USA - When Mammoth WVH, the rock band formed by Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang Van Halen, released their debut album in June 2021, their sound was hailed by critics as being, fresh, original and different. Around the same time, Pawns and Kings, the seventh LP from Alter Bridge was released, earning praise for its consistently thunderous metal power.
Creating different looks for two distinctly different coheadliners, sharing the stage on a two-year, two-continent tour, can present a challenge for a lighting designer, but it is one that Westley Palmer relishes.
“With the music from the two bands being so different stylistically, the lightshows differ greatly in timing and feel,” said Palmer. “At the same time, though, the two bands share a common vibe, which is why their tours have been so successful. My goal is to reflect the personality of each band, while keeping that rock’n’roll brotherhood vibe alive.”
Helping Palmer achieve this goal on the current coast-to-coast 30 city leg of the US tour is a floor package made up of 36 Chauvet Professional fixtures, including 12 Color STRIKE M motorised strobes, 12 STRIKE 4 multi formatted units, and 12 Storm 1 Washes, supplied by AVL of Jacksonville, FL.
The versatility of this floor package helps Palmer remain true to his design vision, despite the variations in different house rigs he has to deal with on the tour, which began 25 January at the Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa and concludes 1 April at the Yaamava Casino Resort in California, with stops like Ryman Auditorium and Detroi

USA - The Bowery Presents, which has built a club empire comprising venues throughout the northeast United States, took its name from perhaps the toughest street in New York history. Its club brands in the city include venerable Webster Hall, Brooklyn Steel - named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by Rolling Stone - and Terminal 5 in the trendy Hell’s Kitchen area.
What all these venues have in common is high-fidelity sound, thanks to a variety of L-Acoustics loudspeakers in use at each site. Now, a bit of sonic DNA from each of these spaces has been injected into the newest member of The Bowery Presents squad, Racket NYC, which opened in January, in the Chelsea space once occupied by Highline Ballroom. There, a combination of new gear and repurposed L-Acoustics kit from those other four venues came together to let the 650-capacity Racket continue one of The Bowery Presents’ core missions: keeping small clubs open and economically viable so that new artists have a place to develop and build fan bases.
“The economics of small clubs can be pretty uncertain,” says Scott Raved, director of operations at The Bowery Presents. “It’s important for us to grow bands, and we value the smaller venues and their natural intimacy as necessary to accomplish that. We want to give every artist and every venue the best sound possible, so we’ve chosen L-Acoustics for our clubs. Pulling some L-Acoustics elements from various venues allowed us to create a cost-effective sound system for Racket NYC that very much continues The Bowery Presents

USA - The top-earning country music tour of 2022 and one of the highest of any genre last year, Kenny Chesney’s Here And Now Tour grossed over $135m and saw him perform for 1.3m fans across 41 shows, including 21 stadia, making him the most popular touring country artist of the year.
The tour was originally scheduled to take place in 2020 but, like so many, was derailed by the global pandemic. Chesney eventually moved the tour to 2022 and named it after his album of the same name, bringing support acts Dan+Shay, Carly Pearce and Old Dominion with him. The tour closed in Foxborough MA with two sold-out shows that hosted a total of 122,000 fans.
Clair Global deployed a major audio system for all the concerts, using a combination of their Cohesion CO-12 and CO-10 line-array enclosures and CP-218 subwoofers. The three support acts used Avid, SSL and DiGiCo consoles, while Chesney’s FOH engineer Rob Scovill used another Avid S6L alongside an Avid S6L 24C redundant desk.
Scovill is one of the touring world’s most experienced engineers, with a portfolio that includes Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, Matchbox Twenty, Prince, Rush, Def Leppard and Alice Cooper. A six-time TEC Award winner, his work with Chesney landed him FOH Engineer Of The Year at the CMA (Country Music Association) Awards and has also earned him a nomination in the same category for the 2023 Parnelli Awards.
The Here And Now Tour was the first on which Scovill has worked with [Outline] Newton FPGA processor and he commented, "Kenny Chesney’s legendary stadium

