UK- Underneath the Victorian railway arches in London’s Shoreditch district lies Cargo, one of the capital’s edgiest late-night bar and club venues. While the venue’s genuine Banksy graffiti art-filled courtyard is a magnet for art aficionados and tourists alike, the club itself has been busy building up a formidable reputation of its own thanks to an eclectic music programme.
To install an appropriately multifaceted lighting rig, Cargo recently approached London-based installation specialists, Halo lighting, which specified a number of Chauvet Professional and Chauvet DJ fixtures.
“Cargo approached us wanting a lighting rig capable of supporting a wide variety of dub, house, techno and electro events,” commented Yann Guenancia, director of Halo Lighting. “The combination of Chauvet Professional Rogue R1 Wash and Legend 230SR beams, in addition to Chauvet DJ COLORband Pix and Par Quad 12s provided excellent versatility at an excellent price point.”
Six Rogue R1 Wash and four Legend 230SR Beams were flown from overhead truss to provide the central core of the install. While the R1 Wash’s saturated colours, powerful light output and gobos were specified for their atmosphere inducing qualities; the Legend 230SR fixtures provided the ultimate counterpoint with punchy beams to cut through the dance floor.
“The combination of the Rogue R1 Wash fixtures and Legend Beams are essential for creating the look and feel of an exciting and progressive venue,” commented Guenancia. “Both fixtures provide the energy and drive necessary fo

UK - A top of the range light and sound system is now delivering all the right notes at The Borderline in Soho, a 300 capacity intimate basement live music venue transformed by new owners DHP Family.
The venue has been remodelled to create a flowing space that provides the best possible experience for both performer and audience. As well as creating improved sight lines, more than £100,000 has been invested in a high spec audio and light system.
With excellent audio established as a hallmark for all DHP Family venues, top of the list was the installation of an L-Acoustics PA system to deliver a signature hi-fi quality sound throughout the venue.
DHP Family technical manager Dave McVea said: “The audio system we inherited was an eclectic mix of gear that had clearly been amassed over a period of time. While it did the job, there was no real design to the system. We’re proud that our venues have a reputation for excellent audio so clearly we needed to change that.”
SSE Audio - a long-standing partner - was tasked with supplying and installing the sound system having a proven track record for delivering top quality audio systems in DHP Family’s Rock City and Rescue Rooms in Nottingham, Oslo in Hackney, Thekla in Bristol and most recently The Garage in Islington.
Dave added: “I wanted an L’Acoustics system with plenty of headroom, so the system should not be stressed and easily deliver a quality sound for our acts and events, in keeping with our previous audio upgrades. It also brings the venue’s technical specification ri

USA - There are no straight lines in Time, the new Orange County club designed by Davis Ink, Ltd. That’s one reason why the dance floor is visible from anywhere in the venue. The lighting design by Steve Lieberman’s SJ Lighting features a “digital chandelier” made of Chauvet DJ MotionOrb fixtures along with some power packed spot and wash lighting from Chauvet Professional Rogues.
“The space inside this venue is almost amoeba-like,” said Lieberman. “It’s a single flowing and very immersive unit. Davis Ink completely ripped the former retail store apart down to the bone to create the new structure. We identified focal points throughout the space and used those locations to create our dimensioning and distribution of fixtures. Since the space is so different we spent a lot of time evaluating how each space would transition into the next.”
Among the focal points Lieberman worked with is the towering 35’ ceiling over the dance floor. It rises more than 15’ over the rest of the room. “Having a high ceiling gave us the opportunity to do something very special,” he said. “We utilized all the planes of space that this height created. Since the walls are so tall, we took advantage of that and had LED strips and other fixtures follow the walls from the lower ceiling to the higher ceiling.”
Hanging from the middle of the ceiling is (quite literally) the centrepiece of Lieberman’s lighting design, a massive digital chandelier made of over 100 Chauvet DJ MotionOrbs. “The chandelier has a classic look, with a digital backbone; so

