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21 May 2024

Poland - MSD Animal Health, part of Merck & Co, based in Rahway, New Jersey, has opened a new experience centre located at the company's production plant in Psary Małe (Greater Poland Voivodeship), established to present the company's solutions in the field of animal health identification and monitoring.

The unit's activities will support breeders and veterinarians in learning about the latest technological solutions supporting animal breeding and production.

IT integrators Koma Nord called in architectural sound installation specialists Lauda Instalacje who proposed a Nexo sound system comprising a pair of the French manufacturer’s ID84 column speakers mounted either side of the main screen, with LF extension from two ultra-compact LS400 subs mounted and hidden on the wall to the right. Processing and amplification are provided by Nexo’s DT

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21 May 2024

UK - Cardiff-based Magnum PA and SR Productions enjoy an ongoing strategic partnership, with Martin Audio’s Wavefront Precision series line array at the heart of it. While Magnum PA carries the flagship WPL in its inventory, SR supports the versatile WPC in its hire fleet - so that between the two companies, the Martin Audio box count exceeds 150.

To further strengthen the offering, both companies frequently partner with Bristol-based SWG Events, offering a formidable collective inventory. Long-standing SR Productions client Orchard Media and Events Group recently required a solution to cover delegates for Admiral Group’s annual staff general meeting at Utilita Arena Cardiff.

A main hang of 12 WPL per side was supported by an out-fill of eight WPC per side, while centre-fill duties were carried out by four TORUS T820 and monitors by four LE200s.

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21 May 2024

Damage Limitation - The UK risks "self-inflicted economic and diplomatic damage" if it does not take action to strengthen its creative industries, a new report has warned. To combat this, the report has made a series of recommendations, including the creation of a ‘soft-power council’ representing "the diversity of British talent" in government and "making requisite changes across the visa system to ensure it is fit for purpose for the creative industries".

The report has been produced by University of the Arts London and Erskine Analysis and is designed to "examine the critical role of the creative industries as a source of economic growth".

Entitled Keeping the UK’s Creative Industries Globally Competitive: a Playbook to Protect Our Future Prosperity and Security, the report calls the creative industries "both a huge strength and in

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20 May 2024

Sweden - Standard Audio Systems AB has been appointed Renkus-Heinz distributor for Sweden.

Karl Kahlau, CEO of Standard Audio Systems AB, comments, "We are honoured to be appointed as Renkus-Heinz's exclusive distributor in Sweden. The brand’s reputation for excellence aligns perfectly with our mission to provide our customers with cutting-edge audio solutions. With the ICONYX Series among the other exceptional product ranges from Renkus-Heinz, we are confident in our ability to meet the diverse audio needs of our clients."    

Standard Audio Systems AB distributes a portfolio of professional audio products across Sweden, offering technical support and services where necessary. This new partnership with Renkus-Heinz expands Standard Audio Systems’ portfolio with a selection of innovative products, including the renowned ICONYX Series.   

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20 May 2024

Australia - Based on Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s fairy tale La Belle et la Bête, Disney’s Beauty & the Beast was the first full-length stage show to be produced by the newly created Disney Theatrical Productions (DTP) company. The musical has since grossed more than $1.7bn worldwide and played in 15 countries and 115 cities and remains one of Broadway’s biggest successes.

A new Australian production – based on the 2021 UK revival - is currently mid-way through a tour across Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. This latest production features sound from KV2 Audio, designed by sound designer and long-time Disney collaborator, John Shivers.

Shivers first started work on Beauty and the Beast for the Shanghai production in 2018. He and his associate designers, Kevin Kennedy and Greg Pink along with sound engineer Andy Sha

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20 May 2024

USA - Daze Between New Orleans returned to Faubourg Brewery on 30 April – 1 May, bridging the consecutive weekends of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival with two days of live music, local cuisine, craft beer, and good times.

Now in its third year, the festival showcased two stages, both powered by official sound partner Meyer Sound. From jam to jazz, funk to rock, the lineup showcased acts from the Big Easy and beyond, including Galactic, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and headliners Lettuce and Gov’t Mule.

Meyer Sound systems were provided by Upscale Productions of Lake Charles, Louisiana. Panther large-format linear line array loudspeakers returned to the main Daze Between stage, paired with the 2100‑LFC low-frequency control element. The Jerry Garcia Wellness Stage centred around Leopard compact linear array loudspeakers, supplemented

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20 May 2024

USA - Elation’s R&D department embarked on a development project that spanned several years to tackle the challenge of achieving ‘the perfect balance between colour accuracy and intensity’. The result is TruTone Technology, an advancement that allows designers to adjust CRI from a single fixture in order to find the best lighting fidelity.

