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Petrol Introduces Sound Knapsack

Petrol Introduces Sound Knapsack

Petrol, a Vitec Group brand, introduces the Sound Knapsack. The Knapsack has three cushioned compartments designed for maximum storage and equipment protection. The main chamber comes complete with 8 removable pouches connected with hook and loop material for holding earphones, batteries, microphone, wireless systems, spare connectors, or tools in a special pouch. Windows of tough, transparent vinyl enable easy identification of contents. The knapsack’s padded rear section is large enough to contain a laptop computer with up to a 17.5-inch screen. A front organizer section is designed for stashing personal items such as keys, wallet, notebook, or pens, while keeping them close at hand.

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British Alt-Rockers Placebo on World Tour with VENUE

LONDON — British alt-rock band Placebo have been out on a full world tour since January 2006, playing events and major festivals throughout the U.S., South America, Europe, Australia, China, Korea, and other Far East locations. For the first year of the tour, monitor engineer Charlie Bradley used a VENUE D-Show console, but in the last six months, he and Placebo FOH mixer Ian Nelson, switched to using a pair of the more compact VENUE D-Show Profile systems, which handle a total of 45 inputs for the band, along with the collective output requirements. By the tour’s conclusion, Bradley estimates that they will have used the VENUE systems at over 250 shows.

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Gwen Stefani Tours with Midas XL4

LOS ANGELES — Gwen Stefani’s “The Sweet Escape” world tour is underway, relying upon the performance of Midas consoles for her performances. Stefani’s FOH Engineer Michelle Sabolchick and Monitor Engineer Jon Schimke are Midas XL4 fans who enjoy the hands-on responsiveness of an analog mix, along with the sound of Midas Preamps and EQs. The Heritage 3000 is handling sidecar duties at FOH. The PA is supplied and supervised by Sound Image.

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Vive Latino Celebrates with NEXO

MEXICO CITY — Every year, Vive Latino in Mexico City ranks as one of most important Latin America rock "en español" festivals. Billed across the hemisphere as Festival Iberoamericano de Cultura Musical, Vive Latino's 2007 Blue Stage featured only NEXO loudspeakers including, for the first time, the GEO D Series.

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The Shadows on the Pyramid

I recently returned from a trip to Cancun, Mexico, and other than the tequila and the beautiful beach, my most memorable day was one spent at Chichen-Itza, site of one of the well-known Mayan pyramids in the Yucatan Peninsula. The Pyramid of King Kuku lkán, the serpent god, is the centerpiece of the area and dates back to about A.D. 1100. This spectacular pyramid showcases the astronomical, architectural and political brilliance of its creators. During the autumn and spring equinox, due to the position of the sun, one can still witness a shadowy snake moving impressively down the north stair. The story is told that the priests, because of their precise knowledge of the seasons, would come out and address the masses assembled below the pyramid and tell them when to expect rain. The arrival of the rain on the predicted date would cement the priest’s claim that he had a direct line to god who, in the form of the bird-serpent Quetzalcoatl, lived in the temple built on top of the pyramid. The proof of Quetzalcoatl’s alliance with the priests was that if someone clapped their hands at the bottom of the pyramid, the returning echo is a sound similar to the quack of a duck.  

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The Problem with Cat5

I was talking with a local sound guy the other day who told me they were “one 150-foot Ethernet cable away” from implementing complete system control from a laptop at front of house. It was not so long ago that if those of us in the sound tribe even knew what Ethernet cables were, we thought of them as something we used to hook our computers into a network and not something we would use on site at a gig.

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Voltstar Powers Up

Brad Higbee and Company prove there’s more to Idaho than potatoes.

So many successful business stories start with the line, “I was asked to…” that it should almost be considered a cliché. So when Voltstar Productions president Brad Higbee reports that he got his start when someone asked for sound and lighting help, it’s not a shocker.

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Dive in the Desert, Find a Pearl

The High-Stakes Game of Vegas Entertainment Takes on Another Player in the Palms.

Las Vegas suffers from no shortage of performance venues. Throughout its history as a resort destination, performers have made their way to Vegas to play any one of the many hotels and casinos that call Sin City home, but the Palms hotel and casino has upped the ante with the addition of their new venue, The Pearl.

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