UK - British actress Keira Knightley is supporting this year's First Night Riders charity motorcycle ride following the recent announcement that she is the new patron of The Theatrical Guild alongside fellow patron award-winning actor Simon Russell Beale CBE.

The Oscar-nominated star, reportedly the highest paid British actress in Hollywood, confirmed her patronage this week.

Knightley is the latest in a long line of notable people from the world of theatre and film who are lending their support for the First Night Riders - an annual motorbike race touring parts of England to raise

Germany - Merging Technologies has announced that from 1 June 2012, Digital Audio Service GmbH will assume distribution responsibilities for the German market. DAS has offices in Hamburg and Berlin as well as a retail shop in both locations and a significant online presence.

DAS is particularly well known in the post production and recording world but has strategic plans to diversify into live and installed sound. This profile fits the Merging product range very well and mirrors the changing product mix coming from the Swiss brand, says the company.

This change brings to an end a lo

UK - Stage Sound Services in Cardiff, South Wales, is now one of the UK's busiest rental and production services hire companies to the theatre market. With an enormous number of prestigious projects already to their name, both in the UK and abroad, including the likes of Journey's End (two tours and two West End runs), sound and lighting for the UEFA Champions League Final at Wembley Stadium, plus video for both Warhorse and the Wizard of Oz to name but a very few, SSS is constantly having to increase inventory levels in order to be able to satisfy demand. The latest round of investment

Egypt - At its grand opening in February, Club 35 Alexandria wowed its clientele with the sonic clarity and power provided by a Meyer Sound UltraSeries loudspeaker system. The night was a packed, memorable experience featuring a set from DJ Jean, who was flown in from Beirut for the occasion.

"I give a lot of attention to detail, and I wanted to create the trendiest nightspot in Alexandria," says Club 35 Manager David Boulouys. "That meant that all the elements had to be top-notch, and that is why I chose Meyer Sound."

Located at the five-star Maritim Jolie Ville

Puerto Rico - For a spectacular three-day performance, lighting designer Eduardo 'Wady' Rodriguez chose 80-plus Chauvet Professional fixtures as part of the concert rig for Puerto Rican pop-rock singer Ednita Nazario. Musique Xpress lighting company of Puerto Rico provided the lights.

"I addressed each element of the show separately, but also looked at the overall picture, looking for harmony," Rodriguez said. "The combination of music and lights reflected Ednita's personality - her fragility, passion and great talent."

Rodriguez lit a textured wall at the back o

Mexico - Wireless Solution Sweden AB Mexican OEM partner Hermes Music, S.A. de C.V. recently brightened the skyline in Villahermosa, Mexico at the Liverpool Flagship store using PR Lighting with W-DMX. Hermes supplied 22 W-DMX transmitters and 64 of PR Lighting's PR-8800 architectural fixtures to light the façade.

Mexico City-based architectural firm Inaki Echeverria constructed the façade from 20m long segments of precast concrete slabs joined together that rotate at 180° angles. To create a dynamic colour wash and highlight the architectural features, lighting designer Joseph

USA - Over his 20 years of mixing the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Rat of Rat Sound has had to deal with a wide range of audio issues. During the current multi-year tour in support of the album I'm with You, the band encountered severe interference issues with its IEM system, which Rat addressed with a switch to the Shure PSM 1000 system and its diversity reception design.

"The troubles we were having with our existing in-ear systems were primarily due to the LED stage we have on this tour," explains Rat. "We experienced a whole new level of interference issues. W

UK - An Audient ASP8024 has been the mixing console of choice in the recording studio at Nottinghamshire County Council The Old Library Arts' Centre for over six years, which last year alone saw over 2000 young people pass through its doors.

"There are also the commercial bookings on top of that," explains technical manager Jonathon Spittlehouse, who originally specified the 36-channel desk back in 2006 when the studio moved to its present location and was brought fully under local authority control. As part of the broader Arts' Centre, Spittlehouse and his colleagues are ta

USA - On the last day of his April visit to California, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama spoke about 'Peace of Mind in Troubled Times' to an audience of more than 10,000 at the Long Beach Arena. To maintain precise intelligibility in the challenging arena acoustics, PRG Audio of Sun Valley, Calif. deployed a Meyer Sound system comprised largely of MICA and M2D line array loudspeakers.

Providing intelligibility in the arena environment was a key requirement for Bill Daly of PRG Audio's design and engineering team. Working in consultation with Meyer Sound Tech Support, Daly plotted a mo

UK - Greg Barker, the Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change, was given an illuminating illustration of the power of LED lighting when he visited Dartford last week.

During a visit to Suscon, the sustainable construction training and research centre at The Bridge, the Minister viewed the range of products offered by 8point3 LED, which has recently moved into offices at the centre.

"The Minister's visit was a great opportunity to demonstrate the quality of light produced by LED lighting and outline the dramatic energy savings it brings when compared to traditional syste

USA - Le Poisson Rouge (LPR), the multimedia art cabaret founded in 2008 by Justin Kantor and David Handler, recently carried out its latest upgrade - boosting the technical infrastructure with GLP's impression Spot One LED and G-LEC Solaris video curtain.

Located on the site of the historic Village Gate in New York's Greenwich Village, when the new owners took over the interior was completely redrawn, and John Storyk (of Walters-Storyk Design Group), the designer behind Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland Studios, helped design the room sonically.

The venue has since undergone various

UK - SES were chosen to supply 11th Hour Events distribution package for their main fleet within a very short timescale. Being successful in gaining several high profile projects, 11th hour realised they were in need of heavy duty mains and having previously purchased the Power-Pro range of Power Distribution manufactured by the UK's leading manufacturer SES, placed a large order for a wide range of product.

