USA - During the weekend of 15-17 April 2011 Atlanta staged two large festivals at the same time and this year it was RCF TT+ systems that supplied the sound to a big audience at the SweetWater 420 Fest and the Atlanta Dogwood Festival.

The Atlanta Dogwood Festival is an arts and crafts festival held each spring at Piedmont Park in Atlanta. Originally held for nine days across two weekends, it is now held only one weekend during early April, when the native dogwoods are in bloom.

The Dogwood Festival 2011 was celebrating its 75th years anniversary in the beautiful surroundings of Piedmont Park. With several stages with continuously performances the festival gives many upcoming artists and talents the opportunity to play their music to a wider audience.

On the festival there were performances by Charlie Wayne Watson, Arena Sound, Off the Grid, Frets on Fire, OGYA World Music

Turkey - An Istanbul branch of the Nomads club has opened in Istanbul, installed with an L-Acoustics coaxial sound system.

Nomads Istanbul follows the concept of the original Amsterdam venue, serving up a combination of European and Eastern culture in both its style and cuisine, with interior decorations and tableware sourced from Morocco and Egypt.

Attention to detail didn't end with the interior decor. The Su Entertainment Group also deemed technical design to be a crucial factor in the new club's success. The group thereby handed responsibility for sound and light system design and installation to L-Acoustics' Turkish distributor, Elit Light&Sound Technologies. Elit has installed a system of four L-Acoustics 12XTi and seven 8XTi coaxial loudspeakers and four SB18 subwoofers around the club, powered by three LA4 amplified controllers.

"At Elit Light&Sound Technologies

China - Babyface Beijing has undergone a major refurbishment including the replacement of the sound system, which is now APG throughout.

New owner Mr Dai was very clear about what he wanted to achieve: "I want this club to stand out from the crowd," he said. "And for that, I have to have the best sound system and the best lighting system available." He turned to local audio experts and APG distributors BVCAM to help him with his choice of equipment.

BVCAM organised a demo for Mr Dai at their dedicated APG demo room in Shenzhen that turned out to be extremely convincing. BVCAM's Danny Huen explained that Mr Dai understands audio and has listened to many brands over the years, so he was interested to have his opinion on APG. "Actually, he found APG to have a pure sound that set it apart from other brands, so he put our proposal on his list for considerat

UK - Robe moving lights and Anolis LED fixtures were specified by lighting designer Simon Marcus from Enlightened to illuminate Bath Abbey, Pulteney Bridge and other key architectural features around the UK World Heritage spa town's city centre for the opening night of the 2011 Bath International Music Festival - Party In The City.

It is the second year that locally based Marcus has designed a lighting scheme for Bath Abbey, which was founded in 1499. His client was Bath Tourism & Leisure.

He needed a selection of reliable, flexible, bright lightsources which could be rigged over four levels of the Abbey. Having large quantities of both Robe and Anolis units in Enlightened's hire stock, and long experience of using them for many applications, he knew they would be suitable for the job. He also took the opportunity to use six newly purchased Robe Robin 600 LEDWashes.

T

USA - A short but breathtaking drive from trendy Aspen, St. Benedict's Monastery reflects the natural serenity of its majestic surroundings. Nestled in a valley on several thousand acres in western Colorado's Elk Mountains, it offers spectacular views of nearby Mt. Sopris' twin summits. It is an idyllic environment for the Benedictine monks who mix their daily meditation and prayer with the running of a working ranch and bakery. The monks also operate the architecturally renowned Retreat House and Hermitages, hosting personal and group retreats, conducting daily liturgical services, and occasionally welcoming performances by world famous musicians from nearby Aspen.

Built in 1958, the Monastery's main chapel is simple but elegant, its rustic red brick walls accented by a quarry tile floor and barrel-vaulted, pine-beamed arched ceilings that soar to 32ft at their peak. A single 1

Turkey - The recently opened Nomads nightclub in Istanbul features Coemar's moving heads. The iSpot 575 MB models have been installed in the large room and are controlled via the Director 768 mixer.

Nomads Istanbul follows the concept of the original Amsterdam venue, serving up a combination of European and Eastern culture in both its style and cuisine, with interior decorations and tableware sourced from Morocco and Egypt. With views of the Bosporus, a bar hung with hundreds of colourful, handmade Arabic lambs and a hidden garden, Nomads is set to make a mark on Istanbul's vibrant nightlife.

