World - Martin Professional gear, including the Maxedia Digital Media Composer, MAC fixtures and Atomic strobes were integral factors in the production of several of the Live8 shows.
All lighting equipment for the Hyde Park concert was supplied by PRG London and included 50 MAC 2000 Wash, 35 MAC 2000 Profiles, 20 Atomic strobes with Atomic Colours, LEDs and conventionals.
In Philadelphia, lighting designer Thomas Beck had MAC 2000 Wash, MAC 2000 Profiles and Atomic strobes at his disposal while a Martin Maxedia digital server provided wallpaper and animation effects onto multiple screens in combination with IMAG and other pre-built content. Maxedia effects were controlled from a Martin Xciter off a touchscreen with 60+ songs programmed in two days. Lighting gear was supplied by Light Action of Delaware.
At the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg, Gearhouse South Africa provided a complete package: lighting, sound, stage and power. An extensive automated lighting rig incorporated 18 MAC 2000 Profiles, 18 MAC 2000 Wash and 12 Atomic strobes, all provided by Gearhouse through Electrosonic. Lighting design was by Hugh Turner who staggered six trusses, complimented with lighting units, which served as a backdrop.
Limelite of Rome delivered several Martin fixtures to the Live 8 show held at Circus Maximus in the Italian Capital. Lighting designer Massimo Gasbarro of Limelite had 44 MAC 2000 Wash, 52 MAC 500 profile spots, 48 MAC 600 wash lights and 28 Atomic strobes as well as other automateds and conventionals at his disposal.
At Park Place in Barrie
UK - Bandit Lites is supplying lighting production for Brian McFadden's first solo UK tour, during which he is promoting his Walking Disaster album. Bandit's Lester Cobrin is working with Production North and lighting designer Arturo Ollandini.
McFadden's musical direction has changed considerably following his move from Westlife and Ollandini's lighting brief was left wide open, apart from the fact that he was asked to make it a bit rocky and raw, to suit McFadden's gritty new style and his dynamics as a solo performer. "There's plenty of creative scope," he says. "The set really rocks out one minute, gets bluesey and ballady the next and also gets stripped right back at times to just him and his acoustic guitar."
Ollandini and lighting technician Martin Garnish are using a two truss rig. The front one features Martin MAC 2K performances to light and project gobos onto the back drape and MAC 500 profiles used to key light the band - McFadden plus 5 musicians.
The 40ft rear truss has four legs of mini-beam hung vertically downwards - for a contemporary metalwork matrix look. Attached to each leg are Pulsar ChromaBank LED strips, MAC 500 and MAC600 moving lights, and at the top of each leg are ChromaQ ColorBlocks used as truss toners. In the gap between each of the four vertical legs, hanging off the back truss, are more MAC 500s and MAC 600s.
The fixture count is completed with additional MAC 500s on the floor. Bandit is also supplying two Lycian 1200w HMI followspots. Ollandini runs the show using a WholeHog II console.
Sound for
USA - With six stages hosting over 100 major and emerging musical acts, the Music Midtown Festival boasts one of the most diverse lineups of any festival in the world. This June, for the 12th year in a row, the Atlanta, Georgia, event rolled out the best in southern comfort and hospitality, in addition to a lot of music, to entertain more than 300,000 guests on the 40-plus-acre festival site.
Rock 'n' Road Audio of Tucker, Georgia, supplied the sound for the event. Rock 'n' Road's Roy Drukenmiller and on-site production manager James (Jid) O'Brien worked with Nashville's Spectrum Sound and Blackhawk Audio to ensure there would be enough powerful hardware to guarantee a splendid time for all.
On the Miller Lite/99X/Comcast Stage, alt-rock ruled with a lineup that included the Pixies, Lemonheads, White Stripes, DEVO and Keane performing through a substantial array featuring 34 MILO and four MILO 120 expanded coverage high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers, as well as two dozen 700-HP subwoofers.Four MSL-4 long-throw loudspeakers provided frontfill. FOH engineer Tommy Rodgers drove the mix using a Yamaha PM1D digital console, with loudspeaker processing courtesy of an LD-3 compensating line driver.
