Poland - Allen & Heath GLD-80 and Qu-16 mixers have been installed in the Kraków Arena. The new Arena is the biggest in Poland, with a capacity of 20,000 and is one of the most modern entertainment halls and sports venues in the world. The building grabs attention with a gigantic 500m wide LED screen on its exterior and hosts a wide variety of sports events, exhibitions, conferences and trade fairs.

The contract to design and supply the audio system for the Kraków Arena was awarded to Konsbud Audio. Konsbud chose three Allen & Heath digital mixers to meet the client's needs. The mai

UK - The Jands Vista lighting and media control console proved its flexibility and power when it provided control for this year's Ultimate Fireworks Spectacular event at popular UK theme park, Alton Towers Resort.

Alton Towers Resort specified the Jands Vista system to provide lighting and media control for the event, for the fourth consecutive year.

Simon Horsley, Alton Towers Resort's technical manager, based his lighting design for the show around this year's storyline, which took guests through a battle between dreams and nightmares, featuring the thrills and fear of the

USA - Eric Wade, of FOHShow LLC, is the first US lighting designer to put Ayrton's Radicalnew MagicPanel-R out on a major tour - that of American R&B/hip-hop artist Usher as he embarks on a 50-date tour across America and Europe to promote his eighth album, UR.

Wade's rig includes 64 active MagicPanel-R units in the air, plus 25 Ayrton MagicBlade -R fixtures under a transparent forestage. Both fixtures are members of Ayrton's new Radfical line of LED beam projectors, which was introduced at ProLight + Sound in Frankfurt earlier this year.

The common component of the entire Ra

Spain - The flamenco dance company De sangre y raza has drawn praise from visitors and lighting professionals alike with its self titled production at the Infanta Isabel Theatre in Madrid - thanks in no small part to the use of ETC Source Four LED Series 2 in the wings, which were used to highlight the dancers.

Lit by Carlos Fajardo, the production was a joint effort by dancers, choreographers and designers, with the aim to create accessible dance - as they say, "art for everybody" - for the full colour production of the famously emotional and passionate dance style.

Fajar

UK - Two of Redbridge Drama Centre's much-loved venues, the Lovegrove Theatre and Telford Studios, have recently received a delivery of over 50 new Philips Selecon PL range luminaires as a means to reduce the Drama Centre's energy consumption.

The shift to LED came as a result of a £192,000 grant given to RDC by Arts Council England to improve the building and to implement energy saving measures, in part by replacing the traditional stage lighting with LED luminaires. The Drama Centre's technical drama officers Chris Bocking and Ben Ward along with Mick Cocker of Lighting Logic,

Belarus - Prime Hall is a new 2,000-seat, multi tiered concert hall located inside Zamok, the biggest shopping mall in Minsk.

In the three months since it opened in the Belarus capital it has quickly become the city's leading concert venue - thanks in part to its 120kW of dynamic lighting, and the large number of premium discharge and LED fixtures taken from the PR Lighting catalogue.

In total over 130 pieces have been installed, largely drawn from the manufacturer's popular XS1200 portfolio. The complete inventory comprises 34 XS 1200 Spot, 13 XS 1200 Wash, 20 XS 1200 Beam and six

UK - The London Eye has never looked better! The company behind one of the capital's top tourist attractions recently called upon the expertise of Unusual Rigging to help with a thorough clean of the London Eye's 90 steel cables in order to prevent failure and increase the expected lifespan of the cables.

Under cover of darkness, Unusual's Robin Elias and a team of riggers, headed by crew chief Phil Dickinson, worked every night over a period of 10 weeks, whilst ensuring the London Eye kept turning and attracting hordes of visitors during the day.

Mark Robinson, technical operations

Back on Song - The Liverpool Philharmonic Hall has reopened to visitors and live music performances after completion of part of a £14m refurbishment. Originally designed by Liverpool architect Herbert Rowse, the Grade II-listed building first welcomed audiences in 1939 but was closed in May for a revamp of the main concert hall and auditorium. Changes to the concert hall are the first part of the overhaul of the interior, due for completion next summer.

Wembley Bound - Ed Sheeran has announced plans for his biggest solo concert to date at Wembley Stadium on 10 July 2015.

UK - Pulsar moved into its present Cambridgeshire premises in the latter part of 2002. It was also at this point they installed LED lighting on the front of the building, confident in its reliability, longevity, and durability. Twelve ChromaPanels were installed on the South-facing front of the factory building in May 2003 and have been running 24/7 ever since, with an additional 21m of ChromaStrip 2 installed the following year.

Fast forward to today and the original ChromaPanels printed with the Pulsar name have clocked an impressive 11 years 5 months of continuous activity - actual

Puerto Rico - "We chose the Audient ASP4816 because of the audio quality, versatility and size. It really sounds great," says El Liceo de Arte y Tecnologia's head engineer and instructor of music and post programmes, Hilton Colon who was instrumental in setting up the new Studio C at the school.

"The console is easy to use and it is especially good to teach the students signal flow," explains Colon when asked about the Audient desk's advantages. "The mic pre sounds great and so does the EQ. We also appreciate that it has a small footprint."

Specifically

UK - Ofcom has revealed plans to make radio spectrum in the 700MHz band available for mobile data use, as operators of mobile services predict a major increase in mobile data use in the coming years. Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) services and the PMSE (Programme Making & Special Events) sector, which currently use parts of the 700MHz band, will be moved to other frequencies. The changes are expected to be implemented by 2022, but could be could be in place up to two years earlier.

The implication for PMSE users is that equipment which operates exclusively in the 700MHz band wil

UK - UK-based event safety consultancy Stagesafe reports the Health and Safety Executive's announcement that CDM Regulations will be enforced on the events and entertainment industry from April 2015.