USA - Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band kicked off their 2023 World Tour in February in Tampa, Florida, with lighting design by long-time collaborator and Emmy-winning designer Jeff Ravitz.
Ravitz, who has been with Springsteen since the Born in the USA tour in 1984/85, chose a selection of Elation Professional lights for the current tour, including luminaires from the company’s IP65 Proteus series. Lighting supply is by Christie Lites.
The 2023 tour marks the first time since 2017 that Springsteen & the E Street Band have toured together. As part of an overall lighting system, Ravitz is using Elation’s Proteus Hybrid moving heads and newly released Proteus Rayzor 1960 LED wash/mid-air/specialty effect lights, along with Proteus Rayzor 760 for stadium shows. The rig also features Elation Cuepix 16 IP LED matrix blinder and effect panels, and compact Smarty Hybrid moving heads.
According to Ravitz, a Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band concert must be crafted with both maximum power and maximum flexibility in mind. “There is a lot of creative territory to cover, considering Bruce’s broad catalogue of songs,” he comments with reference to the artist’s 50+ years in music, 21 studio albums and legion of hits. “But the fundamental approach is to create impactful stage pictures that carry the audience through the music, lyrics, and Bruce’s and the band’s high energy performance.
“The aesthetic is driven by the idea that we sculpt each band member out of the darkness in a way that’s right for every song, and

The Netherlands - The 2022 Symphonica in Rosso concert staged at Amsterdam Ziggo Dome was headlined by legendary Netherlands girlband Dolly Dots. They ended their 2021/22 Reunion Tour with this special high impact show – rumoured to be their last ever live performance – accompanied by The European Pop Orchestra conducted by Guido Dieteren.
Lighting and set for the Dolly Dots tour was designed by associate lighting designer Thomas de Vries from renowned creative studio Live Legends, who specified 124 x Robe Spiiders, 45 x LEDBeam 150s and 31 x BMFL Blades for this Symphonica in Rosso show that closed out 2022.
The set and lighting for their Symphonica in Rosso appearance featured a re-imagined and upwardly-engineered version of their touring system which, combined with a general production design for the full series of shows, provided an eye-catching backdrop for a series of unique orchestral-style Dolly Dots hits.
The Symphonica in Rosso concerts were organised and promoted by Mojo, with lighting equipment supplied by RentAll. The technical production was delivered by Unlimited Productions, and Bart Roelen was the technical production manager.
The set design was created by Niels Peeters for the Mojo team and involved slick multi-level risers for the orchestra and five large moving LED screens, with over 300 x pixel-controllable LED strips outlining and highlighting various architectural features of the staging concept.
Thomas worked closely with Niels on the types of lighting fixtures needed and their placement, building on this al

Australia - Canberra-based Elite Event Technology (EET) supplied 96 x Astera AX1 PixelTubes for an eye-catching lighting design to illuminate a special Ministry of Sound Orchestral concert staged at Stage 88, a permanent venue ensconced in the leafy green environs of Commonwealth Park, Canberra.
EET’s client was promoter Zaccaria Concerts and Touring, and the lighting designer was Jayden Sutherland from design studio The Bakery Design Co.
The AX1s were used along the three over-stage trusses – front, mid and rear – and to define the edges of all the orchestra risers on the deck, creating elegant architectural looks as well as high impact effects.
EET’s Darren Russell explained that they suggested Jayden use the AX1s as there was a very tight overnight changeover after a Crowded House gig the night before, also with lighting, video and sound production supplied by EET.
“We suggested Astera due to the wireless operation which basically made it seriously quicker and easier to complete the changeover over in the early hours of the morning and be ready on time delivering the rig for 10 a.m.” noted Darren, adding that both of these show days were long.
They also suggested AX1s because “We love our Astera products and thought they were a perfect practical and creative solution.”
Jayden had not used Astera products before, but took EET’s advice and agreed that they were a good option. Jayden also commented after the show that he was initially mildly sceptical about the AX1’s potential performance, but was very pleasan

USA - Hall Technologies has appointed Steven Pedroza as western regional sales manager. Pedroza has a long AV career supporting projects across a wide range of applications on both the manufacturers and system integration side of the industry.
“The West Coast is a key territory for Hall, and we could not be more pleased to have Steven on our team,” says VP of sales and marketing, Hal Truax. “He came highly recommended and is known for being very customer-focused and thorough. Those are key traits we look for on our team.”
“I’m extremely excited to join the Hall Technologies team at such a pivotal time in the company’s history, as well as within the AV industry I love so very much. Hall is a perfect fit for me and where I want to be in the industry, working side-by-side with a talented like-minded team that truly wants to help others succeed via technology.”