(Jim Evans)

UK - PLASA Events Ltd, organisers of PLASA 2011 (11-14 September, Earls Court, London) have announced the launch of this year's PLASA Awards for Innovation, which this year will include the newly named Sustainability Award - and of the 2011 Gottelier Award nomination process.

The PLASA Awards for Innovation always draw a great deal of interest from visitors to the PLASA Show, who can view all of the nominees in the specially designed 'Innovation Gallery', which will this year again be situated near the Earls Court 2 entrance to the Show. Independently judged by a panel of industry experts from lighting, audio, video and rigging & staging specialist backgrounds, the PLASA Awards for Innovation are one of the most prestigious product Awards in the business. The judges will again have eight product awards at their disposal, with the option to award a 'Gold' to a product or products

Germany - Hamburg's oldest parish church, Hauptkirche St. Petri, founded in the 11th century, has been equipped with a state of the art sound system designed and installed by Cobra sound light. The Hamburg based live event and system design company has fitted church of the Hanseatic city with Renkus-Heinz IC Live digitally beam steerable loudspeakers.

Located in the heart of downtown on Hamburg's major shopping hub, Mönckebergstrasse, the 1,033-seat Hauptkirche St. Petri is considered the 'city church' and opens its doors daily to offer on oasis of calm and a place to meet.

Cobra sound light engineer and project manager Hendrik Thode says the company's roots in live events is reflected in its approach to installations. "In live shows we always meet a new challenge. The fascinating job definition now is using new tools which offer new potential even in difficult locations

UK / USA - Following on from the critical success of the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) in Stratford-upon-Avon, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has further developed Charcoalblue's and Bennetts Associates' auditorium designs to deliver a 975-seat 'flat pack' travelling performance space.

The new, three-tiered structure has been built inside New York's historic Park Avenue Armory. Here, from 6 July - 14 August, Lincoln Center Festival and Park Avenue Armory, in association with The Ohio State University, are presenting the Royal Shakespeare Company for a repertoire of five of Shakespeare's plays - As You Like It, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet and The Winter's Tale.

"The flat pack theatre is a dynamic replica of the RST theatre, originally conceived by Charcoalblue and Bennetts Associates Architects," explains Ch

UK - Already boasting an illustrious following among lounge nightclubs in London's clubland, including Mortons, Raffles, Stringfellows, Vendome, Bungalow 8 and Le Pigalle, Nexo has been given a big boost by new super-club Pulse, which has chosen a Geo S12 system for its primary space.

Pulse, also known as Bankside Vaults, is built into four spectacular interlinked brick arches, right beside Blackfriars Bridge in central London.

Divided naturally into four main interlinked areas, the space can be adapted for any occasion. Its primary space is equipped with a performance stage, recently used by Erick Morillo for a record-breaking crowd of 2,500 people, which has been fitted with a Geo S12 system, underpinned by Nexo's RS15 subbass units.

The installation of Geo S12 in Pulse follows the success of a smaller system at sister club Arcadia. The two projects have been overseen by H

UK - CHAUVET, a leading manufacturer of professional lighting recently installed nearly 150 Chauvet fixtures in Troxy, a multifunctional venue for live concerts, corporate events, weddings, indoor sports and more. Lighting designer Dan Sanders capitalized on the dramatic uplighting opportunities of the art-deco style venue with a bevy of LED wash lights specified by JPS Sound & Light based in St. Ives.

Installed throughout the venue are 16 COLORado Tri Tour, 60 COLORband Tri and 10 COLORado Batten 72 Tour, as well as 36 LED PAR 38 wash lights. Sanders specifically sought LED-fitted fixtures due to their longer life and color changing capabilities.

"There are 150 fixtures installed throughout," Sanders said. "I didn't want to change 150 light bulbs. Colour-changing LEDs were selected because the interior is white and pastel and we could add colours and turn [the

UK - News of another interactive new feature area at PLASA 2011 has been announced. The Theatres Trust will return to PLASA 2011 with an expanded version of its innovative Ecovenue feature, the area that gives visitors the chance to see how 48 pioneering London theatres are putting sustainability into practice.

Located in Earls Court 2, the feature takes the form of a theatre-in-miniature, complete with 'auditorium', 'stage', 'backstage', 'foyer' and 'box office'. In each area The Theatres Trust will demonstrate proven sustainability techniques, as well as featuring technologies from PLASA 2011 exhibitors.

