Qatar - Milad Masaad, one of the best known TV and live event lighting designers in the Middle East, recently used over 300 Robe fixtures to light the 2014 Adha Festival staged at the Souq Waqef in Doha.

The six day event is organised by Attraction Events for Al-Rayyan Radio 102 FM to coincide with the Adha Islamic Feast, and all lighting and other technical production was supplied by Doha Based Target For Events. Live performances included a diverse selection of singers from many Arab and Gulf countries including Mohamed Abdo, Rabh Sakr, Abady Gohar, Diana Hadad and more.

A special

USA - With the emphasis on networked technologies at this year's 137th AES Convention in Los Angeles, the OCA Alliance made considerable progress in promoting the benefits of its proposed Open Control Architecture (OCA) - both in committee and on the floor of the exhibition. OCA is a standards-based control and monitoring architecture for networked audio devices employing any media transport protocol.

OCA defines communications protocols for reliable and secure control and monitoring of AV device networks of 2 to 10,000 nodes. AES project 'AESX210' is currently working to render OCA i

UK - London Speaker Hire, (LSH), is expanding its business by opening "a new home from home for anyone in the entertainment industry". The venue spans 12,000 sq.ft offering something for bands, musicians and production companies alike.

Based next to the Olympic Park in East London, LSH Spaces boasts a 2,850 sq.ft showcase and preproduction hall, three themed rehearsal rooms, vast storage space for bands on tour, access to the latest AV equipment, and a fully stocked pro-shop.

Grant Turner, founding partner at LSH said, "We've built up a successful premier AV rental bu

Canada - Robert Sondergaard's Reverse Collaboration project is a reversal of the typical production and creative processes - developing the lighting and environment design first and then adding in choreography as the final piece. The Reverse Collaboration concept is the culmination of MovEnt's annual project called Today in the Theatre that brought choreographers and lighting designers together to explore lighting without the pressure of crafting a show.

However, as Sondergaard, owner of production design house Electric Aura, sought new ways to improve the collaboration process

USA - On 25 September, the multi-platinum artists Train pulled into the historic Radio City Music Hall in NYC for an album release show in support the band's seventh studio album Bulletproof Picasso. As the production team prepared the design of the show, lighting designer Brock Hogan decided that since the band was releasing their newest album, he wanted to use one of the lighting industry's newest automated luminaires. So working with longtime tour provider LMG Touring, Hogan specified 10 VL4000 Spot luminaires from Philips Vari-Lite.

"The show at Radio City Music Hall w

Norway - Scandec Systemer AS has been appointed exclusive distributor for DiGiCo products in Norway, stating its desire to only work with leading manufacturers as one of the main reasons for the company's decision to include the DiGiCo brand in its product portfolio.

Established in 1984 by Knut Børke and Hakon Rønning, Scandec's continued success is due to its high adaptability and fast response times for projects small and large, for both the public and private sectors. These include a wide variety of entertainment venues, recording and broadcast studios, schools, sport

UK - Award-winning audio technology company, Flare Audio, launched what they believe to be the world's first 'fully' open back headphones at PLASA 2014. The Reference R1, aimed at the pro audio and audiophile market, uses Flare's unique new approach to produce distortion free sound, even at full volume, enabling true transfer and transmission of source material. The Reference R1's are now available for pre-order.

Flare also showcased the new Flare X0A, a compact vertical point source array, together with the rest of the Flare Audio range of products, including flown X2A and X5A system

UK - The annual Barclaycard Mercury Prize shortlists 12 of the best albums from the UK and Ireland released during the year. Held at the Roundhouse in London, this year's ceremony saw shortlisted artists such as Bombay Bicycle Club and Jungle perform throughout the evening hosted by Nick Grimshaw. The event culminated with the announcement that Young Fathers had won the 2014 Barclaycard Mercury Prize for Album of the Year.

For the fifteenth year the Mercury Prize's technical director Rob Lipfriend engaged Creative Technology (CT) to provide the video display services used during the e

USA - Bandit Lites has purchased even more gear to take on the road as Robin 1200 LED Washes are hitting the road with country superstar Garth Brooks. Lighting designer Dave Butzler utilized the fixtures to create eye candy effects, colour patterns and wash coverage.

"Garth wanted to use less power, so that was major factor there," said Butzler, while adding that the 1200's intensity was a huge draw. "With such a high trim, I don't have a strong paintable pallet, but we are still getting good effects out of it with the tight and wide beam. We are up against video, so I

USA - More than a few critics have compared the Broadway hit Kinky Boots to another Tony Award-winning production, Hairspray. The two musicals do indeed share much in common beyond their exhilarating music and spangly costumes - including the fact that both were enlivened by lighting designs created by Kenneth Posner.

This summer, the renowned LD's lighting design hit the road, as Kinky Boots began its first national tour. Included in Posner's road rig were 18 COLORado 2-Quad Zoom Tour fixtures from Chauvet Professional. The LED par-style fixtures were supplied by

South Africa - Once again MJ Event Gear were the technical suppliers for the Transnet annual breakfast, hosted at the Hilton in Sandton, for their client Overend Outsource.

"It's a formula that works," said Theo Rood from MJ, who along with his team, has successfully pulled off this particular event for the past four years.

From the moment guests stepped into the foyer area they were met with soft ambient lighting thanks to 24 x Longman LED parcans and four Robe Digispot 5000 DTs (for gobo work) positioned on Prolyte H40V truss totems. This area was controlled by an Avolit

UK - With its neo-Classical architecture, 6000 pipe concert organ and performances by hundreds of high profile artists since its 1913 completion, Leicester's De Montfort Hall has always been one of the Midlands most iconic concert venues. But, as well as preserving its history, the owning city council has always kept the venue's facilities as up-to-date as possible. This has included the recent installation of a Yamaha CL5 digital mixing system.