UK - The 2023 BRIT Awards, presented by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), were held on 11 February 2023 in recognition of the best in British musical talent.
Airing on ITV to 3.3m viewers, and watched by thousands in the live audience, London’s 02 Arena hosted the 43rd edition of the BRIT Awards, an event which Britannia Row has worked across for many years. The company supplied a full DiGiCo control package, L-Acoustics PA sound system design, RF management and crew as managed by Britannia Row director, Lez Dwight and account executive Tom Brown.
Continuing to facilitate a live sound placement for students from the BRIT School’s Production Arts course, Brit Row also enabled two students to get hands-on with the entire process of delivering a large-scale event. From the warehouse prep to load in and set up, the live performances, de-rig, venue load out and warehouse de-prep, the work experience is invaluable to budding sound specialists. This year’s successful applicants were Vinay Rana and Zena Tubmen.
Vinay begins: “When I discovered what a FOH engineer does, and how they can help bring music to thousands of people at each show, my curiosity piqued. I thought to myself, I could imagine doing this in the future… with a DiGiCo SD7 in a big arena!”
Zena too is fascinated by all areas of sound. She comments: “I am interested in front of house and monitors, but this experience with Brit Row has helped me to see how massive each department is and all of the specialised jobs within them.
“I learnt so much from the two-w

Europe - Continuing their successful Music of the Spheres tour, Coldplay will embark on another long tour of stadiums around the world, starting this month. Since the FOH control package initial design and build in February 2021, followed by promo and the kick-off of the 2022 live season, DirectOut's audio solutions have ensured maximum flexibility and efficiency.
In the process, four Prodigy.MP and one Prodigy.MC are once again playing their part in bringing the band's aspirations for a more sustainable tour production one step closer.
“We have enjoyed a close working relationship with Alex (Hadji) Hadjigeorgiou and his colleagues for many years now. Almost all our products have already been used on previous Coldplay tours,” says DirectOut managing director Jan Ehrlich. “For us as a manufacturer, it is always special to see the tour push the envelope together with their technical crew. There are only a few setups as complex and sophisticated as Coldplay's on tour to thrill their fans and music lovers in general, tour after tour and take it up a notch.”
Tony Smith, head of audio, FOH-tech and sound designer for Coldplay and Alex Hadji, digital audio specialist at Hadji Audio, were looking at an early stage for the next advancement in system EQ, distribution and control to make the production at the forefront of currently available technology available in the industry. In the end it was the whole package that made DirectOut become an essential part of this audio system.
At FOH, Dan Green, Coldplay’s FOH engineer, and Tony had outgrown

France - Launched last summer, the multi award-winning Chasseurs de Tornades attraction at the Futuroscope theme park in Poitiers is a breathtaking 360-degree immersive experience that follows the adventures of a team of tornado hunters.
The landmark project, which cost 21m euros to build, features the largest circular LED screen in Europe. Hollywood visual effects specialist, François-Xavier Aubague, directed and produced the media content, which is mixed with live action scenes. The new ride is experienced from a moving platform that rises, falls, tilts and turns with the action, accompanied throughout by L-Acoustics L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology.
Originally launched in the ‘90s to showcase futuristic technologies, Futuroscope has evolved into a technology-focussed theme park with rollercoasters, immersive rides and cinematic experiences. The newest attraction in the park, Chasseur de Tornades has garnered multiple industry accolades since its opening, including the Thea Award for Best Attraction.
The ride comprises a 17m diameter spherical auditorium fitted with a 360° floor-to-ceiling screen. Sections of the screen sink into the floor to reveal a 10m main stage and smaller 5m one that showcase live action for different parts of the storyline. Leading the narrative, a tornado-chasing buggy drives around the auditorium, intermittently disappearing behind the screen which then plays footage of a virtual version of the vehicle, whilst the audience is seated centrally on the rotating platform within the action.
FMD, whic

