UK - On a high from last year’s 40th anniversary celebration, PLASA Show returns to London Olympia on 16-18 September, providing a stage for the world of live entertainment technology. The show continues to explore the cutting-edge of innovation and creativity and brings the biggest brands to thousands of visitors.
Audio heavyweights L-Acoustics, Peavey and Adamson, and lighting pioneers Robe, DTS, ETC and Philips are among the 200+ brands exhibiting at the show. And, with last year’s showfloor selling out, extra stands have been released for smaller companies representing all sectors of the industry, from DJ and club, to worship and education.
The show provides invaluable opportunities for those with an interest in working with lighting consoles and loudspeaker systems by providing dedicated training sessions and demos. There will also be more hands-on experiences than ever before, where visitors can sharpen their skills on the latest products guided by expert brand representatives.
New features include a showfloor seminar theatre that will serve as an epicentre for production specialists and riggers looking to elevate their knowledge. This is in addition to the lighting, pro audio and AV, and Fast Track theatres on the Gallery level, delivering continuous next-level content throughout the show.
The Gallery will include an enhanced bar area, a PLASA Members Zone, and a photography display of the Lightpower Collection which shines a light on live rock 'n' roll performance.
PLASA’s internationally recognised Awards for Innovation

USA - At Lightfair 2018 ETC debuted EchoTouch, a controller designed to give customised lighting looks for a variety of spaces. A stand-alone or integrated controller in ETC’s Echo line of architectural lighting solutions, EchoTouch also offers advanced lighting controls like sequence programming and colour tuning, all from a 7-inch touchscreen.
EchoTouch works in an Echo control system. All Echo control and power products are compatible: control stations, responsive controls, interfaces and EchoDIN power controllers. Integration and control for DMX and sACN fixtures and devices is also straightforward.
Building managers can use EchoTouch to programme Echo zones and preset looks so day-to-day use of a space is easy. Special sequences can easily be created via the intuitive interface with easy-to-use faders and buttons displayed on a vibrant seven inch screen. Native RDM makes discovering and managing lighting fixtures even easier. Colour control is simple and accessible with a colour picker and customisable colour chips to let users take full advantage of their system.
(Jim Evans)

UK - Arena Events Group has acquired specialist barrier and fencing company Events Solution.
The acquisition, worth £2.5 million, will see the Worksop-based company integrated into Arena’s current UK business.
Events Solution founder Richard Herberts is stepping away from the business, with James Wood set to continue as MD.
Arena UK & Europe CEO, Grahame Muir, comments: “Our business strategy is to provide a comprehensive suite of services to event organisers. Events Solution is a very well run and invested business and one we believe has significant growth opportunities. Having a new northern base works strategically very well and we aim to replicate this at our Cambridgeshire hub next year.
“Building on this years’ recent acquisition of furniture specialist hire companies, GLD and portable refrigeration supplier Ice House Rentals, the addition of Events Solution adds yet another in-house capability to Arena Events Group. This diversification adds expertise, extending our offering to existing clients as well as attracting new clients to Arena’s services.”
Events Solution MD, James Wood, adds: “Since being established in 2010, Events Solution Ltd has established a phenomenal array of clients ranging from film premieres in Leicester Square to mass participation events to national music tours and festivals. Joining the Arena Group will give us the resources and extended client network to continue growing our client portfolio in line with our ambitions. Myself and the team are very excited about a strong future as part