Ireland - INEC Killarney, the largest music and multi-purpose venue in Ireland outside Dublin, has successfully completed the first stage of a significant production upgrade plan with the help of A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET).
AC-ET worked with the venue, which has hosted many national and international music acts including The Script, Tom Jones, Snow Patrol, Hozier, Walking on Cars, Kenny Rogers and Tom Jones, to specify and supply a complete new lighting rig including a full range of fixtures, cabling and lighting control desk.
ProLights fixtures form the cornerstone of the rig, which uses a variety of moving lights including Pixiewash and Diamond19 RGBW LED wash lights, Luma1500 LED profiles and Ruby discharge beam lights. These were supplemented with ProLights StudioCOB FC full colour LED PARS and Solar IP65 LED wash lights. ETC Source Four profiles and ARRI True Blue Fresnels completed the set-up, with AC-ET providing all lights complete with flight cases, clamps, safety bonds and replacement bulbs.
In addition, AC-ET supplied the lighting control desk, an Avolites Arena, and DMX signal distributors. Power and DMX signal cabling was supplied by Tourflex Cabling, AC-ET’s in house cable manufacturing service.
The first artist using the rig was Gavin James, Spotify’s 2016 Artist of the Year and winner of Choice Music’s Song of the Year Prize, who played to a sell-out audience on 18 February.
Steven Douglas of Coruscate Lighting Design, the lighting designer of the show, commented: “I was delighted with the quality

Russia - Allen & Heath’s dLive S Class mixing system was recently used at the prestigious Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow for a performance by the Astrakhan Opera and Ballet company.
The Astrakhan performed its production of The Damnation of Faust opera, which has been nominated for the Russian national theatre award, The Golden Mask.
Provided by MixArt, the dLive system consisted of a DM48 MixRack and S3000 Surface, which was used as the FOH and monitor system. A DX32 expander rack was installed in the orchestra pit to enable local connection of multiple orchestra microphones, and the DM48 was equipped with a Waves network card to allow multitrack recording and virtual soundcheck. There was also an IP8 remote controller to manage special sound FX and playback.
“At rehearsals and at the last rehearsal I controlled the dLive system using the S3000 installed in the centre of the audience,” comments Vadim Shcherbakov, director of MixArt’s Southern branch. “Before the performance we put the S3000 backstage, and I managed the sound using only a laptop with dLive Director and an iPad with the MixPad app.”
“In opera, it’s very important that technical innovations do their work without impacting on the character of sound,” says Valery Voronin, the art director and the chief conductor of the Astrakhan Theatre of Opera and Ballet. “I still believe in the old-fashioned idea that opera is better off without sound reinforcement, so I was especially happy to hear clear and natural sound.”
(Jim Evans)

South Africa - The Blue Man Group visited South Africa for the very first time in February and March this year and, whilst performing at The Teatro at Montecasino in Johannesburg, they celebrated the 200th performance of their world tour. South African sound engineer, Christo Davis, has worked with Blue Man Group for the past year, mixing an average of four shows or more a week on a DiGiCo SD7, with his deputy sound engineer covering the rest.
The Blue Man Group, established in New York by three friends in 1991, are known for their award-winning shows that captivate audiences with music, comedy, fresh stories, custom instruments and technology.
“I did a show with them in Australia about four years ago and I just hit it off with the sound designer,” says Christo. “We have similar philosophies and approaches on how we like to do things and he’d been trying to get me back on the road ever since. Last year it all lined up and here I am.”
The audio inventory for the show, including Christo’s SD7, is supplied by Dutch rental company Ampco Flashlight Group.
“I’ve been using the SD7 for the past three years and I love it,” Christo continues. “It’s very intuitive and even if you are new to the console, it doesn’t take long to find your way around it. It’s such a powerful package. Back in the day, we used to tour with racks and racks of outboard gear. Now you show up with your console and that’s pretty much all you need - and it sounds good too. In the early stages of digital consoles, they all sounded quite harsh and unplea

