Switzerland - Martin Audio's premier PA systems were all across the main stages at Europe's biggest hip-hop festival recently. Crowds of up to 130,000 attending OpenAir Frauenfeld in Switzerland were treated to music from leading exponents of the dance genre pumping through their high profile rigs across the three main stages.

These were equipped exclusively with Martin Audio components by Stagelight AG Showtechnik Switzerland, a long time user of Martin Audio systems, as part of a complete technical infrastructure that included lighting, video, audio and power. All Martin Audio compo

Germany - A special televised concert of La Bohème - a new production in the NDR Classic Open Air series - took place recently in Hannover's Maschpark.

Puccini's famous opera was not only heard live by an audience of 20,000 through Martin Audio's award-winning MLA loudspeaker array system, but by television viewers tuning into NDR throughout the country and those picking up the live stream on NDR.de.

The 2,000 ticketed concert goers in front of the stage were joined by crowds who gathered in the park, where they had an opportunity to witness the event (including rehearsal) f

Italy- Based outside Turku, Finnish loudspeaker manufacturer Aura Audio Oy is using the magic of Powersoft's M-Force's electromagnetic conversion principle to power its XD30 subwoofer. This was pressed into action at the recent Colors dance festival at Kaapelitehdas, the former cable factory in Helsinki.

Aura Audio's managing director, Mika Isotalo, explains that they worked closely with rental company AMJ Turku Audio Oy, who equipped both the main and second stages with Aura's premier sound reinforcement systems.

M-Force first captured their imagination at its launch during Proligh

Kazakhstan - Astana city celebrated its 21st anniversary as Kazakhstan's capital on 6 July with an abundance of festivities. Announced as the new capital by the Kazakh President in 1994 and later receiving the title City of Peace from UNESCO in 1999, Astana has become an architectural gem and a symbol of the achievements of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the years of its independence.

Astana Day is a beautiful celebration attracting thousands of visitors as a culmination of week-long festivities. This day recognizes Astana's growth from a provincial city to a 21st century regional hub

UK - Presteigne Broadcast Hire has now added a Calrec Artemis Shine audio desk to its roster. The Artemis digital console is widely used in outside broadcast applications because of its high functionality in a compact frame. Production companies now have the ability to rent this familiar and popular audio console.

Presteigne has selected a 40 fader Artemis console, with a frame which supports 680 channels in just 8U of rack space. The mixer provides 128 main and group buses, 32 auxiliary buses and 64 track buses, making it suitable for large event live mixing and simultaneous multitra

UK - The Mayor's Newham Show is a free two-day event which aims to provide fun and entertainment for those living in the borough of Newham, East London. Organised by Newham Council, a record crowd of 50,000 attended this year's event which had the theme 50 Years of Newham, marking five decades since the show's formation in 1965. The event saw East Ham's Central Park buzzing with a wide range of events for all ages including live music, a pop-up beach and sports taster sessions. White Light was once again called upon to provide its lighting and rigging services, having worked on the even

UK - LED design and manufacture house Light Initiative (LI) lit up this year's Glastonbury Festival with bespoke creations on Years and Years, Enter Shikari and the Arcadia Spectacular stage.

For Arcadia's audio-visual feast Metamorphosis, LI worked alongside costume designer Joanna Peacock to create six custom performance wearables, integrated with LED, and six zorbs.

The costumes transformed Arcadia's dancers into fantastic alien/jellyfish hybrids, or 'Jellyfish Light Queens', who appeared from the zorbs as if hatching from an alien egg.

"The moment we saw Jo Peacock

UK - Created by Joe Rush's Mutoid Waste Company, the structure Peace Time Flies at Glastonbury was a giant metallic winged clock that spanned the entire breadth of the Pyramid stage and captured the free, uninhibited and hopeful spirit that defines Glastonbury.