The Hooters/Kicks 101.5 stage featured an all-star country lineup including Alan Jackson, Jo Dee Messina, Keith Urban, Trace Adkins and Cross Canadian Ragweed. FOH engineer Mark Archibald used a pair of UPJ-1P compact VariO loudspeakers as reference monitors for the mix coming from the Yamaha PM5D digital console and bound for 20 MILO cabinets and 14 M3D-Sub directio
Hong Kong - Lighthouse LED video screens featured strongly at the recent Monaco Grand Prix. The demand for giant screens within Formula One has steadily increased and this year saw three more added to Monaco's already substantial compliment.
The action on the track was relayed by a number of strategically positioned screens supplied to the Automobile Club de Monaco by French audiovisual company Lumison, allowing race-goers a clear view of Kimi Raikkonen's convincing win for McLaren-Mercedes.
Two Lighthouse 20mm pixel pitch LED screens, one of 120 and one of 16 panels were placed 30m above ground level on the roof of the Hotel Palace - the larger of the two screens for spectators viewing from the port and the smaller for VIPs viewing from the terrace of the hotel Hermitage, with a 16 panel screen placed, as in previous years, at the swimming pool.
A further two 16-panel 20mm screens were positioned in front of the pit lane for the new VIP seating area, with a 25-panel screen at the entrance to the pit lane for spectators at the Palais du Prince overlooking Monaco-ville.
"We have used Lighthouse screens at the Monaco Grand Prix for a number of years now," explains Lumison's CEO Pierre Heyligen. "Monaco is recognised as a very special event in the racing calendar, so this year we decided to take things one step further and add an extra three screens to help heighten the drama and keep the crowds even more engaged than in previous years."
(Jim Evans)
The Netherlands - Showcasing some of Africa's leading artists, a last-minute Africa Calling concert was held on two stages at the Eden Project in Cornwall on July 2 as part of the worldwide Live8 event. Sound for the main stage, Eden Project's outdoor arena, was provided by Holland's Ampco Pro Rent (APR) and backline by sister company Protone.
The concert was presented in association with WOMAD and its co-founder Peter Gabriel, together with Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour. WOMAD's involvement, and that of the African artists, had originally been suggested by Midge Ure, while Eden chief executive Tim Smit provided the venue and helped galvanise backing and financial support for the show.
Featured artists included Youssou N'Dour, Ayub Ogada & Uno, Mariza, Thomas Mapfumo, Coco Mbassi, Modou Diouf and O Fogum, Geoffrey Oryema, Angelique Kidjo, Tinariwen, Kanda Bongo man and Daara J.
Production came from Ampco Pro Rent (PA), Protone (backline), Neg Earth (lights) and Done & Dusted (TV and video), with production manager David Stallbaumer and stage managers Steve Field and Tony Morris. WOMAD's artistic director Thomas Brooman worked with Peter Gabriel and Youssou N'Dour to assemble the lineup at remarkably short notice.
APR's standard festival control setup stood them in good stead for this ultra-short-notice contract, which gave the team barely a week to prepare during the busiest time of the festival season. After the Eden event, all the kit headed from Cornwall directly to The Hague for the North Sea Jazz Festival where APR handles fifteen stages sim
UK - Summit Steel is supplying a 45-way Kinesys Elevation 1+ vari-speed automation and control system to the current Oasis stadium tour - as specified by lighting designer Andi Watson. It is the largest ever Kinesys Elevation variable speed chain hoist system used to date.
Lighting contractor PRG Birmingham, and account handler Robin Wain contracted Summit to supply the system which is being used to move 12 lighting 'Quads' customised frames each holding 4 MAC 2000 moving lights and lined with PixelLine LED battens on the top rail and DJ Flash rope. There are two motors per quad, and these glide seamlessly in and out and up and down to create different patterns and configurations - effectively making a constantly moving stage set.
There are four further moving trusses taking up thirteen points, each of varying lengths and containing a total of 12 Syncrolite SX 3KW moving lights. Upstage of these are another eight Elevation 1+ controlled hoists, lifting four 2.6 x 2.6 metre Barco D-lite 7 LED video screens, each weighing approx. 850 Kg.
The motors are all run off the Elevation system's proprietary Vector PC-based software; the automation operator is Andy Beller assisted by Toby Rouse.
(Jim Evans)
UK - Pro Audio Systems' hire division recently managed the sound for one of Europe's largest Mela festivals, selecting an Allen & Heath ML5000 live sound VCA console as the monitor mixer for the main stage.