UK - At first glance an inconspicuous cuboid venue, Lightroom presents a blank canvas set to host a varied programme of original creative content. The opening show DAVID HOCKNEY: BIGGER & CLOSER (not smaller and further away) is set to be the first in a series of exhibitions, created in collaboration with leading artists and innovators.
The Hockney show features a specially created score written by American contemporary composer Nico Muhly and sound design by Olivier and Tony award-winning sound designer Gareth Fry. Lightroom’s sound system is supplied by Berlin-based pro audio company Holoplot’s revolutionary X1 Matrix Array and was installed by Creative Technology.
Four and a half years in the making, Lightroom was conceived by award-winning design studio and production company, 59 Productions, and is a joint venture between them and London Theatre Company, the creative engine behind the Bridge Theatre. The Bigger & Closer exhibition allows the audience to enter into Hockney’s thought process and creative motivation, generating new perspectives on some of his most well-known, as well as more recent works.
“We’ve produced many large-scale projection mapping shows, exhibitions, and theatre shows, but we’ve never had our own space,” says Lightroom CEO, Richard Slaney, the former CEO of 59 Productions. “With immersive shows cropping up all over, we wanted to do something different. Hockney was top of our list of artists, so we emailed him to see if he was interested. Not only did he say yes, but he’s dedicated t

Finland - To provide the Finnish production of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen with immersive lighting that elevated the show’s video elements, lighting designer Mikki Kunttu deployed a range of Martin MAC Series solutions.
An epic story about a girl named Gerda saving her friend Kai from the influence of the titular character, The Snow Queen is one of Anderson’s most well-known and acclaimed fairy tales. The story was first published in 1844 and - like many of Anderson’s classic stories - has inspired countless adaptations including operas, musicals, ballets and even Disney’s 2013 film Frozen. In late 2022, Tampere-talo and Kantelinen Company reimagined the story as ballet on ice that utilised modern LED and video programming to immerse the audience into the world of The Snow Queen.
Performed at the 13,455-seat Nokia Arena, the production required a lighting rig that complemented the video effects, avoided excessive glare and reflections caused by the ice and ensured a visually engaging experience from any seat in the venue - all while only having the day before the premiere for programming and a run-through. To meet these requirements, Kunttu utilised both the Martin MAC Quantum Wash and the new MAC Ultra Performance fixture.
“This particular production rests more heavily on the shoulders of video and projection.” explained Kunttu. “Naturally, the lighting needs to complement the video and interfere as little as possible. We needed to find ways of lighting the performers in a way that seamlessly melted into the v

USA - After nearly eight years of regular visits on a rental basis, Meyer Sound Leopard compact line array loudspeakers have taken up permanent residence in the Silva Concert Hall of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts in Eugene, Oregon.
The rental system was provided by locally based George Relles Sound, with Relles returning earlier this year as the integrator for the permanent installation. The new resident system made its debut in the 2,447-seat venue with a performance of Missa Gaia (Earth Mass) by the Eugene Concert Choir with composer Paul Winter as the featured soloist. One week later, the system supplied sound for a showing of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, with a live performance of the John Williams score by the Eugene Symphony.
“Everything is going great with our new system,” says Hult Center general manager Jeff Weinkauf, “but of course, that is hardly a surprise. I’ve heard it many times over the years, and I’m always blown away by the clarity, depth, and consistency. George [Relles] said several times — somewhat jokingly — that we might as well buy one of our own. Finally, we were able to make that happen.”
In addition to ‘pops’ style concerts and movie soundtracks with the Eugene Symphony, a cross-section of past performances supported by the essentially identical Leopard system includes Patti Labelle, the Chick Corea Elektric Band, Pink Martini, Bob Weir & the Wolf Bros., B.B. King, and Buddy Guy.
Weinkauf, who previously served as operations director and technical director at t