Europe - Absen Europe’s latest LED display technologies will be presented during its Stronger Together showcase events, taking place across 30 European cities this summer. The events kicked off this week in Madrid and Barcelona (19 and 21 June respectively) and will be followed by open days in Italy, France, UK, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands and Turkey. 
The events are open to prospective clients as well as rental stagers, integrators and distributors alike, and will feature key products in Absen’s range, including the new rental and staging Polaris Series, the award-winning fixed install Acclaim Series, as well as an introduction to Absen’s control room dedicated CR Series. 
Each event is taking place over one day and will be attended by Borja Janariz Sanchez, Absen Europe’s corporate and retail industry director, alongside Absen Europe regional managers.
The schedule so far includes:
26 June: Milan, Italy
28 June: Paris, France
29 June: Padova, Italy
29 June: UK (venue TBC)
02 July: Brussels, Belgium
03 July: Frankfurt, Germany
05 July: Ireland (venue TBC)
06 July: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
25 July: Istanbul, Turkey
Dates for Portugal, Poland and Sweden will be announced soon.
To register for the above events, and for the latest list of events planned, visit www.absen-europe.com or contact the appropriate regional manager.
Borja Janariz Sanchez, A

USA - The future was on full display in Manhattan early this May during Digital Content NewFronts, a week-long showcase for media buyers of the latest digital and video creations from the leading names in entertainment, news and information technology.
A must-see venue for the executives who descended on New York for the event was Pier 26, where Oath, a division of Verizon that reaches over one billion people worldwide through its digital media brands, introduced an exciting array of new content.
Hosted by Jamie Foxx, Oath Digital Content NewFronts offered guests a smorgasbord of live entertainment options to go along with the chance to preview upcoming productions from brands like Yahoo and Huffington Post.
Taking place on two main stages, along with a half dozen smaller satellite units, the evening event featured performances by stars like DJ Irie, Broadway dancers, bucket drummers and other artists. Adding to the magical atmosphere on the pier was a lighting design created by Barrett Hall that featured Chauvet Professional Maverick and Nexus fixtures, supplied by WorldStage.
“This project came about for me through First, a global creative agency that produced the event,” says Hall, owner of Magic Hour East. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with First in the past, so I was excited about this opportunity to help create a large-scale immersive and illuminated environment. Having everything from musical acts to theatrical style performances filling an entire pier over the Hudson made it quite unique.”
At the heart of Hall’s

UK - It has been another outstanding year for multi award-winning UK songstress, Paloma Faith. Paloma and co. are now touring on the strength of her fourth album, The Architect and her engineers are using DiGiCo consoles to run the show, provided by UK rental company, Adlib.
Mixing the Paloma show is no mean feat, it seems. The show's channel-count out front is at 75, which is broken down into drums and electronics, 20 lines of keys, guitars, vocals, and various drum triggers. The sheer size of the show meant a DiGiCo console was a must-have, says Paloma's FOH engineer, Andy Williamson.
“I could have done this show on an SD5, but we're using that on monitors [with James Neale], so I'm on the SD7; and I have to say, this show really is an exercise in chopping,” Andy says. “There is that much going on, it had to be a DiGiCo to make it work - and I have a comedy amount of Waves plugins on here, too. I have to use dynamic compression across the whole thing, and all the tracks are cut to hell; it's a bit of a noisy jigsaw, really, but it works well, and these consoles are always great sounding and super-reliable.”
Monitor engineer, James Neale, has been working with Paloma since 2014. He has built up a good working relationship with her, her trust in him making her feel more relaxed on stage. He started using DiGiCo consoles a few years back, whilst mixing Ellie Goulding, opting for them for the overall sonic quality the brand offers and because he needed more outputs for the show.
“I started out on the SD7 and have used most of

USA - Since their start in California’s Newbury Park in 2011, alternative indie rock band The Neighbourhood has gone on to chart multiple times in the US, release three albums, tour internationally, and perform multiple times at Coachella. The band stepped up to an Allen & Heath dLive Digital Mixing System at FOH and monitors, with two C1500 Control Surfaces, a DM32 MixRack and a DM64 MixRack.
Monitor engineer Jason Hines sums up the dLive system as being “intuitive and flexible.” Hines noted a number of particularly useful features for touring monitor engineers. "The flexibility of the External Input to PAFL Source in the Surface Audio Preferences and PAFL Settings is amazing. The way it is designed takes the annoyance out of talkback systems on stage. Another great feature that I love is the option of having an IEM fader and a wedge fader.”
Michael Bangs, Allen & Heath USA live sound touring manager notes: “We’ve seen a growing number of tours utilizing the compact C1500 for both FOH and monitors in a similar sort of setup as Jason’s. Having toured for years running monitors myself, I can certainly relate to the importance of having a super flexible workflow. dLive comes from that design approach - work with engineers, not against them.”
Speaking to the road-worthiness of the compact dLive C1500 Control Surface, Hines notes, “The little desks we used were tossed up and down in the truck at least 60 times in less than two months. They were robust and they held together. I was also really impressed with the calibration of