The 2005 Bradford Mela attracted 300,000 visitors over the two days. From the Sanskrit 'to meet', the Mela originates from the Indian subcontinent and is now a worldwide celebration of the art, craft, culture and community of South Asia, both traditional and modern.
Entertainment ranged from workshops on cookery, dancing and meditation, to a spectrum of musical acts from traditional artists to DJ's.
The main stage hosted fourteen acts over the two days, including the Indie-Bhangra band, Cassava Music; Bollywood-style, Orchestra Music World; Asian-rock band, Trick Baby; pop singer, Faakhir; and the Mercury Prize winning, Talvin Singh Trio.
"The audio requirements for the weekend's diverse line-up varied from simple playback and guitar-based bands, to large traditional Asian acoustic-instrument groups," commented monitor engineer, Rod Clarkson. "The ML5000's logical navigation, mute/VCA functions, and advanced PFL facilities helped me manage the tight changeovers between bands. The desk provided absolute control over the stage, and the multitude of outputs made it possible for me to provide ten stage mixes, plus severalIEM mixes, and feeds for DJ's, playback and talkback returns where required."
The main stage sound system comprised a Meyer Sound Milo system, with Nexo wedge monitors, and a Logic system for sidefills. All cabled and rad
UK - Stage Electrics supplied and built the staging, lighting, audio, video, power and provided full technical infrastructure for the Trafalgar Square announcement event for London's successful 2012 Olympic bid.
The announcement was beamed live from the IOC meeting in Singapore to Trafalgar Square, where the event was hosted by Margherita Taylor and Katy Hill. The event's format was 'open ended', reports Stage Electrics' project manager John Radford, with a number of scenarios possible depending on the result. The excitement was electric as the moment approached for the IOC to pronounce . . . with the momentous result followed by worldwide images on screen and jubilation on stage and the thousands who packed the square. Stage Electrics was asked to work on the event by GDF Diversivents which was the 2012 announcement event producers for London 2012.
The crew arrived on site on the Monday lunchtime, 48 hours ahead of the announcement. The uncovered 165sqm stage was constructed from Maltbury Metrodeck, above which Stage Electrics designed and built a customized trussing ground support structure. "GDF Diversivents came to us with an aesthetic they wanted to achieve" explains Radford, "And then left it to us to deliver the solution. It was a case of getting the right pieces of metalwork in the right places at the right time!". The Six mast system was built from Slick MaxiBeam and GS Truss structure.
Stage Electric supplied an EAW KF730 line array system, with a Midas Heritage 3000 console for monitors and a Soundcraft Series 5 at FOH. The event
Russia - The Eastern Europe Music Convention (EEMC), which staged its premiere event on 16-17 June in St. Petersburg, Russia, was a great success according to the organizers, with 365 companies from 42 countries attending. There was a strong presence from Eastern European countries like Russia and Ukraine, but also a great number of international professionals, they say.
In addition to the trade fair the organizers entertained visitors with 96 different artists at the 'EEMC Music Festival' next to the exhibition centre and at several parties in the leading clubs of St. Petersburg. The conference on Digital Distribution and Copyright in Eastern Europe was one of the highlights of the event, say the organizers. Representatives of leading collecting societies and distribution companies as well as specialized lawyers lectured about digital distribution and copyright within the EEMC.
For next year's EEMC, the organizers plan to include open public events, more panels, festivals and more top act performances. The exhibition's organization will be improved and supplemented with new features such as an A'n'R Area and special workshops.
(Lee Baldock)
Singapore - The CommunicAsia and BroadcastAsia trade shows have ended on a vibrant and positive note, say the show organizers, having attracted 60,552 attendees from the IT, communication and broadcasting industries. An estimated 1,600 delegates and speakers were at CommunicAsia and BroadcastAsia conferences. The exhibitions at the Singapore Expo accommodated 2,238 exhibiting companies from 55 countries covering 62,000sq.m of exhibition space.
For the first time the CommunicAsia Summit conference featured a three-day CEO Perspective panel session, where senior executives of telcos and vendors exchanged industry views and insights with the audience. "I find this conference very good for sharing and bouncing ideas," says Tom Goodwin, regional CTO of Lucent Technologies, and one of the panel speakers.