Europe - DJ BoBo is a phenomenon. After 30 years on stage and 15 studio albums behind him – many of them gold and platinum – the Swiss artist is still selling out major venues. In 2023 there will be another anniversary tour (which is already almost completely sold out) with Evolut30n. Starting in May, 56 GLP XDC1 IP Hybrid strobes will travel with him.
The two-and-a-half-week tour rehearsals – including four advance preview shows – took place in January at Europark Rust. Here, lighting designer Thomas Gerdon had the opportunity to put his design through its paces.
Explains Gerdon, “Everyone involved saw the rehearsal phase in Rust as a creative process. Ideas were brought along, but the specific design of the show developed in a collaborative manner during rehearsals. It was demanding, but it was a lot of fun."
It is Gerdon’s first lighting design for a DJ BoBo tour. However, his contact with the artist has existed for many years: “We have known each other since 2010. Since then there have always been points of contact. So much the better that this time I and my team can make a substantial contribution to the look of the show.”
As the name suggests, the Evolut30n tour is dedicated to the pop and dance artist’s 30th anniversary. From a technical point of view, this time the stage show consists almost entirely of video projections.
“Video mapping is actually very much in the foreground,” points out Gerdon. “This means that the huge stage – with a backdrop 50m wide – is completely white and serves as a projectio

USA - Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas has completed the renovation of its worship centre involving a stage remodel and lighting upgrade that marked the first major technology overhaul for the centre since its opening.
Unlimited Visibility (UVLD) handled the renovation’s production and lighting design, which included the installation of 32 Ayrton Huracán LT LED luminaires designed for long-range applications and 50 Ayrton Eurus multi-function luminaires. ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton lighting products in North America.
“Prestonwood was one of our first major Ayrton installations,” says UVLD lighting designer David Seitz, who teamed with UVLD lead designer Matt Webb on the project. “We had been looking at manufacturers with families of fixtures that we could use in venues big and small and which had similar looks across the fixture types. Ayrton filled the bill, and what especially stood out was the high quality of the fixtures’ colour rendering. Prestonwood does a lot of broadcast work: The church streams worship services and the pastor has a weekly TV show. So they needed fixtures that would look great on camera with good colour rendering and colour matching unit to unit.”
Prestonwood’s director of media, Bryan Bailey, started his career in lighting but had never used Ayrton fixtures. “We brought out the usual players for demos, but nothing stood out in CRI readings and how the camera saw the lights. Our space is ginormous – a large room with a 7,000-person seating capacity with really far thr

Europe - Brompton Technology has recently appointed Oliver Dier as its new technical sales manager. Dier, who has a wealth of experience working with professional AV systems such as camera systems for live events, film, and television, made his first appearance for the company at the ISE Show in Barcelona. Based in Germany, he will be reporting to Dries Vermeulen, Brompton's business development manager for Europe.
"Given that Germany is our largest market in continental Europe, hiring someone in the region that speaks the same language seemed the most natural thing to do," says Vermeulen. "As technical sales manager, Oliver will be instrumental in developing and nurturing robust relationships with our customers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, plus other key areas, while also ensuring they are kept informed of the most recent advancements and developments in Brompton's innovative product portfolio."
"More than 10 years ago, I was a part of the team which supplied the screen for the Gravity Lightbox. It was a real game changer in the film industry,” says Dier. “I have collaborated with members of the Brompton team before and witnessed first-hand the dynamic innovations and advancements the company has introduced to the market in recent years. Today is another milestone for me and I am thrilled to be joining such a highly regarded team, and an organisation that is considered a benchmark within the industry for LED video processing."

USA - The Caesars Palace Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is famous for offering its customers world class entertainment and unforgettable moments. Hosting one of the largest New Year’s Eve parties in the whole of Las Vegas is therefore anything but a standard affair, the goal being to creatively outdo last year’s party each time anew.
Julie Palmisano and Keith Floyd have been the creative masterminds of the technical team and have led the charge for many years on the complex production.
This year, BC Video Services had the opportunity to support them in designing and executing the highly anticipated 2023 Caesars Entertainment New Year’s Eve party.
Brian Crow was invited to the team in order to help them bring their latest creative vision to life, by adding his extensive knowledge and experience of media server technology to the mix. The collaboration led to the Pixera system becoming the obvious choice for driving the biggest LED display the prestigious event had ever seen.
In addition to multiple Pixera server licences, the final setup also involved six Barco E2 presentation systems and 15x Novastar MCTRL4K LED processors, which were used in conjunction with Unilumin LED displays.
“I love Pixera for its reliability, adaptability and the intuitiveness of the GUI. It allows me to make changes quickly and visualise what the final product will look like,” explains Crow. “The ability to render the workspace really helps get the client excited too, so they can see their vision before we get to the show site. These were all key fa