World - British progressive rock pioneers Marillion are currently delighting fans with their hit world tour, which marks over three decades of the band's music. A celebration of musical storytelling, the show is enhanced by a theatrical lightscape created by the band's long-term lighting designer Yenz Nyholm, who selected the Claypaky Scenius Spot to deliver key animation lighting effects and rich, vibrant colour onstage.
Integral to Nyholm's design is an intricate back wall of light that surrounds an 8 x 5m projection screen. Above the top edge of the screen, Nyholm places a row of Scenius Spots to create a varied web of jewel coloured beams and wide, saturated washes. Supplying the fixtures for the UK leg was British lighting hire specialist Siyan.
"The band as a whole is very theatrical," says Nyholm. "You don't just 'light' them, but play along with the music and in that, you become part of the band. The music of Marillion ranges from very soft acoustic sounds to full-on grunge and rock. The Scenius Spot is highly adaptable so it can always produce a look that fits with the mood of the music."
A long-term fan of Claypaky products, Nyholm found the selection of the Scenuis Spot for this design a simple decision. He says, "I have used Claypaky products for the last six years, since the Claypaky Alpha series. I have always felt they were reliable and easy to work with. The optics and zoom range are exceptionally good and the added feature of the Scenius' animation wheel means that I can get everything I need from the one fixture."
Marillion

UK - Folk punk singer-songwriter Frank Turner recently played four sold-out nights at London’s Roundhouse venue, performing four different sets and presenting lighting designer Tom Mason-Smith with the task of creating four totally different lighting designs.
Tom’s company Dragonfly Lighting provided a Robe specials package including 12 x MegaPointes, 24 x BMFLs, 24 x PATT 2013s and 12 CycFX 8s to cover the four shows and assist him make each one “a personal and memorable experience for Turner’s eclectic and loyal fanbase”. Tom also used elements of the house rig including 18 x LEDBeam 100s.
The first night featured a snappy touring set – they have recently finished a UK tour - for which Tom needed flashy, bright, punky and folky lighting and chose a mix of traditional and contemporary lightsources as specials, with 12 x MegaPointes on a large box truss in lines of six, a concept he’d used successfully on the tour, rigged as two 10 metre back trusses, one sub hung below the other.
The second night was the 10th anniversary of Turner’s Love, Ire & Song album, for which he and his band played the complete album.
The visual focus was a large new backdrop inspired by the original album cover artwork which was far upstage, initially covered by a black and revealed via a kabuki drop.
The third night, Turner performed solo. Stripped back and raw in appearance, visual features included a smaller backdrop with a circular logo and a black behind it, surrounded by a square grid of PATT 2013s leaving a space in the centre.

USA - Hall & Oates have hit the road with Train co-headlining a North American arena tour this summer.
Lighting designer Paul ‘Arlo’ Guthrie from Minneapolis-based TOSS Film & Design has selected a large complement of Claypaky Sharpy Washes and Mythos 2 fixtures for the rig.
For the new show, Hall & Oates and Train each do a set then the bands join forces for a dynamic finale. The tour launched 1 May in Sacramento and will conclude in Seattle in mid-August.
Guthrie has designed a look for the tour that “feels modern but harkens back a bit to Hall & Oates’s legacy,” he says. “The lighting is reminiscent of rigs past with newer fixtures and more modern equipment. The video component is also larger than before.”
Downstage a front-projection screen has the form of a curved theatre proscenium. Mid-stage is an upside-down ‘U’ composed of LED tiles. Upstage is a rectangular LED wall and simple scenic elements. “The lighting supports the scenic elements and adds depth between the video components,” Guthrie explains. “The show is lit very much like a TV show with very consistent levels. We’ve modelled the guys to look good to the eye and on camera for the IMAG displayed on the side screens throughout the show.”
Morris Leasing in Nashville is the lighting vendor for the tour.
Guthrie chose 86 Sharpy Wash 330s, which are configured in clusters in pods that move up and down on a hoist system.
The lighting designer also has 64 Mythos 2 fixtures in the rig. “One of the big considerations was