UK - Stage Electrics has supplied the University of Huddersfield with a raft of live sound equipment to allow students on its BA (Hons) Music Technology, BA (Hons) Music Technology and Popular Music and BMus (Hons) Creative Music Technology courses to get hands on experience with the latest digital products.
“Working with digital consoles for live sound is something we have wanted to develop into our courses for quite some time,” says the university’s Stewart Worthy, who teaches the courses along with fellow lecturer Alex Harker. “The other part of the university already runs music technology courses with industry standard analogue consoles such as Allen & Heath and Avid, but we wanted to do something different in our area, offering two different consoles with different operating principles to give our students a more diverse experience. We’re delighted that we’ve been able to do this for the first time this year.”
Stewart worked with closely with Stage Electrics’ Rob Beamer on the tender to supply two industry standard consoles, a DiGiCo SD8 and a Yamaha CL5, along with stage racks and other associated equipment, including Sennheiser radio mics and a rack of Radial eight channel mic splitters.
“The Yamaha console is very useful because you come across them in a lot of different types of live sound activities,” Stewart continues. “The DiGiCo has become an industry standard for theatre productions, as well as other live sound applications. DiGiCo consoles also have different features and flexibility in terms of setup, which

UK - How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was recently revived at London’s Wilton’s Music Hall and White Light supplied the equipment.
How to Succeed tells the story of J. Pierrepont Finch who rises from lowly window washer to high-powered executive. The show is directed by Benji Sperring with a lighting design by the award-winning Nic Farman. Nic comments: “What’s great about working with Benji in particular is that he really allows me to make lighting become an integral part of the story telling. It was about creating caricature through the lighting and being brave with the design as we wanted to put our stamp on the show and make it appeal to a modern audience without losing the 60s era that the show is set in.
“Similarly, Mike Lees, the set and costume designer, created a beautiful perspective set and furnished the ‘office’ with brightly coloured props that connected to each character, so that gave me licence to use strong colours both in the scene work and songs.”
This was the first time that Nic had worked at Wilton’s Music Hall. He states: “While the venue’s architecture is truly stunning, it does throw up a number of issues; namely the lack of overhead rigging on the forestage which is where the majority of our show was staged! I negated this by rigging all of the front of house from the circle front to get light onto the fore stage. This shallow angle front light worked well with the ‘comic book’ nature of the show and design.”
Nic also had to contend with a limited set-up time, wi

Estonia - Robe DL7S Profile LED moving lights and PARFect 100 LED PARs have been specified and installed at the Estonian National Concert Hall (Eesti Kontsert), located in the heart of Tallinn and home to the Estonian National Orchestra (ENO).
The impressive Neoclassical building is shared between the Estonian National Opera and the Ballet Theatre Estonia. The Concert Hall is run by the Eesti Foundation, together with five other high profile concert hall venues – in the Estonian cities of Tartu, Parnu and Jõhvi - and St Petersburg, Russia.
The new lights were delivered by Tallinn based sales and installation company E&S, and were part of a much-needed technical upgrade that replace the previous lighting scheme which was fully ‘conventional’.
“We don’t just do concerts” explained Eesti Foundation director Jüri Leiten, “Although they are very important”, but in addition to the 40 or so symphony concerts staged in an average year, the Concert Hall accommodates 180 rehearsals (including the ENO), at least 150 other types and styles of concert plus 80 – 100 conferences and corporate events. So it’s a busy space, buzzing with activity and an average of 450 events annually.
Ambient noise levels precluded every other proposed moving light fixture involved in the selection process, apart from the DL7S which runs so quiet it’s almost imperceptible.
The DL7Ss were supplied in white housings to match the walls of the Concert Hall, which has a fully flexible layout, retractable seating and can accommodate up to 1000 people

