UK - With the outdoor season fast approaching, and local authorities across the country seeking to reduce noise pollution at key event sites, Kent-based Old Barn Audio has taken the enterprising and pre-emptive step of purchasing a 16-element MLA Compact system from Martin Audio to help meet the anticipated market demand.

Director Phil Clark says that given his company's own history with Martin Audio - coupled with an already existing demand this summer for a technology that is scientifically proven to eliminate off-site noise escape - the move was a logical one.

"We are not a

USA - The Portland Trail Blazers enjoy a passionate following among NBA fans, whether in the stands of their home court at Moda Centre, or listening to live radio streams over the air or online.

Recently, the franchise turned to LineQ, the chief distributor of Barix products in the United States, to improve the fan experience. The solution employs three Barix Instreamer IP audio devices to encode live game feeds into files for streaming over the Internet and to mobile devices. The streams additionally incorporate live closed-captioning for hearing-impaired fans.

Because they own rig

Poland - ARAM, Poland, was responsible for the design and technical production of largest gaming event in the world - the ninth edition of the World Final of the Intel Extreme Masters .

For the second year in a row, this event was held in Katowice, this time spread to two locations - Spodek and the newly built International Convention Centre. Event broke all records of audience and visitors.

The event lasted for a total of four days, and ARAM was responsible for the design and implementation.

"Work began many months before the show," says Michael Mrzyg?ocki. "We wer

USA - The Journey North Community Church near Brainerd, Minnesota has been steadily growing since its first service in 2004. That day, 130 people showed up to a rented room in the city's community centre, a space that would serve as the church's temporary home for many years.

Recently, Journey North acquired an old Lutheran church school building in nearby Baxter, Minnesota and set about the task of converting its reverberant gymnasium into a contemporary worship space.

Twin Cities-based Audio Video Electronics (AVE) assisted, repurposing old classroom acoustic tiles and using other

USA - Before Enrique Iglesias set out to play some of the world's largest venues for his 2014 Sex and Love Tour he consulted Travis Shirley, his longtime creative director and show designer. To make the show's production elements specialized yet easy to replicate in any tour destination, Shirley deployed several classic lighting fixtures from Martin Professional and one new one - the MAC Quantum Profile.

Over the last decade, Shirley and Iglesias have done 12 tours together. The Sex and Love Tour was a first, however, in that Iglesias shared the role of headliner for some of the shows

UK - Rock band Placebo continue their acclaimed Loud Like Love world tour which entered its third year after starting in September 2013, with lighting and visuals designed by Jvan Morandi of Placing Shadows Ltd. who brings his characteristic eye for style and flair to the imaginative equation.

For the first time, west London based rental company Colour Sound Experiment supplied lighting equipment and LED screens - for the latest section of the tour - which has just completed an extensive run through UK academy venues.

Jvan's original design concept has been adapted several times for

The Netherlands - The Hard Dance electronic music event Masters of Hardcore celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2015 under the banner 20 Years of Rebellion. The 28 March event attracted an audience of 25,000 in the Brabanthallen in S'Hertogenbosch.

To celebrate this event in an appropriate way, the organizers decided to go for a massive laser show setup on four of the six stages, which meant that more than 16 high power lasers were set up on the main stage, and 16 more fired on the other floors.

Reliability as well as quality of the equipment is essential at such large scale p

Nigeria - With an audience of over 700,000, The Experience is Africa's largest live concert and possibly the biggest annual, single stage live music event in the world. London-based Subfrantic looks after the complex mixes, with Yamaha CL series digital consoles a vital part of this challenging, all-night production.

Founded and hosted by Pastor Paul Adefarasin since 2005, The Experience is an interdenominational gospel concert which takes place in Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, every December. So popular is it, however, that an adjacent cricket pitch is also needed.

Featuring many of

UK - Lighting designer James Reed has chosen to use an array of the latest addition to the Showline eSERIES, the SL eSTRIP 10, for The Stranglers' March On UK tour.