Tim Atkinson, theatre building services advisor to The Theatres Trust, comments, "The larger space means our stage will be able to accommodate a greater variety of presentations and events. Another key development is that, whereas last year we had only signed up half of

UK - Chichester Festival Theatre is one of the UK's flagship theatres, with a reputation for producing a wide range of theatrical productions, from musicals and comedies, to classic drama and innovative new writing. Since opening in 1962, the theatre has established an international reputation as one of the UK's leading regional venues. The Festival Theatre was founded by Leslie Evershed-Martin CBE and its first artistic director was Laurence Olivier.

With 1206 seats, the Festival Theatre was the first modern theatre in this country to have an open 'thrust' stage with the audience seated around it on three sides, allowing it a close involvement with the actors. The emphasis of the theatre's programme is on the summer festival, which runs from April to September and includes the show Singing in the Rain, which is based on the classic MGM movie.

GDS were commissioned to d

UK - Earlier this year The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST), along with 97 other architectural projects, won a much-coveted 2011 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Award. Six of the 97 projects went on to be shortlisted for the prestigious Stirling Prize; the RST was one of them. The team at Charcoalblue Theatre Consultants, the company responsible for the design and planning of the theatre auditorium and the technical facilities, both in the auditorium and backstage, is delighted.

Managing director Andy Hayles comments, "This is the fifteenth project that the Charcoalblue team has worked on to win a RIBA Award and the third that's been nominated for a Stirling Prize. From the moment the RST opened it quickly and emphatically showed its strengths. The single-space, thrust stage format is an exciting, intimate and aesthetically enchanting space to inhabit.

"I

UK - The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury is set to become one of the country's landmark theatres. Following a £25.6m development project, the venue will open on 4 October 2011. Award-winning theatre consultants Charcoalblue was appointed by owners of the theatre, Canterbury City Council, and were responsible for the design, planning and technical specification of the auditorium and backstage areas for both the main auditorium and the multi-configurable Marlowe Studio.

Working alongside architect Keith Williams of Keith Williams Architects was project manager for Charcoalblue, Paul Crosbie. He discusses the development: "The Marlowe Theatre has always been an extremely popular venue but it had become tired and was quite simply not big enough. Part of Charcoalblue's remit was to increase seating capacity to 1200 to enable the Marlowe to host the biggest and the best in tour

UK - At this year's PLASA show, London-based theatre consultancy Charcoalblue will be joining the technical team of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) and Jonathan Porter-Goff of Stage Electrics to reveal how their designs, and the collaborative work they did with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), transformed one of the world's most famous theatre auditoriums into a world-class performance space.

Charcoalblue will discuss the design concepts that resulted in this critically acclaimed new performance space for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Andy Hayles, managing director of Charcoalblue says, "The Royal Shakespeare Theatre's transformation project, which was completed last autumn, was a singular development in world theatre. The space embodies a host of new techniques and technologies. The auditorium has been designed, without compromise, to create

Estonia - Dating from 1865, The Vanemuine Theatre in Tartu is one of the oldest and prestigious theatre of all the Baltic republics.

Through the local agent E&T, a variety of LDR double optic condenser profiles , Fresnel , PC and Cyclorama's have been chosen, installed and successfully used in the theatre.

"The Vanemuine theatre was looking to replace and improve the existing lighting stage inventory," says Fabiano Besio. "The installation proved to be successful and I'm proud to know that LDR fits and exceeds the theatre needs - A special thankyou goes to Olev Luhaäär from E&T that assisted the theatre during the installation and provided valuable local assistance."

Fabiano Besio adds, "In a time whenpeople confuse and forget the basic concepts of light I still believe in my motto 'Proper light in the proper place and here comes magic'. Surprising

UK / USA - As part of its ongoing merger activities and in response to the end of year departure of Ruth Rossington, executive director in Europe, PLASA has taken the opportunity to restructure its management team to ensure it continues to move the organisation forward while progressing a wide range of projects of benefit to members.

With effect from 1 October 2011, a new company structure will be put in place which sees CEO Matthew Griffiths heading up the association, whilst also temporarily overseeing the Events divisions in the UK and North America. Finance director Shane McGreevy becomes chief operating officer (COO) with responsibilities expanding beyond finance and core services into operational administration and personnel.

Lori Rubinstein, current executive director in North America, becomes the new director of membership, skills, standards & technical overseeing thes

USA - PLASA has announced the finalists for the fourth annual Rock Our World Awards, to be presented at the PLASA Cocktail & Awards Reception at LDI 2011. The PLASA Rock Our World Awards were created to honour groundbreaking achievement by its members and to acknowledge the genius of both the creator of the technology and the designer or integrator who applies it in a real world environment.