The news was confirmed at last week's meeting of the Joint Advisory Committee on Entertainment (JACE) at the HSE in Westminster. The following report was produced by Michael Anderson and Lee Holloway, members of SAGE (Safety Advisors Group in Entertainment):

"This was an unexpected turn of events as it had appeared earlier this year that a "BEA" (Business Engagement Asses

USA - Over 1,000 students gathered 9-11 October at the Willamette Christian Centre in Eugene, Oregon, for the Oregon Ministry Network Youth Convention. Apropos for a youth event, lighting direction and design was handled by one of the youngest lighting designers around, 16-year-old Caleb Franke of Illuminate Production Services. Caleb, who already has a number of lighting designs under his belt, had a large variety of Elation lighting gear at his disposal from discharge-based Platinum Series moving heads to LED-based moving heads, strip lights, Pars, blinders and video panels.

This wa

USA - With its new Meyer Sound system featuring IntelligentDC technology, Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota is fully equipped to provide exceptional audio coverage for every function in its 1,500-capacity Lund Arena. These events range from hockey games to national programmes such as the Nobel Conference, the first ongoing educational conference in the United States to have the official authorization of the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden.

"With the Meyer Sound system, we have controlled and uniform sound everywhere, with ample full-bandwidth power and exceptional spee

UK - GMG Network has announced the launch of its new website. An updated design and more detailed information offer visitors to www.GMGNetwork.co.uk a better user experience.

The website demonstrates a sleeker design and greater information on GMG's services and the team's background and experience.

The update is all part of GMG's belief that the company will continue to grow and develop, always listening to their clients and investing in constant improvement.

"It is important to us that when clients visit our website they get an understanding not only of the services GMG can

USA - Aboard luxury MSC Cruises ships, production company On The Blue specialises in curating rock-themed cruises through the Caribbean where stars of the '60s, '70s and '80s regale their fans night and day with their repertoires.

Excursions like this obviously require sound systems that are powerful yet lightweight and easy to rig, which prompted Cincinnati-based sound reinforcement provider Loud and Clear to fit the MSC Divina from bow to stern with K2 and other sound system elements from L-Acoustics.

In all, Loud and Clear brought five full semi loads of L-Acoustics and other equ

South Africa - The two leading organisations representing the audio visual industry in Southern Africa, SACIA (Southern African Communications Industry Association) and the TPSA (Technical Production Services Association) have merged so that they can present a stronger front to clients and associates, and a louder voice to government.

"We've merged in order to represent our industry more effectively in engagements with government and regulatory bodies - and in order to better serve our members," says SACIA CEO, Kevan Jones.

While SACIA members are responsible for fixed aud

USA - The Sheraton Waikiki in Honolulu launched its Helumoa Playground Superpool series this autumn, comprising two distinct 3D pool mapping light show stories presented twice every evening to entertain hotel guests and the general public. Billed as the world's first permanent installation of its kind, the 3D pool mapping shows are projected across a 7,503sq.ft pool canvas, demonstrating lively displays of volcanic eruptions in Helumoa - the birth of Hawaii and the rise of historical Hawaiian resorts and water sports in Helumoa - the legendary story of Waikiki.

The Shera

Russia - Roland digital consoles, Roland recorders and Roland digital snakes provided the portable production and TV studio solution for the MTV EMA Pre-Party in Moscow recently. The setup comprising the Roland M-400 Digital Console, Roland M-480 Digital Console, two Roland R-1000 standalone recorders and the Roland S-2416, S-1608 and S-0816 Digital Snakes, was used for the live production, mixing and recording of the sound for the entire event which was televised for MTV Russia.

The MTV Euro Music Awards took place at the GlavClub in Moscow. The chief sound engineer for the portable

UK - Australian dance-theatre piece Intimacy by Michelle Ryan and Torque Show recently traversed the globe to take up residence at the Southbank Centre in London. Part of the Unlimited disability arts festival, the piece was lit with eight Philips Selecon LED PLprofile1 luminaires, chosen for their crucial colourising flexibility by lighting designer John Ford.

Ford, of lighting design consultancy Relume, specified the Selecon luminaires when it came to lighting the piece during its previous run at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne.

"I chose the PLprofile1 lumina

Europe - The new Philips ArenaVision LED is a lighting fixture dedicated for sports and multifunctional lighting applications. The unit brings a maximum design flexibility and high level of light quality, with no flicker effect in television application. Philips and Luminex worked together to bring an exclusive way to control and monitor these fixtures, offering maximum flexibility in switching between different types of events.

The partnership between the two companies started at RDM plug fest two years ago, and resulted in an agreement between both companies to share ideas and know-

Australia - Australian national public broadcaster ABC has taken delivery of two Lawo mc2 consoles - one large Lawo mc²90 and one compact mc²56 - for its ABC TV studios in Elsternwick, Melbourne. Supply, configuration, installation and commissioning were carried out by Lawo's Australian partner for audio and video broadcast equipment, Professional Audio & Television (PAT).

The system, which was commissioned recently, consists of one Lawo mc2-90 console with 105 faders and a Lawo 48 fader mc2-56 console system. Lawo's mc2-90 flagship console core was supplied with 27 MADI ports, 96 A

USA - Jands' flagship Vista L5 console is controlling a large rig on popular American country music duo Thompson Square's Just Feels Good tour, which features over 80 moving lights and a large configuration of HD video screens.

Thompson Square consists of husband and wife, Keifer and Shawna Thompson. The group have received three fan-voted American Country Awards, a CMT Music Award, and were crowned the 2012 Academy of Country Music's Vocal Duo of the Year - the first new duo to win the award in 20 years. They are now one of America's biggest country acts, selling more than 2m

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