International News

WUPPERTAL, Germany – Organizers for Pope Benedict XVI's recent visit to his native Germany relied upon Riedel Communications and its products for secure communications for the five main events linked to the papal visit. Riedel gear also played a key role distributing audio and video signals for both the broadcast networks and for the on-site video walls.

LONDON – Britannia Row Productions' inventory of Midas digital consoles are on the move this autumn and winter season, with the entire current inventory out on treks with Jamiroquai, Cliff Richard, Kasabian, Tinie Tempah, Beady Eye, Noel Gallagher and Foo Fighters.

SEOUL – For the musical, Mamma Mia!, which opened recently at the new D-Cube Arts Center, Seoul, L-Acoustics' Korea distributor, Dream Sound, installed a K1 WST line source and XTi coaxial system – the first such installation anywhere in the world.

KENT, U.K. – Rental company Phonophobia put their new dBTechnologies DVA T12 system to use for a Rock Choir performance that was part of a Nov. 5 bonfire and fireworks celebration. The event drew a crowd of 14,000 to Dunorlan Park in Kent, U.K.

LONDON – Indie pop band, The Feeling, has completed a year of predominantly club dates and boutique festivals. The tour gave sound engineers Jon Sword and Andy Greenwood the chance to put Harman's Soundcraft Vi1 digital desk through its paces.

MOSCOW – The Bolshoi Theatre reopened after a six-year refurbishment Oct. 28. Salzbrenner Stagetec Mediagroup provided the audio networks, mixers, and stage management systems, including three large Stagetec Aurus audio consoles with full DSP capacity.

CASTROREALE, Italy – The Castroreale Jazz Festival, a series of four shows featuring an international variety of jazz artists staged at this historic Sicilian village last summer, was heard via a sound system that included Proel Axiom, Edge and Powersoft gear.

KIEV, Ukraine – Maidan Square, the main square of Ukraine's capital city, became the focal point for Maidan's, a concert and dance event produced by Inter, a Ukraine-based TV network, that extended over a 10-week time frame and involved about 3,000 dancers competing for a grand prize valued at $124,000.

SYDNEY – Dave Samwell, sound engineer for Liverpool-based indie band The Wombats, specified a Soundcraft Vi6 console for the band's recent Australia tour. Samwell credited the console for its compact size, ease of use, and user layers, which helped the supporting band's engineers get up to speed quickly. JPJ Audio provided the console and other audio gear for the tour.

MANGOCHI, Malawi – Held at varying locations along the shore of Lake Malawi on the borders of Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania since 2004, the Lake of the Stars Malawi Festival's flown-in and hand-ported audio system included a Midas PRO2C console.

LONDON – Frankie Knuckles, David Morales and CJ Mackintosh were among the long list of DJs helping London's Ministry of Sound celebrate its 20th birthday, and they all had good things to say about the Martin Audio system, which R&D Director Jason Baird had fine-tuned in anticipation of the club's three-day celebration.