Europe - Ahead of a string of major announcements in the region, PK Sound has appointed event industry veteran Tim Timmermans to the role of Central European partner support. Based in Limburg Province, Netherlands, Timmermans will work closely with PK’s David Roselló, Southern European partner support, and Canadian HQ staff in developing and serving the company’s growing European network.
“PK Sound’s robotic line source technology is a total gamechanger, and the PK Alliance model puts these advanced capabilities into the hands of the next generation of live sound providers with an unrivalled total cost of ownership,” offers Timmermans. “We’ve already deployed T10 and Trinity Black systems for high-profile applications in venues throughout Europe with incredible results, and the industry is taking notice. I look forward to empowering more users throughout the EU with these innovative solutions.”
In his new role, Timmermans is a direct point of contact for PK’s current and future partners in the region.
Timmermans brings over 15 years’ experience to the role. In addition to serving as a manager with Stagelight, Timmermans has become one of the most demanded technical producers and project managers in the region, collaborating with a myriad of top-level touring artists, music festivals, and other live events.
Timmermans began his European network development work with PK Sound in January, making significant inroads in several key markets ahead of the 2023 launch of PK Sound Europe and PK Alliance.eu.

USA - Danley Sound Labs has announced the availability of a new line of amplifiers for dealers and customers. In addition to its popular DNA series amplifiers, the D series amplifiers provide high-end sound reinforcement for installation and touring use.
“At Danley, we’re always looking for new technologies and ways to allow for innovation in sound,” said Skip Welch, director of sales & marketing at Danley Sound Labs. “In addition to our DNA series amplifiers, the new D series line offers a new option for our dealers and customers that features a very powerful digital signal processing (DSP) suite and a number of power options to make this amplifier series a very useful tool.”
The Danley D series amplifiers feature a powerful Class-D power stage that delivers ‘high output power, high efficiency and low heat generation’. The D series provides processing features such as FIR filtering, dynamic EQ, and Dante networking (optional) all working alongside a DSP architecture including four local plus four auxiliary DSP channels (also supplied to the network) meaning a single Delta DSP amplifier can control a stereo 4-way system with no external processing.
Additionally, all D series amplifiers feature advanced protection circuitry that ensures the safety of the equipment and speakers including over-current protection, short circuit protection, thermal protection and a soft-start function to minimize the inrush current.
“While the nature of sound doesn’t change, the way in which we can help deliver sound does,” said Mike Hedden,

UK - The Neutrik Group is exhibiting at this year’s Engineering Solutions Live. The event, taking place on 23 March at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire, encompasses a breadth of engineering design and manufacturing applications, as they relate to ‘fastening and joining’, ‘materials’ and ‘PCB’.
The Neutrik Group develops, designs, manufactures and globally distributes innovative electrical and electronic interconnect products and systems, under the Neutrik, Contrik and Rean brands. The group’s product portfolio is used extensively throughout the AV entertainment and installation, media production and broadcast sectors, and in wider industrial applications.
Within the portfolio of Neutrik product on display, the Fiberfox series of HMA fibre optic connector systems will be of major interest, bringing multimode fibre connectivity alive, without the need to handle pigtailed bulkheads.
Also being shown, Contrik professional portable power distribution systems and premium-quality power cables are designed and precision manufactured in the EU for use in indoor and outdoor all-weather applications.

UK - Shure is increasing its focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) initiatives by announcing a new STEM for STEM programme.
This programme will provide donations to various global STEM-based organisations (or STEAM-based organisations) based on each STEM Ecosystem product sold by Shure.
“When customers outfit or upgrade their meeting rooms with Stem Ecosystem products, they are automatically supporting the next generation of tech pros,” said Jim Schanz, VP global integrated systems sales, Shure.
Shure has been supporting various STEM-focused organisations for years and is expanding to reach even more organisations and young adults worldwide, especially those working to provide more diversity in this area. As part of Women’s History Month and Gender Equity Month, Shure says it is proud to announce this programme to support STEM organisations who make diversity a priority.
Shure, which has been led by a woman since 1995, is one of the few technology companies who has had a woman in the leadership position for this many consecutive years.
The company would not be a global leader in audio technology today without the efforts of its former chair, Rose L. Shure. For more than 60 years, Mrs. Shure has served as an inspiration to all Shure Associates, past and present. She was a role model for Shure’s Core Values and basic principles, created by her husband and company founder, Sidney N. Shure, that have guided the company.
President and CEO Chris Schyvinck began her career at Shure more than 30 years ago as a qu