Gordon Cooper from SES commented, "When we took the call from Andy, we knew due to the time scale this order would be a challenge due to our current commitments on other high

UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) will use the opportunity of its forthcoming Theatre Show (13-14 June), to present a seminar discussion on the future of industry training, at London's Old Truman Brewery, on Wednesday 13 June, 12:45pm-2pm, in the venue's Seminar Room. Speakers include: Robin Auld, operations director, National Skills Academy Creative & Cultural; Chris Parry-Jones, head of Gallowglass Training; and, Bryan Raven, managing director, White Light.

Throughout the last year, the Association has continued to develop and promote its Technical Access Pa

At The Cinema - The farewell concert by Irish pop band Westlife is to be screened live to cinemas in the UK and Ireland and across Europe. The group, who announced last October they were splitting after 14 years, are set to bow out with a final concert at Dublin's Croke Park on 23 June. The event will be screened at more than 200 cinemas in nine countries including Belgium, Denmark, Estonia and Norway. There are also plans to screen the gig in Australia and South Africa. The band, whose 14 UK number ones include 1999 hit Flying Without Wings, have sold more than 44 million records world

France - Dataton reports that its WATCHOUT multi-display and show-management software has been used as a core technolog yat a major new art installation in the south of France.

A collaboration between the town of Les Baux de Provence and the specialist French venue management company Culture spaces, Carrières de Lumières'('Quarries of Light') is a hi-tech re-purposing of the Carrières du Val d'Enfer- a network of abandoned chalk-mining tunnels close to the historic Provençal village.

With a subterranean feel, the Carrières de Lumières is a labyrinth almost 200m long that varie

USA - Community reports the retirement of Chris Foreman from his position as chief operating officer. Foreman came to Community in 2007 from Electronic Contracting in Lincoln, Nebraska and has held the position of VP/COO since 2008. Prior to joining Community, Foreman had also held positions at Altec Lansing, Panasonic and JBL.

"It has been a distinct privilege to be a part of this great company and I am proud of what Community has achieved during these difficult times," says Foreman. "I have enjoyed working with Bruce, Christine and John and the many talented employees

Olympic Countdown - Sir Paul McCartney has confirmed he will end the opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games on 27 July. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live he said "I've been booked," and added that he would be "closing the opening". A total cast of 15,000 will take part in the Olympic and Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies, to be watched by an estimated four billion people worldwide. The full line-up of the opening ceremony is yet to be announced. The opening ceremony is intended as a celebration showcasing the best of the host nation.

A performance by the f

UK - A very busy start to 2012 has resulted in West Midlands- based video and AV specialist Central Presentations Ltd. (CPL) making substantial investments in its audio and AV departments.

In keeping with the company's commitment to premium brands and being able to offer its clients the most innovative technologies, the very latest Panasonic HD projectors have been ordered to add to hire stock, together with a range of Sony HD broadcast cameras plus d&b's compact T Series line array sound systems - all to service CPL's on-going live event work.

The inventory of HD Panasonic projecto

UK - The Hire Company recently moved to its new 4,200sq.ft home in two units at Radar Way on Christchurch Business Park, Dorset and is holding an Open Day on Thursday, 5 July from 12 noon until 8 pm to highlight its expertise, equipment and suppliers.

The two offices in Christchurch and Bristol boast more than £2m in vision, sound and lighting equipment and a team of locally-based technicians with 60 years of experience between them

The team, headed by manager Scott Clarke, has enjoyed a record year, with back-to-back conferences in Manchester and Bournemouth and as well as be

UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) has announced that Lawrence Waterman, head of health and safety, Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) & head of health and safety, London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), has agreed to present this year's John Watts Memorial Lecture, as part of the ABTT 2012 Theatre Show at London's Old Truman Brewery on Wednesday 13 June, 2:30pm, in the venue's Seminar Room.

Waterman, who since 2005 has not only been tasked with the challenge of weaving health and safety into every aspect of London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games' constr

UK - With more than a hundred exhibitors preparing for the first ABTT Theatre Show to be held at the Old Truman Brewery in East London, many are taking the opportunity to demonstrate new products to the technical theatre community. Visitor registrations have exceeded the previous two years, and the choice of the new venue seems to have increased the excitement of the Theatre Show, which will be celebrating its 34thyear on 13 and 14 June, say the organisers.

The ABTT 2012 Theatre Show has attracted exhibitors from all areas of technical equipment supply and service provision. The promi

South Africa - Christie has announced the opening of a new office in South Africa - its first in the Southern hemisphere.

The setting up of Christie's new office in Africa, effective from 1 June, 2012, underpins the company's long commitment to the territory. This new office will provide facilities for demonstrations, customer and partner training, as well as inventory management.

The move has been in the planning for almost a year, and Dale Miller, Christie EMEA vice president, said, "Over the last three years we have been working to develop the right relationships to grow our

UK - The annual Theatres Trust Conference takes place on 12 June at London's Stratford Circus venue. Four years after the Trust first addressed how theatres could become 'greener', this conference will explore which steps theatres are taking to achieve the triple bottom line amid rising energy costs, tougher building regulations, and even more difficult economic times. Conference discussions will also look at the challenges of theatres to provide a catalyst for social and economic recovery in the communities they serve as well as addressing the sustainability agenda.

ShowTex is a corp

Live Statistics - Southbank Centre in London is the leading music venue in the UK , according to new figures released by PRS for Music. During 2011, Southbank Centre, which consists of the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and the Hayward Gallery, held 422 musical events - attended by over a million people.

Robert Ashcroft, Chief Executive, PRS for Music said, "I am thrilled to see so many cultural centres featured in the analysis, from the newly opened Kings Place in London and The Sage in Gateshead to the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester . The

Latest Issue. . .