Another attendee at the CEO dialogue session was Siemens Communications' Thorsten Heins. "It was my pleasure to speak," he says. "This was such a high quality and vibrant audience. The questions they asked were also excellent . . . As a board member of Siemens with responsibility for Asia Pacific, I will come here again."
On the exhibition itself, the convergence theme has brought more mobile operators and handset manufacturers than ever before - which is perfect for Zi, says Canadian exhibitor Zi Corp's chief operating officer Milos Djokovic. "Our Qix service discovery platform is just what 3G needs to increase usage and drive up ARPU; CommunicAsia gave us a perfect Asian launch pad," he adds.
"Visitor traffic has been
UK - Following the technical and social success of last year's meeting, the Electroacoustics Group of the Institute of Acoustics is organizing a special Reproduced Sound 21 conference, which will take place in Oxford from 4-5 November. This "coming of age" meeting promises to be a landmark in Reproduced Sound's history and will be an opportunity to look back, and forward - "Feeding back to the future!" - say the IoA.
Reproduced Sound conferences represent the cutting edge of modern audio and acoustics, presented in an informal and convivial environment that allows consultants, manufacturers, contractors and end-users to mingle and share insights and information. It's an opportunity for business networking in an atmosphere that proves you can have 'high brow' and 'informal' in one place at one time, say the IoA.
This year, as you would expect from such an important milestone, there are many key ingredients to whet the appetite. There will be a menu of impeccably served papers from the world's leading academics, consultants, suppliers and manufacturers in the field who will speak on the practical and theoretical aspects of a range of topics including: room acoustics - studios; surround sound - intelligibility; acoustic enhancement - loudspeakers; microphones - system optimisation; measurement - modelling; perceptual domain - AMPS/DSP.
For the evenings, an audio Antiques Roadshow and a University Challenge are planned as part of the entertainment side of the weekend. For further information, please contact Linda Canty at the Institute of Acoust
UK - United Business Media (UBM) has announced an agreement to acquire Theme magazine and the Bar exhibition from Mondiale Publishing, to complement the 'Publican' group of publications and events which UBM acquired in February. Integration of today's titles into UBM's operational infrastructure will reduce overheads and generate cross-selling opportunities, say the company.
The purchase price is £5m million in cash. Theme and Bar Show generated £2.1m of revenue and £0.6m of EBITA in the year to end of June 2004. The proposed acquisition should be earnings enhancing in its first 12 months and is expected to exceed UBM's hurdle rate of return in its first year. The transaction is subject to approval by the OFT.
These businesses will report into Bernard Gray, CEO of CMP Information (CMPi) and United Advertising Publications (UAP). Gray said: "These leading publishing assets will give further breadth and depth to the range of specialists products available to our clients. The financial case is attractive and we have identified operating efficiencies and the opportunity to develop new and existing revenues streams."
UBM CEO David Levin, said: "These assets represent another good "bolt on" opportunity for UBM, allowing us to further consolidate our chosen markets. The transaction meets our strict financial criteria and moves forward the implementation of our continuing strategy."
(Lee Baldock)
UK - Many companies are finding that recent changes to employment legislation are making their lives more complicated and proving a growing expense they could well live without.
And the situation isn't going to get any easier. Employers' costs are set to increase further when government plans to increase paid maternity leave from six to 12 months and to allow new mothers to transfer leave and pay entitlement to fathers, together with legislation that extends disability rights and allows staff to request flexible working arrangements, comes in. Many small and medium-sized companies have already acknowledged that these are going to prove some of the most challenging aspects of running their businesses.
PLASA (the Professional Lighting and Sound Association) is running two seminars for anyone in the industry who would like to be better informed about the planned changes. Taking place on Tuesday 19 July in Manchester and Wednesday 3 August in London, Employment Law - Do you know your responsibilities? will help companies better understand the new employment laws, which, according to most employers, have proved far more onerous than tax, financial and health regulations.
The one-day workshop will give all those who attend practical knowledge to take back to the workplace. It will focus on giving clear advice on key employer responsibilities and employee rights, and a straightforward overview of current and future changes in employment law, including recent legislation relating to flexible working, work life balance and parental rights. The seminar will be delivered
UK - Clarion Events Ltd has acquired a controlling interest in ATE, the commercial exhibition, conference, publishing and services subsidiary of the British Amusement Catering Trades Association (BACTA), the UK trade association for the pay to play amusement industry.