UK - Following a run at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury and a UK tour in 2016, satirical play The Wipers Times has arrived in the West End with a limited run at The Arts Theatre. Full technical service provider Hawthorn were chosen to provide lighting equipment for this dark comedy from the trenches.
A stage adaptation of their award-winning BBC film, The Wipers Times by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman, tells the true and extraordinary story of the satirical newspaper that was created in the mud and mayhem of the Somme.
The team at Hawthorn worked with lighting designer James Smith to provide lighting equipment for the production when it toured in 2016 and were delighted to be asked to be involved once again when it arrived in the West End.
Smith, explaining why he chose to get Hawthorn on board once again, said: “After seeing the success of how Hawthorn delivered the UK tour of Wind in the Willows, of which I’m the Associate LD, it was not a hard decision to ask them to supply the lighting equipment for The Wipers Times, both on the original tour and the transfer to the Arts Theatre.

In line with technical enhancements within the industry, the rig for the West End production utilises a mixture of LED fixtures, such as the ETC ColorSource Spot, alongside more traditional tungsten fixtures such as the Vari*lite VL1000TS.
“The production required a wide variety of fixtures including framing moving lights, LED source fours, zoomable LED cans and very tight Aero cans” says Smith. “This was due to the hu

UK - Bristol Music Trust (BMT) has revealed the next stages in its ambitious £48.8m redevelopment programme for Colston Hall, including a name change for the venue.
Louise Mitchell, chief executive of BMT, said: “We are on track with our transformation campaign and at this stage in the process, we can now focus on the detailed plans for the redeveloped Hall, including what its future name should be.
“The name Colston does not reflect the Trust’s values as a progressive, forward-thinking and open arts organisation. We want to look to the future and ensure the whole city is proud of its transformed concert hall and so, when we reopen the new building in 2020, it will be with a new name. This overall rebrand is part of transforming the Colston Hall we have today into the new National Centre for Music Entertainment, Education and Enterprise.”
With two-thirds of the funding raised and public consultation complete on the pre-planning application, the Trust is now heading into its final campaign stage. This includes raising the remaining third of the money and finalising detailed plans ahead of the planning application being submitted to Bristol City Council later this year.
Louise explained: “We have always been clear that the option of commercial sponsorship would be part of our transformation fundraising plans and we are now looking to engage with commercial organisations about sponsorship opportunities, which is key to helping us reach our total. The new name could include recognition of a commercial partner, but we will be consulti

USA - Star power was out in force on 19 March, when the Geffen Playhouse hosted the 15th annual Backstage at the Geffen, a fundraiser that benefits the celebrated theatre’s artistic and community outreach programs. Quincy Jones and Mel Brooks were honoured; their awards presented respectively by Barbra Streisand and Rob Reiner. Aisha Tyler of the Emmy-winning CBS programme The Talk was the evening’s host. Bridesmaids director Paul Feig appeared, as did comedians Sarah Silverman and Dave Chappelle.
This star-studded list of honorees and participants notwithstanding, as a charity event, Backstage at the Geffen had to be run with an eye toward controlling operating costs. For lighting supervisor Darren Rezowalli, this meant creating a compact rig that could be set up quickly, yet still deliver the sharp effects and rich colours that such a glamorous evening demanded. A collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures was critical in helping the LA-based designer create the looks he wanted without sacrificing the efficiency he needed.
“The gala typically falls between two mainstage productions, and since it’s a fundraiser, we do not want to do a labour intensive – and costly -- rehang for it,” said Rezowalli. “Our plot for the gala is always heavily influenced by either the incoming or outgoing lighting designs. This can be challenging because the gala uses the full stage, while our designed season productions use very custom configurations. The deck here is trapped. We usually rebuild half the apron for the gala to allow