Achieving that perfect balance between brightness and colour accuracy is an issue that has persisted in the entertainment lighting industry for years and holds significance for lighting designers and rental houses alike. Traditional LED engines, with their fixed CRI values, have fallen short in delivering a comprehensive spectrum, leaving designers and gear providers with inflexible options. Despite the industry’s numerous attempts to address this shortfall, the ideal solution has remained elusive.

The

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20 May 2024

The Netherlands - Following the pandemic, Racoon embarked on an extensive tour of The Netherlands in support of their album.

The quartet performed at a wide variety of venues, from amphitheatres and festivals, to clubs and theatres during their busy 30-month tour. Each show had its own distinctive atmosphere, which is why Racoon’s long-time lighting designer, Erwin Van Lokeren created different looks for every stop along the way.

Now, as Racoon does the final shows of its extended run, Van Lokeren has woven together many of those looks from the past two-and-a-half years into a transformative tapestry. Moving seamlessly through a spectrum of emotions, his design blends live images of the band’s members on a blow-through video wall with evocative (mostly warm white) light projected from multiple angles.

“I took all those designs from prev

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20 May 2024

The Netherlands - With the 2022 version of Soenda Indoor Werkspoorkathedraal in Utrecht being a major success, repeating the trick for the 2023 edition in the same location would be no small feat. T.Y.S were once again on hand to create a design that surpassed expectations.

The biggest challenge for the design team was coming up with a solution that could turn the cavernous Werkspoorkathedraal into a venue with a cosy club atmosphere. With a floor surface of 5,800 m2 to cover and a ceiling height of 20m, there was plenty of scope for creativity.

Together with the event’s producer, Elevation Events, the design team decided that doing something with motion could add a surprising new dimension to the lighting setup for the 2023 edition. This culminated in the construction of four large square frames that were suspended from the venue’s two crane tra

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17 May 2024

UK - A celebration of the remarkable life of Richard Pilbrow - lighting designer, theatre consultant, producer, author, educator, mentor, friend, and so much more – is being held today (17 May) at the Dorfman - formerly Cottesloe - at the National Theatre.

The Pilbrow family, along with the ALPD and the ABTT invite those who knew Richard to join them at the venue from 1.30pm. “All are welcome,” a statement says. Like the great producer Richard sometimes was, we want a sold-out event, maybe even bursting a little at the seams - but not to end up with people unable to get in.”

Anyone who can’t make it but would still like to commemorate Richard is asked to do so by supporting the entertainment charities Backup Tech (in the UK) or Behind The Scenes (in the US).

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17 May 2024

Poland - Void Acoustics has announced a partnership with Phono Media as its distributor in Poland, the latest addition to Void’s rapidly expanding network of professional AV dealers.

Founded in 2010, Phono Media delivers visual and sound solutions across a wide range of commercial sectors, including hotels, restaurants and multipurpose venues. Void chose Phono Media as its regional distributor to help grow its business opportunities in the emerging Eastern European market and raise Void’s profile in the wider hospitality market in the region.

Phono Media has already begun installing Void’s products in venues in Poland. As Void’s Polish distributor, the company’s showrooms are equipped with Void Acoustics’ speaker range, enabling prospective buyers to experience the products up close.

Jacek Stanisławski, CEO at Phono Media, said:

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17 May 2024

Europe - Simple Minds are back on the road for their 2024 Global Tour, playing arenas and proving perennially popular to both old and new generations of music fans.

The production has also been growing and developing in size and dynamics with Robe iForte and BMFL moving lights assisting show and lighting designer Mark Wynn-Edwards to produce a colourful show supporting the band’s powerful up-tempo set.

The show design is new but contains some threads inspired by the 2020 arena tour which was abruptly halted due to the pandemic. Mark has been working with the band since 2018, initially coming onboard to look after media servers.

The tour features 14 x iForte in the floor package and three iForte for followspot duties plus 37 x BMFLs in the flown rig which are the main hard edge and workhorse lights of the design. All kit is supplied by Solot

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17 May 2024

Italy - Tenax, a beacon of the underground club scene in Florence, recently underwent a sonic upgrade with the installation of a new sound system from K-array. Boasting 43 years of continuous activity and a star-studded roster of performers including the likes of Daft Punk, Ben Harper, and Dream Theater, Tenax required a system that would live up to the club’s reputation whilst honouring the requirements for low frequencies in a built-up urban area.

The team at K-array worked directly with the in-house technicians at Tenax to design and implement the updated system. “Our headquarters are located just outside of Florence city, so we have strong connections with the nightclub and with the underground music culture that has evolved from Tenax over the decades,” explains Daniel Strasserra, global business development manager at K-array. “Whilst a key goa

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17 May 2024

Qatar/UAE - The inaugural Qatar-UAE Super Cup football tournament kicked off in Doha, Qatar on April 12, 2024, showcasing talent from both nations, then continued the next day with the UAE-Qatar Super Cup Shield match in Dubai.