The finalists for the fourth annual Rock Our World Awards are:

83rd Annual Academy Awards - Green Hippo, PRG, TMB

ALEXA Digital Camera System - ARRI

coolux Widget Designer 3.0 PRO - Coolux GmbH

DataGate Mk2 - ENTTEC

Disney World of Color - A.C.T Lighting, Fisher Technical Services, MA Lighting, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Creative Entertainment

EverGrip Molded Motor Control Cables - Lex Products Corp

Garsington Opera - Unusual Rigging Ltd (UK)

USA - More than 25 years in the making, Dallas' AT&T Performing Arts Centre is a cultural nexus in the city's revitalised downtown arts district. The area is home to a number of different entertainment venues, from the Dallas Symphony's Meyerson Auditorium and the intimate Wyly Theatre to the Winspear Opera House and the open-air Annette Strauss Square, making it a busy hub of activity on any given evening.

The 2,200-seat Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, created by architect Foster & Partners, with theatre design by Theatre Projects Consultants and acoustician Sound Space Design, is home to the Dallas Opera, and an anchor in the new arts district. The Winspear's sound system, designed by Martin Van Dijk of Toronto-based Engineering Harmonics, is centred around left/right arrays of 12 Renkus-Heinz STLA/9R RHAON empowered loudspeakers that retract into the ceiling when not in

Lebanon - Popular open-air nightclub Skybar features a Turbosound-based sound system. Louay Agha of Lebanon-based Thunder Electronics explains his original 2008 system design, "With Skybar being open to the elements I specified Turbosound's TCS-C series of weather-resistant loudspeakers, whose qualities are vitally important."

The system has seen an upgrade this year with the addition of eight TCX-12 two-way loudspeakers and six B-18 subwoofers from the Compact series, powered by Turbosound's latest DSP-based amplifier: the RACKDP-50, which delivers an impressive 1250 watts at 2 ohms from each of its four output channels.

"Skybar opens at 8pm each evening and functions as a chill-out lounge with food and background music," says Agha. "Then at midnight it fires up as a nightclub, with DJ sets and occasional live performances. So the loudspeakers need to

UK - A.C. Special Projects (ACSP) will attend PLASA 2011 (Stand 1-D32, Hall 1) to showcase and discuss examples of the many performance lighting, audio and AV system installations provided by the company.

ACSP design, supply and install lighting, sound and AV systems - as well as track and curtains, intercom and show relay. The company's previous installations range from a basic six circuit lighting bar, with a dimmer pack and lighting desk, to full blown theatre systems.

Working alongside designers and architects or directly for the performance venue, the company's fully qualified team of engineers will provide a first class finished system installation, on time and on budget.

ACSP has access to over 200 quality brands, including popular performance ranges from Chroma-Q, Jands, Spotlight, ETC, Philips Selecon, Pulsar, Sennheiser, Shure, Soundcraft, Allen & Heath, JBL, Andol

UK - Marquee Installations has completed the installation of sound systems and AV infrastructure for the new G Live venue in Guildford, including the FOH Martin Audio W8LM Mini Line Array system.

Replacing the old Civic Hall, which closed in 2004, the G Live venue provides a flexible performance hall, which accommodates 1,000 in all-seat or 1,700 in seated/standing modes. The venue also incorporates a flexible-use 100-seat studio space, substantial foyers, café and bars, kitchens to provide for banqueting, seminar and meeting rooms, dressing rooms plus green room and offices.

The hall acoustics and sound systems designs for G Live were specified by electro-acoustic consultants Peter Mapp + Associates. The main hall has been designed to be an acoustically dry space with an Acoustic Control Systems (ACS) system, supplied by RK Sound Engineering, giving the ability to alte

UK - The Sage Gateshead has installed a Midas PRO9 live performance system at front of house in its main auditorium.

"We first came across the Midas PRO series almost three years ago, when we used a PRO 6 on a large surround sound opera, Skellig," says The Sage Gateshead's head of technical operations, Chris Durant. "It was obvious that this was a product that would more than meet our needs when we needed to upgrade, and would reinforce our reputation as one of the best sounding music venues in the world."

"Our demands range from small school concerts to large conferences and orchestral events to world class amplified artists," says Durant. "The various I/O boxes available as part of the Midas digital system means that we've been able to come up with solutions for all of these, as well as applications that were previously impossible. We found

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