UK - Cross 5 is the latest in a new range of high-performance cable protection ‘crossover’ products launched by Penn Elcom this year. It can be used for any temporary installation or working environment where safe ground-based cable protection is required.
Cross 5 is manufactured from thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), chosen for its recyclability, and has been developed to provide a five-channel cable protector with unrivalled strength, abrasion resistance and flexibility. It is also fire retardant to DIN EN 13501-1.
Serious weight capacity ensures that all types of vehicles - including a standard 44t artic - can safely drive over Cross 5.
The Penn Elcom Cross system is made from two elements - the base section and the ramp.
The base section acts as a connector piece from which numerous variations and combinations of crossover can be created. The ramp section features a 15° angle of inclination which is the optimum for vehicles driving over it.
Key features include being tear-proof, stable and resistant to most chemicals, fats and oils and other liquids that can be potential slip-hazards.
The first product in the new Cross series, Cross 3 was launched at the start of the year and has been very successful, so Penn expects a similar scenario with CROSS 5 and other subsequent Cross products.
“With health and safety being paramount at every event, there is a demand for high quality, well-priced technical solutions like Cross in all sectors,” concludes Penn Elcom’s commercial director Rob Platt.
(Jim Evans)

UK - Technical production supplier Blitz has announced the appointment of Martyn Hunt as theatre and sound project development manager.
Hunt will work towards growing the company’s portfolio within the theatre sector. He will also act as technical support on a daily basis for all theatre productions.
Hunt has worked worldwide designing and engineering sound in theatre, live events and broadcast. He started out in in regional theatre 30 years ago and quickly moved to the West End. Hunt has since held the role of head of sound on a number of long-running productions.
Aron Ross, sound director of Blitz, comments: “It is a real pleasure to have Martyn as part of the team here at Blitz. His wealth of industry experience and technical expertise will prove invaluable as we grow our client base. He also brings a fantastic work ethic and sense of humour to everything he does.”
Blitz, a GES company, has supplied the theatre industry for over 30 years and currently provides sound and technical support to high profile productions including The Phantom of the Opera and the UK tours of Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em and Trainspotting.
(Jim Evans)

Germany - With 35 acts performing across three floors over 14 hours to around 18,000 dance aficionados, the traditional Mayday EDM event in Dortmund followed a familiar theme.
For LD Thomas Gerdon, who has provided production design for five of the last seven events, the only important aspect was that a radical change, relocating the stage from the end of the hall to the long side of the rectangular room, gave him a massive 24m wide performance area to light.
This he accomplished with well over 200 fixtures from GLP - predominantly GT-1 and JDC1 hybrids - but also around 36 of the powerful impression X4 XL. This huge inventory was provided or sourced by Wiesbaden-based schoko pro.
This year Gerdon lit not only the main Arena stage but also the second Empire stage for promoters, I-Motion GmbH - commending their CEO Oliver Vordemvenne for his vision in endorsing the new stage position in his quest to keep the event fresh. “It gave us a totally new perspective and instead of placing lights over the audience, I could have them engage more closely with the lighting on stage.”
The designer relied heavily on the GLP catalogue to populate the giant 40m rig, both for the economy of being able to use versatile hybrid fixtures as well as performance reliability over such an arduous duty cycle.
“It was clear I would be using a lot of GLP equipment from the outset,” he says. “It is important to be cost efficient, so a hybrid fixture is very attractive. The GT-1 is a genuine hybrid with low weight, and having no base is a real plus.”