Qvision (Qatar Vision), the Doha-based event production and management company, was charged with bringing the organising committee’s vision to life in spectacular opening ceremonies featuring a large complement of Claypaky lighting fixtures.    

For the opening ceremony’s show, Qvision artistic director and executive producer, Sharif Hashisho, devised a mesmerising display at Al Thumama World Cup stadium where storytelling laser animation highlighted the development of football in the GCC region and the significance of the newly established championship. A massive array of Claypaky beams lit up the night sky, sweeping

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17 May 2024

South Africa - Theatre and professional rental specialist, Gearhouse Splitbeam of Johannesburg, has made its first investment in Ayrton, purchasing a consignment of new Ayrton Rivale Profile fixtures from Ayrton’s South African distribution partner, Planetworld.

The decision came after a concerted post-pandemic fact-finding mission to secure the best new LED moving lights with which to update Splitbeam’s aging lighting stock, spurred on by the impending requirements of Showtime Management’s production of Mamma Mia! later in the year and a need to increase its stock of LED moving lights. Departing from its traditional manufacturers, Splitbeam decided in favour of Ayrton Rivale Profile following a shoot-out between major manufacturers’ products and a visit to the Ayrton factory just ahead of the launch of Rivale Profile.

“We are essentially a

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17 May 2024

France - La Planète Rouge, a team of 3D and VFX set designers as well as colourists, set out to create The Next Stage. Housed within Provence Studios, the largest filmmaking infrastructure in southern France, it is situated in the heart of the French filmmaking industry near Marseille. The Next Stage has been designed to be ‘the ultimate in virtual production studios’, featuring a custom-made LED screen from French manufacturer, ArtBox, and is powered by Brompton LED video processing.

“We started with a blank sheet,” says La Planète Rouge’s Morgann Brun. “The infrastructure needed to be as immersive as possible because our aim was for production companies to be able to create content for feature films there.”

The result is a studio that features a U-shaped volume with an LED ceiling, plus a mobile set up. As Brun puts it, it is a Swis

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17 May 2024

USA - ACT Entertainment will present PK Sound’s new Robotic Line Source System at InfoComm 2024. Comprised of the T8 robotic line source element and T18 intelligent subwoofer.

Featuring PK’s patented multi-axis robotics, T8’s output - with peak SPLs reaching 143.5 dB - is precisely controlled down to 400 Hz in both the vertical and horizontal planes. The result is a high degree of flexibility and precision in system dispersion for designers or operators in virtually any application.

Used in tandem with the accompanying T18 intelligent subwoofer, PK Cell modular touring rack and PK .dynamics control software, the T8 system delivers PK Sound’s patented remote and real-time multi-axis robotic coverage control to a wider range of users and applications in the touring and rental, performance installation, theatrical, worship, nightlife and corpora

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17 May 2024

USA - Bandit Lites has announced that Kelly Feild has joined the team as the director of touring personnel.

In addition, Feild will also head expanding Bandit’s college outreach as well as interviewing and hiring additional touring personnel of all experience levels and backgrounds.

Feild’s background in live events began early, in high school. She then earned a BBA in Music Business from Belmont University. Following graduation, she worked at Belmont’s event services as their Coordinator of Scheduling before joining Bandit Lites as a lighting technician. She worked on multiple tours and eventually set out as a freelancer.

“I started at Bandit with a business degree and almost no technical experience,” Feild says. “Bandit taught me everything I needed to know to successfully tour as lighting tech. I know how to do the office part

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16 May 2024

UK - Vision: 2025 has launched a crowdfunder to create the third edition of the Show Must Go On report and ‘shape a new climate strategy and practices towards 2030’. Research and authoring by an inclusive industry-wide collaboration is underway to collate a comprehensive free-to-access resource.

The initiative supported by Festival Republic, The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), Arts Council England, Earth Percent, aims to raise £50,000 from organisations working in the festival and outdoor events space to be matched with grant funds.

This collaborative project is being hosted by Julie’s Bicycle, chaired by Jon Collins, (LIVE) and convenes a working group of organisations and specialists from across the sector.

The Show Must Go On state of the industry reports (edition #1 & #2) provided early benchmarks and a 10-

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16 May 2024

India - Smato Technologies has been appointed 1 Sound distributor for India. Smato Technologies, an AV distribution company with full engineering and technology design services, is based in Kolkata, West Bengal.

“We're thrilled to bring 1 Sound to India. This partnership goes beyond brand expansion; it's about broadening horizons,” says Shreyans Chowdhary, director and CEO of Smato Technologies. “It means offering our dealers and customers an exceptional experience, not just through outstanding professional audio products, but also through superior pre-sales design and post-sales service support.

“With premium materials, customisable options, and cutting-edge technology, 1 Sound offers a compelling package tailored for the Indian market. We're eager to embark on this journey of lasting success together.”

Smato Technologies recently