The Netherlands - Home to AFC Ajax, Amsterdam ArenA is a world class stadium and the preferred venue for the Dutch national football team’s international fixtures. As part of its ongoing upgrade, it recently installed a new audio solution based on the d&b Y-Series system.
Production manager at Amsterdam ArenA, Tim Oosterop comments, “Like our LED screens, or escalators, audio investment is not something you can charge for, it doesn’t translate directly into revenue, but it does see the audience come earlier and stay longer. If they’re here that’s good for revenue, and makes best use of the facilities.
“Ajax already has its own video production department and puts a lot
of work into the pre-show environment. Entertainment is the key component and quality audio is a big part of delivering that experience.”
Looking toward a new audio installation, Oosterop, and Head of Technology Martin Wielaart, defined three main objectives: Compliance, specifically to UEFA/ FIFA regulations for performance and intelligibility, and adherence to national and international safety standards for evacuation systems; Address the venue’s atypical acoustics, difficulties that could not be solved – in realistic financial terms – through current construction techniques; Enhance the stadium’s reputation
as a host of other entertainment events – especially concerts – with an acknowledged leading audio brand. 

To address the requirements of safety and conformity the arena engaged the services of RH Consulting, a specialist practice tha

UK - Currently playing at the Salisbury Playhouse, Echo’s End tells the story of a young couple in 1915 Wilshire who find themselves caught up in the turmoil of troubled times. It is written by award-winning playwright and novelist Barney Norris, directed by Alice Hamilton and features a lighting design by Howard Hudson. White Light was called upon to provide the equipment.
Echo’s End marks Howard’s fifth production at the Salisbury Playhouse. He comments, “Salisbury is a great venue and this is a brilliant new play that tells a story about that part of the world. The entire play is set outside on the Salisbury Plain, so one of the main requirements was to achieve a sense of natural light and the epic undulating scale of that area at different times of day.”
As with most of his designs, Howard had to work closely alongside the set design, which in this case reflected outdoor Wiltshire. He adds, “A major element of Tom Rogers’ design was a 14-metre-wide printed cloud cyc at the back of the stage which allowed us to create a wide variety of different looks for the eight scenes, ranging from dull, clement overcast grey days, to strong, deep saturated sunsets. This was also useful for the transitions between scenes as it provided a really great and varied backdrop for the company to be silhouetted against.”
Prior to the production opening, Howard visited WL’s Wimbledon base where he was able to experiment with a range of fixtures before adding them to his rig. He comments, “WL were very helpful in letting me come down

USA - Lake Forest, California’s Saddleback Church, the host campus and broadcast site for the sizeable worship community led by Purpose Driven Life author Rick Warren, has been in its current location for nearly 25 years, but never had an audio system upgrade - until now. Seeking to improve intelligibility, the church turned to the installation division of Escondido-based Sound Image, which replaced the site’s ageing point-source system with a new L-Acoustics Kara array setup.
“There were all kinds of physical challenges,” recalls Sound Image’s Scott Coyle. “The room is basically a big square with about 200ft per side, and the back quarter of the space is bleacher-style seating. Plus, there are glass walls down each side measuring 30 feet high by 90 feet long, so we started out faced with a 2.2-second reverb time.”
“The previous PA was put in when the room was built almost 25 years ago,” notes Saddleback audio lead Aaron Ruse. “It served the church fairly well, but audio technology has leapt forward so much in that time - especially in the past decade -that we knew that in order to provide the best experience for the congregation, it was time.”
“They did several comparative listening tests, including a final one in the actual room,” continues Sound Image’s Mike Fay, who was the integrator’s point of contact on-site. “They heard five or six PAs and kept coming back to L-Acoustics,” Coyle adds.
Ruse says it was an obvious choice. “Every time we put multiple PAs head-to-head and ranked them, no PA was consisten