The Netherlands - Poppodium (Pop Stage) Patronaat is a popular three-room venue in Haarlem, a historic city outside of Amsterdam. The venue has recently upgraded the audio systems in two of its rooms by installing four SSL L200 consoles at front of house and monitor positions, all supplied by SSL Live distributor Audio Electronics Mattijsen (AEM).
Patronaat was started in 1984, in the renovated patronage hall / gymnasium of a former school building by the Pop Music Foundation of Kennerlerland. The venue went from strength to strength, and in 2005, after a brief relocation, a new Patronaat building was officially opened on the original site. The Foundation has been a long-term beneficiary of a substantial arts subsidy - common in cities around the Netherlands - and a founding principal of Patronaat was to use that subsidy, and income from bigger touring acts, to give smaller, up-and-coming acts a stage to perform on. It’s a strategy that continues undiminished today.
The complex has three rooms, sized as large (950 capacity), medium (350 capacity), and small (120 capacity), with independent entrances and in-out freight vehicle access into the middle of the building via the central Schlucht street. The combined rooms see an average of 130,000 visitors a year for around 500 productions.
Benno Linnemann, head of sound at Patronaat, says that a busy week might include up to 15 gigs, functions, or events throughout the building. "That's mainly live music, plus dance and some private and corporate bookings," he explains.
There are four SSL L200 con

Qatar - Losail International Circuit hosts the Grand Prix of Qatar every year, one of the flagship events of the MotoGP season. In 2008, the race became the first to take place by night, at a more advantageous time for television broadcasts but also in order to benefit from milder temperatures.
Thanks to a permanent lighting system, riders can ride on the 5.4km track at any time of the day. Since 2016, the Losail Circuit Sports Club team relies on Airstar to light up the paddocks where teams prepare and adjust their motorcycles.
The Airstar balloons have also provided lighting for the public area, where additional entertainment and attractions are offered to visitors, such as camel riding, falconry, or traditional Arabic coffee making. This year, the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani attended the event for the first time.
“The Grand Prix of Qatar is the only MotoGP race that is held under floodlights. However, the lighting has to be perfect to ensure the safety of the riders, as if they were riding in day time. In addition, we wanted to give a nice and pleasant atmosphere to the place, and that is exactly what Airstar balloons offer,” comments Juan Baquero, CEO of the Losail Circuit Sports Club. “We know and work with Airstar for three years now, they are part of our MotoGP event.”
For this first race of the 2018 MotoGP season, the Airstar Middle-East team has deployed 50 Pixocom balloons. Measuring 3m in diameter and with a power of 9kW, the Pixocom provided a glare-free, efficient and aesthetic light to the 32,000 spec

USA - August Hall is following in some giant footsteps. Opened this spring in the heart of Union Square, San Francisco, the 1000-capacity club is only a short distance from legendary music halls like the original Fillmore West, as well as leading current day entertainment sites like the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, The Masonic, and Great American Music Hall.
Building on this tradition, while adding new lighting and sound technology, the venue, which has a partnership with Live Nation, is hosting artists from every musical genre as well as comedians and corporate events.
Providing visual support for the diverse mix of performers that appear on its stage is a flexible lighting rig installed by Don Lynch of Commercial Audio Video Solutions, Inc, that features a collection of over 100 Chauvet Professional fixtures and LED panels.
“We worked closely with house LD David Belogolovsky of OwlVision to design a very rider-friendly rig that could work as well for an EDM artist as a rock band or spoken word performer at a corporate event,” says Lynch, who was also responsible for installing the hall’s audio, video, surveillance, and networking systems. “Our lighting rig had to be bright and punchy enough for some of the most intense acts, while still being able to provide subtle washes when needed. At the same time, of course, it also had to fit within the budget of a venue this size.”
After evaluating different options, Lynch and Belogolovsky put together a rig that includes: 16 Maverick MK3 Washes, 38 Rogue R2X Spot fixtures and eight STRIKE