Reed has been show designer for the band's previous two tours, which were centred on video. For this run, he went for a more light-based show, specifying 14 of the SL eSTRIP 10 units from Bristol-based rental operation Enlightened Lighting.

"The overall concept was to take a very modern approach to the lighting, whilst maintaining the requisite menace and quirks that span the punk, new romantic and even pop genres,&

The Netherlands - Ampco Flashlight Group has acquired Audiopro Netherlands, one of the leading audio suppliers in the Benelux.As of 31st March 2015, Amsterdam-based Audiopro officially became part of the Ampco Flashlight family, re-enforcing its range of audio-visual businesses across its three divisions: Sales, Rental and Technology.

Since inception in 1988, Audiopro has established a name for itself as one of the principal suppliers and installers of d & b audiotechnik and Clearcom systems.

Peter de Fouw of Ampco Flashlight and Rolf Dijkstra of Audiopro head up the merger. Both me

South Africa - With top lighting designers asking for it, MJ Event Gear has upgraded from the grandMA full size to a grandMA2 Lite.

"It was time we got one and Olebogeng Boinamo from our offices has been pestering me!" commented Mike Jones, owner of MJ. "It's a great product."

Ole is a talented lighting designer and technician at MJ and having worked on the grandMA full size for numerous years, he developed the MA mind set. "I am ecstatic and enjoying the console very much," said Ole. "I have not taken it on a show as yet, but I have been playing w

France - L-Acoustics has announced the opening of three new facilities dedicated to production, logistics and carpentry.

With yearly double digit growth over the last decade, the company is expanding its manufacturing capacity in order to respond to market demand. The new facilities will enable L-Acoustics to increase production significantly by the end of 2015.

A new logistics facility has been operational since early 2015. Located in the Paris region, close to the company's headquarters in Marcoussis, the new warehouse increases the company's logistics facilities to 8,200m2, expan

UK - Sound designer Keri Chesser has deployed TiMax Soundhub audio showcontrol on a production of Vernon God Little at The Space Arts Centre in London's East End. A collaborative project between Space Productions and Burn Bright Theatre, the show marks the London fringe debut for Burn Bright who place emphasis on ensemble-led theatre and live storytelling.

Chesser became intrigued with TiMax after the technology was presented at the ASD Winter School in 2014 and has subsequently showcased immersive soundscapes for research and development projects using TiMax.

In Vernon Go

UK - XL Video supported Teenage Cancer Trust's annual run of live shows at London's Royal Albert Hall for the third consecutive year. For this 15th anniversary, XL Video supplied LED screens, live cameras and HD recordings for the seven shows in late March 2015.

The week-long run included a comedy night hosted by Kevin Bridges, plus live music shows headlined by Stereophonics, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Paul Weller, The Who, Van Morrison, and Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls.

All the shows featured a central flown screen, 36.6sq.m in total, formed from XL Video's Barco N

USA - Seattle's Parlor Live comedy club is bringing national headliners like Kevin Hart, Rob Schneider and Loni Love to the city. At the same time, it's also cultivating up-and-coming regional comics by giving them the chance to perform on a spacious stage illuminated by a collection of Ovation and COLORado fixtures from Chauvet Professional.

In keeping with the creative streak that characterizes Seattle (this is the city that gave us grunge, Windows and Amazon), Parlor Live is no ordinary comedy club. Aside from its 200-seat comedy club, this two-story venue also houses a sports bar,

South Africa - The Ghoema Awards, described as South Africa's own Afrikaans Grammy Awards, took place at the magical State Theatre, Pretoria on 24 March 2015. The spectacular event, the initiative of Barry Pretorius, was filled to capacity and lit by Mauritz Jacobs of Dream Sets with the full technical supply awarded to EPH Productions.

This was the second year Mauritz was commissioned to design and operate the show and he worked on the State Theatre's grandMA2 Light, having some 80 Robe fixtures and a further 30 Clay Paky Sharpys, at his disposal.