Poland - The historical Olympic Stadium in Wroclaw, Poland has been sympathetically refurbished and modernised, under a redevelopment plan that included substantial new construction. The opportunity for the project came as a result of Wroclaw being awarded host city for the 2017 World Games.
Built in 1928, the listed-monument stadium was one of the many great sports complexes constructed across Germany in the 1920s, its location becoming a part of Poland after World War 2. Restored areas include the brick exterior of the original building, along with the old clock tower opposite the main grandstand. The largest transformation has been the building of a new main grandstand with covered seating. Additionally, the venue has improved hospitality areas and significantly better access for disabled sports fans.
The re-design of the 11,000-capacity stadium, which will host speedway racing, American football and rugby, is the work of Poznan-based architect Wojciecha Ryżyńskiego. The sound system for the Olympic Stadium was designed and installed by Tommex Żebrowscy Sp. J. and is based around Community R Series loudspeakers and Dynacord electronics.
The main system is housed in the commentary room and linked to two separate amplifier rooms. The audio signal is transmitted over the stadium’s network using the Dante protocol and is triple redundant, with two fibre rings and a turbo function ring.
The system uses a Dynacord CMS 2200-3 audio mixer, 16 x 16 DSP equipped digital control matrix and a DPM 8016 digital matrix manager. The audio matrix is

Sweden - Located on a tree-lined avenue, restaurant Usine adds a touch of French industrial flair to the heart of Stockholm’s business district. Featuring a bistro, tapas bar, café/takeaway and conference facilities, a zoned Yamaha audio system blends seamlessly with the venue’s aesthetics.
Usine’s name comes from the French word for ‘factory’, which is reflected in its girders, overhead air ducts and other services being left exposed and made a feature of. AV specialist Watt & Volt was contracted to design and specify a zoned audio system, choosing Yamaha CIS products to deliver high quality audio in a challenging environment of hard, flat reflective surfaces.
Controlled by an MTX5-D matrix processor, the system is divided into nine zones and features 32 VXS8 full-range, surface mounted loudspeakers, plus two IS1112 subs in the main bar/dining area, two flush-mounted NSIC400s in the bathrooms and 12 IPX3-rated VS4s covering the outdoor areas.
The system is powered by one XMV8280, one XMV4140 and one XP5000 power amplifiers, with eight zones each controlled by a wall-mounted DCP1V4S panel one constant volume channel feeding audio to the toilets.
Spread throughout the venue are three XLR panels for the connection of audio inputs, giving Usine the flexibility to host DJ sets and live performances.
“We wanted a system that would be easy to use for all staff members, but products with aesthetics that would blend seamlessly into Usine’s industrial theme,” says Watt & Volt business development manager Carl Ingler. “T

USA - Hard Rock Stadium is owned by, and home to, the NFL Miami Dolphins. It also hosts University of Miami football and major entertainment events throughout the year. As part of a three-year, facility-wide renovation, the re-named facility now boasts a massively upgraded sound system by Electro-Voice.
With the stadium’s addition of a roof and massive video displays, crowd noise levels are substantially higher than the original open-air design, making even coverage critical, both in terms of SPL and frequency response. In addition to the primary task of improving the fan experience through better audio, the sound system is also used for mass notification of life safety information. The Dolphins selected Diversified Systems to design and integrate the system, charging them with the task of overcoming increased levels due to roof reflections while delivering both vocal intelligibility and musical fidelity.
Drawing from all parts of the diverse yet sonically matched Electro-Voice loudspeaker portfolio, the installation delivers concert-quality sound via 186 XLCi-127DVX line array elements, weatherised and integrated into custom-engineered frames to withstand extreme storm and wind conditions.
These are augmented by EVF-1122S front-loaded loudspeakers and EVH-1152D long-throw loudspeakers to cover hard-to-reach zones like corner seating areas. In addition, 48 dual 18-inch subwoofers, custom designed for the project, add an exciting bass element that was absent in the stadium’s previous system.
An ongoing installation challenge was the manag