The centrepiece of De Montfort Hall is its flexible 400-2200 capacity auditorium, which can be laid out in several different ways. For a numb

Czech Republic - The O2 Arena in Prague is the latest large-format multipurpose venue to embrace Nexo's Geo S12-ST sound reinforcement systems, high-output long-throw loudspeakers developed specially for stadium and arena use.

Built for the 2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships, the O2 Arena is home to the HC Slavia Praha and HC Lev Praha ice hockey teams and also hosts a range of other sporting and corporate events and concerts.

The venue needed to replace its existing PA system installed 10 years ago, a point source system that was, by the venue's own admission, under-specifie

South Africa - Leading SA technical production company MJ Event Gear from Johannesburg supplied full technical infrastructure including over 75 x Robe moving lights to the prestigious 2014 South African Guide Dogs Association (GDA)'s Red Capet Affair charity fundraising gala dinner.

Lighting designer Ole Boinamo chose 48 x Robe LEDWash 600s, 12 x LEDBeam 100s and 16 x Robe 300E Spots for the moving light elements.

The high profile event was staged at the Ballroom in Montecasino, Johannesburg, and produced by socialite Edith Venter's company Edith Unlimited. An evening of ente

USA - Cadac exhibited at the recent WFX - Worship Facilities Conference and Expo in Dallas, Texas. Additionally, the company supplied its latest CDC eight-32 digital mixing console for use by AE Global Media on sound production for the keynote presentations, 2014 Worship Facilities Awards and WFX Block Party, led by worship leader and Christian recording artist Ricardo Sanchez.

The CDC eight was specified on-site by AE Global Media executive production manager Trey Blair, while technical director and mix engineer for the event was David Bonilla: "My experience with the console wa

Mexico - Ricky Martin has sold over 85m albums and has had 95 platinum records, six number one Billboard albums, six number one hit songs and received too many awards to keep track of. He has performed in more than 60 countries across the globe and is possibly the most successful Latin pop star of all time.

Currently out on his One World Tour, Martin has had sold out shows in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey with another 18 shows recently added to his schedule. Audio Systems del Norte, headquartered in Monterrey, has provided a complete Adamson Systems PA for the Mexican

UK - West London-based lighting and visuals rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment is actively engaged in a work experience initiative in conjunction with Elstree University Technical College (UTC), offering a selection of students a practical and grounded introduction to the world of lighting festivals, concert tours and live events.

The scheme is being developed by EUTC lecturer Stuart 'Woody' Wood - himself a production industry professional before taking up teaching full time - and a number of professional technology partners including Colour Sound.

Embracing the Science of A

Australia - The Brolga Theatre in Queensland is the cultural entertainment heart of the Fraser Coast, with a first-class theatre and conference venue that attracts the finest international and national performers. The Brolga Theatre has recently implemented a complete turn-key audio system based on Meyer Sound's award-winning Ultra products.

Coordinated by Robert Haigh, operations technician at Brolga Theatre, with design assistance by Meyer Sound Australia, the system includes the UPQ-1P wide coverage and UPQ-2P narrow coverage point source loudspeakers complimented by UPA-1P's as in

Switzerland - Laserworld has announced the release of the new RTI PIKO RGB 11 Pure Diode as laser light system for high professional applications.

The PIKO RGB 11 PD has a guaranteed output power of 10W RGB after aperture and is equipped with diode laser sources only. This ensures a great, linear colour fading behaviour and makes the unit suitable for professional projections as well as for smooth beam shows. The compact PIKO-housing makes the PIKO RGB 11 PD suitable for touring applications, rentals as well as for fixed installations.

Due to the beam specifications of ca. 4mm/<1.0m

UK - As Skate at Somerset House prepares to open on 11 November, The Technical Department is set to supply temporary power solutions for the twelfth consecutive season.

Utilising their bespoke electrical distribution system, The Technical Department runs cable from the basement of the 18th century buildings to distribute and supply power to the courtyard where the open-air ice rink is set in the midst of the stunning architecture.

"Having worked with The Technical Department over 10 years, their kit and knowledge is second to none," says Jon Howes, production manage

USA - They say everything is bigger in Texas, and the 75,000 people who poured into Zilker Park's 46-acres for the Austin City Limits Music Festival were about to experience live music in a big way. Bandit Lites worked with the design team 3SRCreative to provide lighting for the massive event where more than 130 musical acts performed.

For the second time in its history, the festival took place over two weekends and included performances by Foster the People, St. Vincent, Beck, Iggy Azalea, Calvin Harris, Lorde, Skillrex, Eminem, Pearl Jam, and Outkast.

Those in attendance were also

USA - Wireless intercom systems play a vital supporting role in day-to-day communications within many production and broadcast operations facilities around the world. Traditionally most wireless intercoms are low-power, full-duplex, belt-pack type systems utilized within studios and theatres. When extended range operations are needed at outside broadcast venues such as motor sport circuits and golf courses for example, few commercially available "high-power wireless intercom" options exist posing significant challenges to sports and news broadcasters.

For more than 25 years

Germany - Experienced production designer Cosmo Wilson fondly remembers the first time he used GLP impression fixtures: it was on AC/DC's 2008-2009 Black Ice Tour, where he lit the memorable giant train set-piece, an iconic element of the show. "I found that the saturation was stellar," he recalls. Prior to that he had been strictly a traditional 'PAR Can LD' - critical of the look of the early LED sources and throw distances.

Six years on, and with Foreigner and Styx embarking on a joint headline tour, LED technology has evolved a long way. For Foreigner's UK dates earlier

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