A sweeping sculpture supporting a soaring and noble ambition required bold lighting. This is exactly what was provided by the Iluminarc Colorist Panel 36Qa, which is packed with 36 15-watt RGBA LEDs that radiate bright and vibrant colour washes, and the Chauvet Professional COLORado 1-Quad IP par-style RGBW fixture. A total of

USA - The legendary Suwannee River is enshrined in folklore and history - the wild backwater river rises in the Okefenokee Swamp emerging at Fargo, Georgia, passes through southern Georgia and northern Florida for 246 miles before flowing out into the Gulf of Mexico near the town of Suwannee.

The Suwanee River Jam is a popular and well known annual three-day country music festival staged in Live Oak, Florida and attended by around 9000 music enthusiasts. Robe Lighting Inc.'s Thommy Hall - regional sales manager for the southeastern U.S. and also an LD and programmer in his own right -

Mexico - Daktronics in conjunction with Mexican partner Pantallas Publitronics, was called on to provide two new LED video displays for Estadio BBVA Bancomer, home of C.F. Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico. The displays were installed this summer and are ready for C.F. Monterrey, commonly known as Los Rayados, to take to the pitch for their first match on 2 August, the eighth edition of S.L Benfica's Eusébio Cup.

"We are excited to work with Daktronics to bring a better overall experience to our fans and sponsors for interaction, information and statistics at every event held

UK - Yamaha's TF digital mixing console range has already gained many admirers for its combination of fast, intuitive control surface, comprehensive facilities and high quality sound, all delivered at an exceptional price point. Proof that the highest profile organisations recognise its many advantages has recently been seen in English National Opera's investment in a TF1.

The TF range is designed to ensure that high quality mixes can be quickly produced by any engineer, whatever their level of experience. But this doesn't mean it's destined only to be a fixture of education and local

Spain - The Project, started by the renowned chefs Ferrán and Albert Adriá, with Guy Laliberté, creator of Cirque du Soleil, opened its doors on 30 June, offering a trip around the arts, amazing performances and gastronomy under the powerful light provided by multiple devices from Clay Paky, distributed by Stonex.

After some months of preparation, Heart Ibiza was inaugurated to the delight of the attendees with its modern art and creative cuisine. This new concept, containing the essence of Ibiza, counted on Clay Paky devices to illuminate the space. Mythos, A.leda B-EYE K10

Europe - Mumford & Sons are on the road in support of their Wilder Mind third studio album, currently in Europe playing a mix of own-show headliners and festivals in picturesque locations.

LD Ed Warren specified 32 x Robe BMFL Spots and 10 x CycFX 8s which are being supplied by Neg Earth in the UK and Europe and Solotech Canada for the North American sections of the tour.

As the full rig can only be realised in a few locations in Europe, several variations of the design have been developed to deliver as much show continuity as possible, even when able to install only the mini

USA - The versatility of the Clay Paky lighting family was demonstrated when lighting designer Stefan DeWilde, of DeWilde Design Group LLC in Burbank, selected an array of Clay Paky fixtures for two projects that couldn't have been more different: the glittering 40th birthday party for Michelle Damon, wife of two-time World Series champ Johnny Damon and a philanthropist and businesswoman in her own right, and the exterior effects lighting for a popular theme park attraction.

DeWilde used Clay Paky Alpha Spots, Sharpys and Sharpy Washes from PRG to give a high-end Las Vegas nightclub l

Russia - Big Screen Show are a Russian group of companies providing AV services for concerts, exhibitions, presentations, sports and other large-scale events and shows. They aim to provide highly qualified specialists and the right equipment to meet the most demanding and discerning customers.

BSS is a Rental and Production company and a long-time supporter of Hippotizer Media Servers. The company has a large selection of Hippotizer V3 Media Servers and have used them on an array of projects and events.

Last month, Big Screen Show purchased four Boreal V4 systems. Big Screen Show ow

USA - Chroma-Q Color Force premium performance LED battens have been added to the inventory of Atlanta-based Full Circle Lighting & Productions, to meet high demand from the company's many lighting designer, rental and other corporate clients.

