USA - While the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards attracted press coverage for its outrageous performances, the show made headlines among professionals for its creative staging, too. Clay Paky Sharpys and Sharpy Washes lit up the stage at Barclays Centre, Brooklyn where artist and designer KAWS reimagined the VMAs' iconic moonman statuette.

"For the 30th anniversary of the VMAs and its first time in Brooklyn we were celebrating Brooklyn and Brooklyn artist KAWS, who redesigned the moonman as a 60-foot inflatable silver statue that towered over the main stage," says lighting design

USA - At the new Terminal B at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), a self-powered 48 V Meyer Sound loudspeaker system in the south concourse has raised the bar for audio fidelity and flexibility. Despite large reflective surfaces and tall ceilings, announcements and music are projected with a crispy clarity rarely heard in transportation facilities.

"The audio quality, intelligibility, and uniformity of coverage are distinctly better than most terminals across the country," says Ulf Lueders, Terminal Services group manager of the Houston Airport System (HAS

UK - Philips and the Society of Light and Lighting are again sponsoring Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance's successful 2014 Junior Ready Steady Light competition.

Held at the College's campus in Sidcup on Saturday 15th March 2014, 12 teams of students from School Sixth forms & Further Education Colleges are invited to light up the grounds and buildings, in a spectacular display of light and colour.

The day begins at 11.00am and finishes at 9.00pm; this year Rose Bruford College aims to attract 12 teams, made up of 5 year 12, 13, or FE students to participate in

USA - Nearly 90 contemporary works of light, sound, performance and projection art recently transformed the downtown Dallas Arts District into a new media art exhibition called Dallas Aurora 2013. Syncrolite, a Dallas-based theatrical and architectural lighting manufacturer, played a role as one of the lighting exhibits in this 19-square-block event.

Syncrolite provided a system of ten 8000 watt XL xenon lighting fixtures to illuminate the 1 Arts Plaza, one of the highlighted locations for the multi-sensory and participatory experiences.

On the 18 October event day, Troy Eckerman pr

USA - Love's Labour's Lost got a new musical treatment this summer at Central Park's famed Shakespeare in the Park, and Clay Paky Sharpy Washes helped give the show a new look, too. Popular for rock and pop music tours, the Sharpy Washes were the perfect fit for the six-week run of the innovative staging of one of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies.

The Public Theatre presents free Shakespeare in the Park at Central Park's Delacorte Theatre every summer. This year it paired Comedy of Errors with a spring break-style musical version of Love's Labour's Lost..

Eig

UK - Christie HD8K 3-chip 1920 x 1080 HD projectors have completed one of their most unusual ever tours of duty, following a one-month deployment on a film set at Shepperton Studios for the new British independent film called Last Passenger.

The four projectors were instrumental in creating a sense of realism for this claustrophobic suspense thriller, starring Dougray Scott and Kara Tointon, and co-written by Omid Nooshin and Andrew Love (with Nooshin directing).

The action takes place aboard a Charing Cross to Hastings commuter train, and follows the 90-minute journey - with

Lebanon - While skiing may not be a sport readily associated with Lebanon, the country is in fact home to the highest mountains in the Middle East, and has been home to several fully equipped resorts since the 1960s. The recent refurbishment of Le 1700, one of the best après-ski restaurants in the resort of Faqra, has seen the installation of a QSC sound system based on K and KW Series Active Loudspeakers, courtesy of Beirut-based QSC distributor Techno Sound.

Situated at an altitude of 1700m, Le 1700 is a French restaurant that also features live music and dancing. "We were ask

UK - Liverpool, UK-based rental specialist Adlib continued a busy autumn season supplying a lighting, sound and trucking package to the UK section of chart-busting pop-rock band Lawson's recent UK tour.

The show included a tumultuous 'homecoming' show at Liverpool Echo Arena, where the band welcomed surgeon Dr. David Lawson - after whom they are named - to the stage and thanked him again in front of an ecstatic crowd, six years after his work saved the life of lead singer Andy Brown.

Adlib were chosen as technical supplier under the wing of James Sharpe, Andrew Thornton and John Pry

Germany - This summer water was the real star at the Autostadt in Wolfsburg, where the largest water show in the world, called Made in Germany, is produced and choreographed. Four performances were held during the week, each one consisting of extraordinary effects using more than 70m of fountains and 15m of firework displays. All accompanied by a spectacular light show.

Lighting designer Andreas 'Mini' Mertens used 18 Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1500s, 14 Sharpy Washes, 30 Sharpys, a grandMA2 full-size and two MA Network Processing Units (NPU).

On the subject of event lighting ma

South Africa - At the start of the year AFDA, one of the leading film, television and performance schools in Africa, opened a campus in Durban. DWR Distribution's Nick Barnes was pleased to recently provide a lighting installation, using Philips Strand technology, for a small film at their small television studio at the institution.

The Philips Strand LED Studio Panels are a sensible choice for students who can use the units both inside the studio and on location and for control a Philips Strand 200 Plus Series console has been supplied.

AFDA, the trading name for- The South African

New Zealand - PA company, High Definition Audio Visual Ltd (HDAV), has invested in two Allen & Heath digital consoles, a Qu-16 rackmount mixer, and the new GLD-112 with accompanying AR2412 and AR84 for additional stage and FOH I/O racks.

The Auckland-based firm has added Qu-16 to its hire stock to manage a forthcoming national corporate roadshow that will have a corporate element as well as a performance in each city by the band Moorhouse, a recent X Factor NZ contestant.

The GLD-112 system was purchased to service events in the corporate and entertainment sector. On its first outin

Italy / Chile - Luci della Ribalta has reinforced its distribution network in South America by appointing the company Iluminacion Profesional Valook SA as distributor for Chile.