UK Aurora Lighting is collaborating once again with lighting designer Gurdip Mahal plus gaffers James Tinsley and Adam Mitchell on Channel 4’s hit reboot of TV cult classic The Crystal Maze.
Following the production’s hugely successful format, Maze Master Richard Ayoade is back in the driving seat, guiding teams of intrepid adventurers through various themed ‘zones’ to take on a variety of dastardly challenges.
Filmed on an expansive set created by original series designer James Dillon at The Bottle Yard, Bristol, the show captures the charisma of the 90’s maze whilst incorporating a number of contemporary twists to update and enhance the look of the individual zones.
The sheer scale of the set requires a truly flexible lighting package that can both maintain ambient levels and shift easily between the moods created to accompany each specific area.
Combining creativity and versatility, the crew have installed a variety of automated fixtures including Martin MAC Viper Profile, Claypaky Sharpy and GLP X4s which allow swift alterations between moods or the addition of colour and movement to assist in highlighting action. The crew have also incorporated a number of Fresnels into the design, used to cleverly mirror the tungsten warmth of the original show.
Aurora have made key investment in products specifically for the show, in particular to build further on the growing inventory of LED products they are able to offer. Aurora has furnished the Crystal maze with a variety of low energy solutions. Of note are the numbers of C

UK - Originally constructed in 1808, Glazier’s Hall is characterised by a blend of refined tradition and contemporary design. Sat beside the Thames, the building offers seven strikingly individual spaces for corporate events and functions. It also adjoins the historical London Bridge - a distinction made all the more tangible following the completion of the London Bridge Arches, a new subterranean space where the foundations of the bridge’s original wharf are visible.
Beyond the bare brick walls of the venue flows the Thames, while within the acoustically challenging space, an almost invisible K-array solution delivers smooth and precise audio coverage.
Previously a back-of-house zone, the newly transformed space is the seventh function area available for hire within Glazier’s Hall, offering three long, arched vaults where original bricks are complimented by minimalist architectural lighting. At the far end of the vaults are the stones that adjoin the river, while to the right, visitors can gaze through three hermetically sealed windows at one of the British capital’s best-appointed wine cellars. The overall effect is unlike anywhere else in the city.
“The building is actually Grade II listed – the floor is actually all original Yorkstone paving from 1808, and we are on a raft in the Thames,” explains Glazier’s Hall managing director, Samantha Enstone. “Our vision was to convert and use more riverside space and create a unique environment using the walls from 1808. But of course part of the challenge was to achieve the right balanc

USA - LifeWay Students, part of LifeWay Christian Resources, holds summer camps that travel across the nation. The annual X. WKND kick-off event is an opportunity for all the summer camp staff members to come together as one before heading out on the road.
Held inside the Shocco Springs Conference Centre, production designer Jake Brantley wanted to give the 2018 event an in-the-round worship experience, so he worked with Elite Multimedia Productions who provided a full rig of audio, lighting and LED video.
“This year we wanted to do something a little different, so we started talking about what was possible in a gymnasium with very limited rigging points,” says Brantley. “We started playing around with the idea of doing it in the round, but one of the challenges was that the highest point in the ceiling is only at 26ft, so we decided to push our LED video surfaces to the outside of the room, facing in. In this set-up, no matter where you were in the house, when you were looking at the stage, your LED visual surface was in the background. It was a unique challenge, but it turned out really well
“Elite Multimedia Productions knows that when I am coming up with a design, it’s going to be ambitious and a little different,” adds Brantley. “They do a great job of helping us find the right gear that fits both our dream design and our budget. When working to fill out a gear list, you have to be willing to give-and-take a little bit, and Peter Streiff at Elite Multimedia did a great job helping us turn our vision into a successful event.