"Being in the theatre took me

Germany - LSC Lighting Systems has announced a strategic partnership with German based company EL4EN (Elements for Entertainment), for the training and support of its Clarity based products across Europe.

EL4EN is a recently formed company of industry veterans with vast experience of lighting control and operation. EL4EN will take on the responsibility of supporting the LSC Clarity range of products including the LX range of consoles, VX wings as well as the software product from a technical perspective as well as offering training courses for all levels.

Pete Floyd, international s

UK - Kings Place is a buzzing hub for music, art, dialogue, social and cultural interaction, events and food and drink in the heart of central London's vibrant Kings Cross area. The multi-purpose venue is ensconced in the contemporary elegance of a large mixed space building designed by architects Dixon Jones backing onto the Regent Canal.

Recently, Robe's DL Series LED fixtures have been installed in its two auditoriums as part of a lighting refit and upgrade.

As well as a leading creative live art and performance forum presenting around 600 arts events a year, Kings Place is a wor

USA - Boston USA based lighting designer Jeff Maker relished the chance to use 135 Robe moving lights including 18 x BMFL Spots for a super high profile and very special one off / DVD shoot show at Wembley Arenafor lively US punk rock band, All Time Low.

The gig - their biggest ever to date in the UK - sold out in just a few days and was preceded by a short seven-date jaunt around Europe. It also came just a month after All Time Low finished a double headline UK arena tour with You Me At Six, so, with the proximity of this still in fans' minds, Jeff designed a completely new overhead

On The Campaign Trail - Labour has confirmed its commitment to the arts in the party's manifesto ahead of the general election, declaring they should "belong to all and be open to all to take part in". Earlier this year Labour leader Ed Miliband vowed to place arts and culture "at the heart of the government" if the party came to power in May. In its newly published election manifesto, the party promises to work with public bodies to tackle the regional imbalance of arts funding. Labour also pledges to strengthen creative education in schools and after school clubs,

Belgium - Chauvet has opened a full-service subsidiary in Ghent, Belgium. The facility, which follows in the steps of a Chauvet branch in the United Kingdom, acts as the Chauvet distributor in the Benelux area serving dealers of Chauvet Professional and Chauvet DJ brands in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, while supporting Chauvet distributors and strategic partners elsewhere in Europe.

"Given the success of our operations in the UK, it made sense to expand to an inland facility so we can better serve customers not only in the Benelux area but also throughout the continen

UK - As Capital Sound Hire enters the build-up phase to their busy summer season ahead they discuss plans for continued investment in their professional sound equipment hire stock.

Following the purchase of their Martin Audio MLA loudspeaker system in 2012-14, comprising MLA, MLA Compact and MLA Mini, the London-based professional live sound equipment hire company have recently undertaken a new investment programme to focus on their infrastructure, maintaining and upgrading all elements of their professional sound equipment hire stock to ensure that it meets clients' needs in terms of

USA - Audinate and NewTek have announced an expansion of the partnership to enable Dante support in the TriCaster product line. As part of the new TriCaster Advanced Edition, customers will have the ability to install Dante Virtual Soundcard to enable seamless audio connectivity to other Dante-enabled products.

TriCaster has changed the way producers cover and distribute live events. TriCaster set a new industry standard as an innovative, easy-to-use appliance for portable live production and streaming, it has become the choice for video producers worldwide. TriCaster customers will n

UK - Clocking up a landmark quarter of a century of business in the industry, lighting, rigging and visuals rental company Fineline celebrates its 25th year in 2015, with a schedule that is already action packed with a wide range of work from music tours and festivals to corporate events.

The Bristol based operation was founded by Darren Wring in 1990 as a lighting rental and touring company and expanded in 2004 to include a manufacturing facility for bespoke staging and scenic elements.

Current MD Rob Sangwell joined in 2002 and managed the production lighting and rigging aspects o

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