Europe - Paul Johnson (PJ), has joined Ayrton in the newly created position of global install director with immediate effect. His role will be to open up a new area of activity for the company, expanding the use of stage lighting to architectural and large-scale, long-term installations.
Johnson has long been fascinated by ways of bringing the creativity of stage lighting into the architectural and built environment in ways that enhance and maximise the experience for both the client and user.
Having spent the past 15 years forging this philosophy with architectural installation and creative companies, whilst also maintaining an ongoing involvement in stage lighting design, Johnson now brings his eclectic experience to Ayrton where he will focus on bringing together the best of both worlds.
“There is an increasing potential in architectural development to introduce an ‘experience’ into building design through creative lighting,” says Johnson, “and there’s a huge skill set in the world of entertainment lighting which can translate across to fulfil this need.
“I’ve always enjoyed the process of moving my love of stage lighting and music to another location, and Ayrton fits into this perfectly due to the undeniable robustness and longevity of its products, and a willingness in the company to think outside the box. Their range of IP65/IP66 moving head fixtures especially opens up a world of possibilities for long-term projects and installations including the stadia and arena world, and the low maintenance and intelligent technolo

USA - The DALI Alliance (DiiA), the global industry organisation for DALI lighting control, has revealed the winners of its DALI Lighting Awards 2022.
The standard of entries within each of the eight categories was exceptionally high, and the awards recognize the best use of DALI lighting control applications and solutions around the globe. The international judging panel of lighting designers, lighting magazine editors, and representatives from global lighting organizations picked eight projects as well-deserved winners.
The winner in the Architectural & Entertainment category is Tridonic Middle East, for its work on the Expo 2000 entry portals in Dubai, UAE. The lighting system used dynamic colour mixing to provide the desired effects in the vast portals, which are 21m tall, 30m long, and 10.5m wide. DALI was used due to its advanced dimming and daylight sensing features, interoperability, and its ability to reduce maintenance costs.
The Healthcare & Education award went to Delmatic, for its work at University College London (UCL) Hospital in London, UK. DALI lighting management systems extend throughout the hospital’s 34,500m2 building, which comprises six floors above ground and five below. The energy-efficient DALI system manages and monitors around 17,500 DALI assets, and incorporates comprehensive DALI emergency light testing and monitoring.
Synapse Wireless triumphed in the Industrial category for its work on the Uline Store C6 project in Ontario, California. Lighting for the 1m sq.ft warehouse is all controlled from a sing

South Africa - Pretoria-based Eventech has invested in 12 Kara II boxes and a further 26 Kara II Panflex upgrade kits. The company has also invested in eight L-Acoustics X12 monitors, all of which were purchased from DWR Distribution.
“Our original L-Acoustics Kara investment was back in 2018 and it feels like an eternity ago,” says Wynand Veldsman from Eventech. “At that time, we had a fleet of ageing boxes that served us very well over the years, but as times changed and the focus shifted, we required lighter, smaller, high-performance boxes that could be set up with ease and not consume as much time as the older boxes did.
“The luxury of having a few days for load-in was gone, and speed, quality and efficiency were key. After many months of considering our options and many product reviews, the announcement came that DWR would be the L- Acoustics agents in South Africa, and we made the call and placed the order.” Their artillery also includes eight ARCS WiFo, 24 SB 18 and four KS28.
Post Covid-19 pandemic, Eventech has seen business soar, not just locally but across the country. To meet demand, company owner Henry Jenkins and Wynand once again contacted Duncan Riley from DWR, deciding to purchase eight L-Acoustics X12 (2-way passive 12” point source monitors), 12 new Kara II modular line source loudspeakers, and 26 Panflex kits to give each existing Kara four-in-one directivity: one box handily covers any audience geometry.
Eventech’s new units went out for their first show with Gearhouse South Africa, used for Imagine Dragons