China - Nexo STM M28 has made its debut appearance in the great city of Shanghai, in a new entertainment venue that has become one of the main hotspots for both local and foreign visitors.
VShow, a five-year-old KTV brand, has recently made the leap into live music, commissioning the V Livehouse in the heart of Shanghai’s ‘club central’ on Huaihai Dong Lu, another sign that the Chinese nightclub and bar entertainment market is getting back on its feet. At V Livehouse, the band is the central attraction. The performance stage is embraced by high-end interior décor, superior food and beverage service, and top-class management.
For this environment, a high-specification front-of-house PA was essential. The STM M28 ‘omni’ cabinet was a perfect fit for the venue, offering high SPL from small unobtrusive cabinets. Three M28s per side were installed, fitted with 120° flanges because of the relatively short throw required. Below the STM clusters, four Nexo LS18 cabinets provided the sub-bass. A couple of Nexo PS10-R2s provide front-fill coverage, and outer edges of the room are covered by a total of four PS15-R2s.
On stage, twoPS10-R2s are used as stage in-fill monitors, installed in the ceiling in front of the stage and facing down towards it at an angle. Drummers have their own Nexo PS10-R2/LS600 monitor system.
All systems are driven by Nexo NXAMP4x4s and NXAMP4x1 powered TDControllers. A Yamaha QL5 digital mixing console is at front-of-house.
Nexo Shanghai dealer, Shanghai Haoyun Audio-Visual Equipments Co., Ltd. supplied the sys

UK - The Little Angel Theatre (LAT) in the heart of Islington, London, is a home for puppetry. Not only does the theatre serve to inspire and ignite the imaginations of young minds with its repertoire of productions but it also works to equip tomorrow's puppeteers with the tools they need to succeed. The LAT has a lively and imaginative education programme which works with local schools and community groups as well as providing training opportunities for puppeteers and puppet makers, helping to maintain this rare art form in the UK.
In 2014, the LAT took on a second building - a disused community centre behind Islington Town Hall. After a couple of years of using it for education and rehearsal space, David Duffy head of production, decided that it could be used to stage performances. With the support of the local council, the LAT made plans to install a lighting rig, sound system, track curtains, removable dance floor and flexible seating and chose to work with Doughty Engineering following a change meeting with Laurence Dyer at ABTT in 2016.
David said, "Initially, we were interested in the Modular Rigging System. Little Angel Theatre is a venue dedicated to puppetry and much of the lighting design for puppetry involves lots of side lighting. Our main theatre was developed to give as many rigging positions on the side walls as possible. Moving into a more open studio space which would be used as an education venue most of the time meant that we would be relying more on a fixed overhead lighting rig.
“The Modular Rigging System allows us to drop r

USA - Cowboys Saloon is the newest tenant at Syracuse, New York’s Destiny Mall, the largest mall in New York State and the sixth largest mall in the country. With its roots in Florida, Cowboys Saloon has opened strategic locations throughout the country, and the 13,000sq.ft Destiny location exemplifies the brand’s commitment to entertaining its patrons with a full-blooded country & western experience.
It has a live stage devoted mainly to country music, but with a healthy dose of rock music and DJ sets thrown in, and ample table and bar seating. In order to give Cowboys Saloon the most powerful sound reinforcement system possible on a constrained (and already stretched) budget, local AV integration firm Visual Technologies used 10 of Ashly Audio’s uniquely affordable, powerful, and reliable KLR-Series dual-channel amplifiers.
Rich Trombitas, regional sales & product manager with A/V manufacturers rep firm Cardone, Solomon & Associates (CS&A), which handles Ashly Audio gear in New York City and northern New Jersey, assisted Jim Blair, sales manager at Visual Technologies with the system design at Cowboys Saloon.
In a single day, Trombitas travelled to Syracuse from New York City, surveyed the space, met with the owner, went back to Visual Technologies, designed the system with Blair, compiled a materials list, and drove back home. “The two keys to the project’s success were having the owner meet us halfway on the budget and designing a system that was as powerful and reliable as they really needed to pull off the promise of