Full Circle is a leading provider of theatrical lighting equipment, production support and design services to companies throughout the United States.

Full Circle's president, Noah Hammer worked closely with Chroma-Q's North American distributor, A.C. Lighting Inc. on the investment, which included 48" and 72" long battens from the ve

South Africa - Nelspruit-based rental company, AVS Hire, are thankful for a newly purchased Ra'alloy Ramp, which has made loading so much less painful. The lightweight Ra'alloy aluminum touring ramp that requires no maintenance was purchased from DWR Distribution.

"To be honest I can't work without it," said Kyle Nel, owner of AVS Hire. "The flight cases are getting bigger and heavier, I guess that's just the aim of the game."

AVS Hire chose the foldable ramp for ease of storage and manageability. This is particularly useful when a crew member is alone at the off

Spain - Last 4 July, Barclaycard Centre witnessed the last concert of the Leiva's tour: Polvora On Tour before the very eyes of his fans.

Light and art merged together at the scene. Provided by the lighting designer Diego García, Madrid enjoyed the music of the Spanish artist. A mixture of light and colour turned into an incredible performance on the Spanish night.

Once again, Clay Paky took care of the lights. Supplied by Spanish rental company Algo Suena, the impressive Mythos shone at the Barclaycard Centre, where its power and versatility were demonstrated.

(Jim Evans)

USA - Aspiring magicians are invited onstage to show their tricks and fool the magician-comedian duo Penn & Teller in a new series on the CW Network, Penn & Teller: Fool Us. Video equipment rental company Pete's Big TVs played a part in the magic, providing LED video panels, projectors and crew.

The 13-episode season, taped in the Penn & Teller Theatre at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, airs Monday nights at 8/7 Central Time. Throughout the season, Penn & Teller search for the best up and coming magicians in this competition. If Penn & Teller can't explain how the trick wa

USA - Bandit Lites continued its summer of festivals with The Forecastle Music Festival, an event produced by Hadden Hipsley of Lambda Productions that drew 60,000 music and arts fans to Louisville's stunning waterfront 17-19 July. Musical artists included Sam Smith, My Morning Jacket, Widespread Panic, Modest Mouse, Cage the Elephant and The War on Drugs.

Utilizing the gear around the needs of the headliners, Bandit Lites' Dizzy Gosnell created a design that would provide striking looks both during the day and in the evening. "Sam and Widespread bought a couple of things with th

UK - London based creative projection specialist, The Projection Studio, led by Ross Ashton and collaborating with Edinburgh based War Productions, has won a competitive bid to create a spectacular mapped video projection to be projected onto the facade of Blackpool's famous tower ... as part of the city's 2015 Illuminations

Projection Studio will be producing all the creative content for the LightPool project, while Alistair Young and War Productions will design the projection system and hardware set up. The two companies have previously worked together on Ross and artist Maria Ruud'

UK - After months of planning, the first phase of work to secure the future of Lighthouse, Poole as a world class arts organisation and venue is underway.

Poole-based construction specialist Stepnell is undertaking a £116,000 programme of works this summer at Lighthouse, the UK's largest regional arts centre, as the first phase of a £5.3m project to improve, update and make the venue more energy efficient.

The initial works, due for completion in September, will see improved sound insulation for the Cinema with the creation of a new lobby between the Cinema and Studio th

UK - In the run up to this year's International Festival and Festival Fringe, currently the city of Edinburgh is a hive of activity. With hundreds of venues housing literally thousands of performances, the Fringe is traditionally seen as an important step on the career ladder of any aspiring production technician. Yamaha Commercial Audio delivered three days of training for one of the Fringe's best-known venue operators.

Walking around Edinburgh in July, there is a palpable feeling of expectation in the air as found spaces are transformed into venues, banners are unfurled and the hord

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