkie talkie".

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The main news from pro audio distributor Fuzion was that they've taken on the UK representation of Vity Technology products - a range of automation products for the corporate and home installation markets. The product range, from the French manufacturer, includes IP-addressable LCD panels, matrix switchers and scalers for the corporate boardroom and multimedia market, and are seen as "a perfect addition to the company's product portfolio".

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Lighting rental company HSL has attached increasing importance to theatre and live performance markets recently, and has seen significant growth in its operation. The company was using ABTT to promote its theatre experience and wide equipment inventory. Currently supplying touring productions of This is Elvis (LD Ben P Cracknell) and Blood Brothers (LD Nick Richings), HSL was, importantly, also supplying another vital need of the theatre market by sponsoring the bar at the show.

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Turbosound was showing its increasingly successful Aspect Series loudspeakers, recently seen in L&SI on tour with David Gilmour. The TA-500 is a trapezoidal three-way full-range unit which includes the company's patented Polyhorn technology first seen in the TA-890 touring and TA-880 trapezoidal cabinets. The TA-500 is designed to offer wider dispersion (50° horizontal x 25° vertical) medium throw coverage for medium-sized venues and touring applications.

Also on show was the new TSB-118 bandpass subwoofer, a compact cabinet featuring a single 600W RMS 18" driver, producing 136dB peak SPL. Tuned to provide a frequency response usable to 30Hz, the TSB-118 is designed as a complement to QLight and TCS Compact series enclosures.

Marketing director Martin Reid reported visits from "an increasing number of rental companies".

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An ABTT regular, Avolites was showing a number of its products with theatre market appeal. These included the Diamond 4 Elite and the flexible Pearl 2004 lighting control desks, the eDMX wireless data transmission system (see Technical Focus L&SI July-August) and the ART 2000i installation dimmer.

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Slingco showcased the Cablenet tension wire grid (one of which is installed in the newly re-opened Roundhouse in Camden, London), the award-winning Unibar and the Vortek range of motorized rigging solutions from Hoffend.

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Trantec, whose recently-appointed director, the affable Steve Baker, was on the stand, showed its award-winning S6000 UHF radio mic system, which is available in either 8-, 2- (S6002) or single-channel (S6001) variants - and also boasts a 72MHz tuneable range, which allows for greater flexibility in hostile RF environments.

Also displayed was the new S4.4 radio mic system, a licence-free UHF system which Trantec say offers a cost-effective and flexible alternative for presentations, musical instruments and vocals. The range includes a handheld system, with a cardioid dynamic capsule for vocal application; a beltpack system, with a transmitter supplied with a small lapel mic, for presentation applications, and an instrument cord which allows the beltpack to be used with electric instruments.

  1. Pfaff-silberblau
  2. ABTT Awards
  3. Alcons Audio
  4. Lightfactor
  5. Leisuretec Distribution
  6. ABTT in review
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LSi 40th sponsors - Large MPU - July-Aug

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