USA - The Firefly Music Festival wrapped this weekend with Bandit Lites once again providing the lighting package for multiple stages where more than 60,000 people took to the forest for the seventh year.
The weekend’s line up was packed with a wide array of performances with Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, The Killers and Arctic Monkeys headlining. Odesza, Lil Wayne, Logic, Martin Garrix, SZA, Alt-J, Foster the People, MGMT and Cold War Kids also took to the stages.
Bandit Lites supplied more than 200 fixtures for the main stage system including Clay Paky Mythos, Robe BMFLs, VL 3500 Washes, VL 3000 Spots, GLP X4 Bar 20, Solaris Flare Strobes, Lycian M2 spots, and grand MA 2 Full consoles for control.
“Lambda Productions Scott Cadwallader, Brian 'Tuffy' Knight, Kat Harris and Joe Gordon worked long and hard on this huge festival and really pulled out all the stops,” comments Bandit’s Dizzy Gosnell. “Firefly really has become a benchmark festival on the summer circuit now. It’s been so great to be involved from day one of the first Firefly to see it grow to the massive annual event it is now.”
The Backyard Stage featured Claypaky Sharpys, Chauvet Illuminarc Panels, Chauvet Nexus AW 7x7, Elation CuePix WW4 Blinders, VL 3000 Spots and Bandit’s exclusive GRNLite LED Washes along with a grand MA 2 Full console as control.
One pleasant surprise for a completely open-air festival is the weather cooperating, but there was not a single drop of rain to be seen over Firefly, and while Bandit’s rigs and crew were prepared for all manne

Australia - Eclipse Lighting and Sound recently secured multiple Martin by Harman MAC Quantum fixtures from Show Technology to supply music festivals, concerts, musical theatre shows and more.
Eclipse Lighting and Sound is an all-in-one production house that provides audio and lighting solutions for music festivals, concerts, corporate dinners, and musical theatre shows of all sizes across eastern Australia. MD Chris Neal was preparing for the upcoming festival season, and decided it was time to replace his aging Martin MAC 2000 fixtures with something that could deliver sensational lighting on stages of all sizes.
In order to meet these needs, Neal contacted Show Technology to find a powerful yet versatile fixture. Show Technology suggested the MAC Quantum, which combines the latest in LED technology with Martin's proprietary optical design.
"The Quantum fixtures are a great addition to the Eclipse Lighting and Sound family,” says Neal. “It’s been great sending such reliable fixtures out on gigs and not having people calling me for lamp replacements. We’ve already used them at the Canberra's main NYE celebration and recent CAT Awards - we were very impressed."
"Eclipse Lighting and Sound had been using MAC 2000 fixtures for a long time,” says Mike Gearin at Show Technology. “Chris wanted to upgrade to with the latest, most advanced Martin technology available, so we suggested the MAC Quantum fixtures. They were immediately impressed by how bright and sharp all of the fixtures were.”
(Jim Evans)

Germany - A gathering of customers, industry partners and employees heralded the official opening of the new Experience Centre at the Adam Hall Group headquarters located in Neu-Anspach near Frankfurt.
Using the theme Come Together, the benchmark was set from the onset by a sound-and-light show with pyrotechnics. Special guests and famous music acts provided the entertainment. Speeches by company founder David Kirby and managing directors Alexander Pietschmann and Markus Jahnel rounded out the house-warming party.
More than 20m euros has been invested in the construction of two new building complexes, the Experience Centre and the expanded Logistics Park.
The Experience Centre has been specially designed for business customers, partners, organisations and employees and, as an architectural hallmark of the Adam Hall Group, includes a fully-equipped product showroom, a large theatre auditorium for live shows and demonstrations.
It also houses educational facilities for the newly-founded Adam Hall Academy, which as of 18 June, offers a full seminar programme for the industry in conjunction with DEAplus, the German Event Academy organisation and the company restaurant coined. The integrated R&D and engineering department in the other half of the Experience Centre houses an anechoic measuring room, various endurance and climatic test rigs, a photometric laboratory and ample space for modelling and 3D prototyping.
“The dynamic markets of our time require courage, mobility, innovation and high customer orientation,” says CEO Ale