The newly owned portfolio includes the industry leading events Amusement Trade Exhibition International (ATEi) and International Casino Exhibition (ICE), staged in London; three other smaller exhibitions including Amuse UK in Blackpool and The Betting Show in Birmingham; three European industry conferences; and three leading publications - Coinslot, Betting Business and Casino Review.
Simon Kimble, Managing Director of Clarion Events is pleased to have completed the investment in ATE and said: "We are delighted to have secured what is a fantastic company with great products and people in an exciting market. ATE has become a world leader in the amusement, gambling and betting industries and we believe that together we can benefit hugely from their range of skills and experiences."
In a statement issued by BACTA today, Colin Daniels, President said, "We are pleased to conclude this transaction which we believe will be good for BACTA, securing the future of the association and is also good for ATE, giving it the opportunity to do bigger and better things for the industry. We are especially pleased to have found in Clarion a young and dynamic company which shares ATE's values and will continue the strong working partnership that BACTA and ATE have always shared.
The news comes within
UK - Following on from the success of last year's Human Resources Seminar, PLASA (the Professional Lighting and Sound Association) is presenting a one-day workshop that will focus on giving practical advice on key employer responsibilities and employee rights. The seminar will also highlight future changes in employment law, including legislation relating to flexible working, work-life balance and parental rights. The session will be delivered by HR specialist Clive Payne, and areas covered will include key elements of the employment contract; disputes resolution and discrimination issues; family rights; and the impact of what's new and on the horizon.
Throughout the workshop opportunities will be given to discuss real issues and to evaluate your own situation and the processes currently used in your workplace against legal requirements. Places are limited due to the practical aspect of this workshop. The workshops are being presented in Manchester and London.
If you would like to attend the seminar, or if you cannot attend but wish to nominate a colleague, please specify Manchester or London and register at or contact Nicky Greet or Norah Phillips on 01323 410335.
Details: 3rd August 2005. Time: 9.30 - 17.00. Lunch and refreshments are provided throughout the day.
Cost: £65.00 PLASA Members £ 85.00 non members.
(Nicky Greet)
UK - Legendary singer Ozzy Ozbourne's Black Sabbath headlined a bill featuring the worlds leading heavy rock acts ranging from Garbage, Feeder, MC5, Motorhead, Slayer, Slipknot and System of A Down.
Whilst the bands might have been screaming '666'; three was the magic number for Download Festival organizers this year: the festival now in its third year, with three stages and expanded to run over three days. It was also the third year that Simon Battersby led an experienced management team and 450 staff to look after the 50,000 fans who enjoyed the weekend.
Aside from the increased logistics to accommodate the larger crowd and 35,000 campers Showsec worked with officials from the SIA. Showsec had 48 SIA licensed staff and officials commented on the high level of organization and preparation in place meaning that no crisis management was ever called on during the weekend.
The most obvious challenge to Showsec over the weekend was the main stage pit, where hundreds of crowd-surfers came over the barrier. Battersby commented: "I doubt there will be another festival pit in the UK as busy as this through the summer. Our main-stage managers John (Halland), Simon (Sinclair) and Brendon (Kellegher), were well organized and maintained control under pressure. Even after three full-on days plus Sundays last three bands (Slayer, Slipknot and System of A Down) the team never faltered."
John Probyn, festival manager for Download: "Showsec was utterly professional in looking after the biggest ever crowd at the Download Festival and was an important contributin
Representing Pulsar in the Middle East for some time now is the well-known face of John Lethbridge, exhibiting on the stand of NMK, the company's UAE distributor. Lethbridge reported a big gain in momentum in the regional market since Pulsar's first PALME show in 2003, with particularly good growth in Saudi. Pulsar has exclusive distribution in Kuwait, and recently sealed distribution in Qatar. Also on the NMK stand, it was good to catch up with Roy Millington of Cloud Electronics - one of the many pro audio brands represented by the distributor.
Adam Hall, now at their third PALME, were reporting an "excellent" show, with good responses to its LD Systems audio product line, particularly the wireless mic system, which had recently voted best mic in its price class by Play Music. The company was also picking up strong interest in its protective cases products.