The new distribution partnership was announced during PLASA London 2013, following a meeting had at LDI show in Las Vegas. "

Fabiano Besio comments, "Chile and Italy are located on the opposite side of the pond and I'm happy to close the gap between these two beautiful countries and to have a prestigious company like Valook to represent us in Chile. It's a pleasure to deal with people that share th

South Africa - Robe's latest LED moving lights are being used in great style to light the current series of So You Think You Can Dance in South Africa, which is being recorded at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)'s Renaissance Centre venue in downtown Johannesburg.

Lighting is designed by Robert Grobler from Gearhouse South Africa (GHSA). The 24 x Robe DLX Spot and 24 x DLF Wash fixtures being used on the show are part of a new investment in Robe's latest technology by GHSA, the country's largest rental and full technical production facility. This is their first

World - Heavy metal icon Black Sabbath continues its Reunion Tour in Latin America, Europe and the UK with a large complement of Clay Paky Sharpy and Sharpy Wash lights. The tour celebrates the band's reunion last year and supports their album 13, the first with Ozzy Osbourne since 1978.

"Sharpys are the ultimate eye candy," declares Michael Keller, lighting programmer for Baz Halpin, the tour's lighting designer. "They create such a visual display that they combat most videowalls. They're one of the few instruments that can cut right past them."

Halpin is

Italy - Regulating their electro acoustic parameters in the fastest possible way, when necessary in an extreme and even enjoyable manner, has become an indispensable requirement.

The question Outline staffers asked themselves before developing the solution for this issue was the following: how could the "dialogue" or interaction between system engineers and loudspeaker systems be improved?

This question led to another: how could this control be made easier, more enjoyable and more powerful than it had ever been in the past?

And also: was it possible to control a line arr

UK - From Here To Eternity, the new musical based on the celebrated 1953 film and 1951 novel, has just opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End. Produced by Tim Rice, who also penned the lyrics, the show features music by Stuart Brayson and book by Bill Oakes. The show is using lighting equipment supplied by entertainment lighting specialist White Light.

Bruno Poet, the show's lighting designer, has enjoyed a widely diverse career, encompassing everything from opera (including a long involvement with Garsington Opera) to plays (including the acclaimed Frankenst

Sweden - LumenRadio reports that they have been granted the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patent for their Cognitive Coexistence technology (US 8,457,023).

The granted patent covers all of LumenRadio's CRMX product lines. LumenRadio's Cognitive Coexistence technology allows the radio to ensure optimum performance even when other wireless systems are operating in the same area.

"Being granted this patent shows that we have a truly innovative and unique technology, which has never been seen before. We now have our technology protected, which gives our customer

The Netherlands - Orbital Sound, the specialist supplier to the broadcast, theatre, event and entertainment markets, reports that it has supplied the sound system for the Dutch production of the hit musical Jersey Boys, featuring the music and story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, and with sound design by Steve Canyon Kennedy. The system deploys the Meyer Sound Mica compact high-powered curvilinear array speaker, supported by d&b audiotechnik E0 compact speakers.

This is the first foreign language production of the show, which obviously presents the sound team with its o

USA - Fusing traditional local music with Europop, contemporary rock and an unusual fixation with Scotland, Austrian quintet Die Lauser has a remarkably large fanbase. Playing around 120 shows a year with DiGiCo consoles, the band's recent foray to the USA proved how effective the company's new SD Convert software is.

Die Lauser mixes traditional acoustic Austrian instruments with keyboards, drums and guitar... and bagpipes. The result is the kind of clap-and-stomp-along anthems for audience participation, making the tartan-toting band a favourite at festivals throughout Austria and G

The Netherlands - Matching the breadth of customer needs with innovative technology and dependable service has kept Dutch AV specialist Nieuwenhuis at the top of its game for nine decades. For 60 years the company has relied on Sennheiser equipment. With its most recent purchase of the new Sennheiser LSP 500 PRO PA system, Nieuwenhuis endorses its successful collaboration with the German audio specialist.

Established in 1926, the rental company Nieuwenhuis is a family-run company just like Sennheiser. Since its inception as a manufacturer of microphones and amplifiers, the company has

UK - Renowned lighting designer Rob Sinclair has used a Jands Vista L5 lighting and media control console to deliver an atmospheric visual feast for the latest Peter Gabriel Back to Front world tour.

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of hit album So, the tour spans Gabriel's illustrious career, including a performance of the album in its entirety and features the original So live 1987 band line-up. It is described by the innovative artist himself as a 'three course show'.

In response, Sinclair's inventive and dynamic lighting kicks off with the house lights up, t

USA - When the first-ever Life Is Beautiful music, art and food festival, took over 15 square blocks of downtown Las Vegas on 26-27 October, Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) was on location providing frequency coordination for the more than 80 musical acts, performers and media outlets throughout the two-day celebration.

In its inaugural year, the Life is Beautiful festival featured a diverse line-up of musical acts from a variety of genres including The Killers, Kings of Leon, Beck, Vampire Weekend, Imagine Dragons, Janelle Monae, Passion Pit, Jurassic 5, Danny Brown, Childish Gam

USA - First opened in 1928, the Capitol Theatre is the oldest and second largest venue in Madison, Wisconsin's Overture Centre for the Arts complex, which today encompasses seven performance facilities and four art galleries. Despite undergoing a major renovation project eight years ago that halved the historic vaudeville house's capacity to approximately 1,100 seats, the Capitol's sound reinforcement system hadn't been updated for nearly two decades, prompting the recent installation of a new L-Acoustics amplifier and loudspeaker package.

According to Capitol Theatre technician Brian

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