Austria - Gerhard Scherer is a happy man since 24 x Robe DL7S Profiles and DL4S Profiles - 12 of each fixture – have been installed at the Theater Akzent Theatre in Vienna - a busy producing and receiving house located in the Wieden district of Austria’s capital city, famous for its culture and charm.
Head of lighting Gerhard has been working at Akzent since it was founded in 1989 in the grounds of the former Palais Nathaniel Rothschild. Its post-modern architecture was designed by Rudolf Jarosch and it offers a 455-seat main house, a studio that can accommodate 80 people and a 380-capacity event space.
When it came to the most recent technical upgrades for lighting, he was looking for powerful, refined profile LED fixtures with additive colour mixing, and Robe's DL range ticked all the boxes!
Also responsible for lighting 90 per cent of the incoming shows, this has made Gerhard’s life infinitely easier and more enjoyable - and he’s not looked back.
For him, the DL7S profile in particular is "one of the best luminaires I've ever seen” and very different to what he would normally expect in the white ranges from an LED lightsource.
They considered several different options by four leading brands including Robe before making the investment, although right from the start Robe had an edge because 11 years ago, Akzent purchased some ColorSpot 700E ATs which are still working well.
"They have been used almost every day for all of that time and there's never been a single issue," confirms Gerhard . . . almost surprised himself wi

UK - Boasting a wide range of high quality indoor and outdoor facilities, Salt Ayre is the largest community sports and leisure centre in the Lancaster district. Run by Lancaster City Council, as well as a swimming pool, sports hall, climbing wall and soft-play area, the centre boasts a state-of-the-art health and fitness suite.
Part of a recent £5m refurbishment and development project at the centre, the gym is a modern air-conditioned facility with an extensive range of exercise equipment. In a cutting-edge setting like Salt Ayre, high quality audio systems are essential to deliver the music that is an integral part of a contemporary exercise environment. During the redevelopment, Lancaster City Council contacted professional audio specialists, Audiogenics of Carnforth with a view to installing a new sound system at Salt Ayre's gym.
The brief was to provide a background music system for the gym with provision to alter the volume level in different areas as required. The music source was, originally, to be either a CD player or mobile device. Ceiling speakers were the desired option as the main areas to be covered already had suspended ceilings in place.
Whilst the brief was to provide the highest audio quality possible, Audiogenics also had to be mindful of the council's budget. In consultation with Audiologic, Robin Duff at Audiogenics settled on an Ecler system centred on the Ecler Essentials range. The range preserves the essence of Ecler's renowned reliability and quality, whilst, by offering fewer features, is a one-stop solution at a compet

UK – Supporters and trustees of Backup - The Technical Entertainment Charity - gathered in London on Monday evening to help raise the profile of the charity’s new name and logo in entertainment industry. Around 80 guests attended the event, which included live entertainment from Jay Johnson.
Backup exists to provide financial support to technical professionals working in live events, theatre, TV and film, helping them to get back on their feet when their lives are disrupted by illness or injury to themselves or to family members. Previously known as Behind The Scenes UK, the charity changed its name to Backup in 2016.
Backup’s chairman, John Simpson, welcomed guests to The Hospital Club in London’s Covent Garden, which generously sponsored the event. He reiterated the purpose of the charity by highlighting some of its achievements to date. “We have helped a number of technicians and their families when they have suffered falls from sets and studio rigging, been involved in horrific vehicle accidents, suffered rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, mental breakdowns and other circumstances that have prevented them from earning a living for a period of time.”
Among those being helped by the charity is Mark Pritchard, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma while touring with Level 42, and has just undergone a fourth round of chemotherapy. John Simpson read a message from him, in which he thanked the charity, saying: “We are amazed at the generosity of our industry in times of trouble.”
Simpson said: “Backup wil