Martin Professional Middle East's CEO, Nour Assafiri, said business was excellent for his company, which has been operating since 1991, and as Martin Pro Middle East since 2002. The full lines of Martin Pro and Martin Architectural, Jem smoke machines and Mach sound reinforcement products are complemented by other distributed brands: Advanced Fibre Optics from Spain, and Eurotruss from The Netherlands.
Stardraw, believe it or not, had a great show. While David Snipp was one of those who took the opportunity to present a well-attended product-led seminar session (struggling to make himself heard above the hideous buzz of the PA system), Rob Robinson said that after a slow start, this turned out to be one of their best exhibitions ever: when you consider the response that Stardraw Control has had at PLASA, LDI, NSCA and ProLight&Sound, this is no faint praise. Latest additions to Stardraw Control include the New Product Wizard, which allows the user to add products not already included in the extensive library, and the ability to talk to any legacy script in any computer language. This opens up even more possibilities for this "disruptive technology" as Snipp likes to call it, "because it changes the way that people do business".
Other companies who were exhibiting at PALME in a supporting role, with established business relationships in the region, included leading UK manufacturers such as Midas/Klark Teknik and Martin Audio; French manufacturer L-Acoustics already works in the region with V-Dosc partner Gearhouse (who provided a V-Dosc system for Pavarotti's Dubai show in April) and ARCS user, Prism. PALME saw the regional debut of the company's Kudo system, and of its SoundVision acoustical simulation software.
German manufacturer ic audio had teamed up with Millbank in a joint-branding exercise aimed at promoting and increasing the companies' presence in the Middle East's commercial sound installation market.
A.C. Lighting has been doing business in the region for years, and was at PALME in a supporting role for existing clients, but also to work on developing the projects side of their business in the Middle East.
French followspot specialist Robert Juliat, making its first appearance at the show, was sharing space with Australian staging automation company, State Automation. The issue of the need for technical training in the region was raised on this stand, and a number of others.
The team from Spanish manufacturer Vieta Pro were enjoying a good show. Launched into the pro audio market as recently as spring 2004, and seems to have found a niche in architectural and industrial install markets with its moulded cabinets. Brand new product lines are promised for the PLASA Show.
Sennheiser UK, making a substantial commitment to the market, had a large presence at PALME, supported by its
Executive Audio is a new company set up by two very well-known figures in pro audio sales, Hans Freytag and Steve Smith, following discussions at PLASA last year. The company is targeting the UAE, and already has a tidy portfolio of leading audio brands (EAW & EAW Commercial, Lake Technology Corporation, TiMax and DiGiCo) to which they are hoping shortly to add a high-profile amplifier manufacturer. The emphasis, says Freytag, is on high-end, high-performance audio, with plenty of scope for residential and commercial markets. EAW Commercial was showing its latest ceiling monitor, the CIS-400.
UAE - In its short history, Dubai's Pro Audio & Light Middle East (PALME) exhibition has provided many companies with a platform on which to build, or boost, their business activities across the Middle East region.The UAE in particular is a much-hyped potential market, with staggering sums of foreign investment pouring into the ambitious development of tourism and business facilities (see L&SI March 2005). Dubai itself is now the UK's main export market in the whole of the Middle East, having shown a 93% growth in 2004, and a further 43% so far in 2005.
Generally speaking, the companies who are benefiting most from this potential are those who had a business presence in the region prior to PALME's emergence in 2003; of the rest, those returning for their third, or at least second, PALME show are generally now beginning to see benefits. For others, there is a feeling that they may have missed the boat - or at least the early boat.
Avolites is another company with a history in the region. Tony Shembish has been out here for several years, running Avolites Middle East & North Africa, based in Abu Dhabi, and business is booming. With one of the larger stands at the exhibition, and with good support from familiar Avo faces from the UK, Avo ME was also playing host to James Thomas Engineering's Pixelline range of LED fixtures, which played a central role on the stand; Avo ME was appointed the official Middle East distributor for the range at the show. Tony Cameron, European sales manager for PixelRange, said: "The response to PixelDrive and PixelRange was phenomenal, much more than I had forecast. This show has guaranteed us big business in the Middle East, not just in Dubai but many of the surrounding territories as far as Pakistan."