International News

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA —A new production of the musical Miss Saigon has opened in Australia, scaled back from its original large-scale format to accommodate a wider range of theatres. To deliver audio coverage with a smaller footprint than previous Miss Saigon productions, sound designer Peter Grubb, a director of System Sound Pty Ltd. of Melbourne, Australia, modified his previous design for the Korean production to a configuration incorporating eight self-powered M'elodie ultra-compact high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers.

BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND — The City Centre Leisure Group has just opened Club 2020 in Bournemouth — with sound reinforcement provided by Northampton-based Production Hire.  

FEZ, MOROCCO —Filali Music recently deployed their new JBL VerTec system at one of Morocco’s annual events, “Festival des Musiques Sacrées du Mondeo, Fes, 2007,” at Bab Boujloud, a city square in the historical Moroccan city of Fez.

CARDIFF, WALES —The brand new musical Never Forget opened in Cardiff last weekend on the start of its U.K. tour — with plans to bring the show to the West End in the autumn. 

AUSTRALIA — Warner Village Theme Parks has opened the Australian Outback Spectacular (AOS), selecting two Allen & Heath iDR-8 DSP mixers and a PA12-CP powered mixer as part of the extensive audio installation.  

NIAGRA FALLS, ONTARIO — One of Canada’s leading luxury casino resorts, Fallsview Casino Resort offers a variety of top-tier entertainment every night in its 1,500-seat Avalon Theatre. Recent performers have included Gretchen Wilson, Donna Summer and Lionel Ritchie. To help provide the best sound quality for the theatre’s patrons, and to better accommodate the tour riders of visiting artists and sound engineers, PA Plus Productions of Toronto installed two Midas Heritage 4000 mixing consoles and Klark Teknik EQ and processing systems at the theatre.

MONTERREY & GUADALAJARA, MEXICO — The 2007 Guns N' Roses “Chinese Democracy” world tour started off with two sold-out concerts in Monterrey and Guadalajara, Mexico. 

MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND — The Montreux Jazz Festival, located on the shore of Lake Geneva, is currently presenting its 41st edition through July 21. Since 1986, Meyer Sound has been the official sound provider for the festival, supplying sound systems for its many venues, including Auditorium Stravinski, Miles Davis Hall, Parc Vernex, Miles Davis Hall Club and more. 

PARIS — NEXO has reversed the audio industry’s widespread trend for offshore manufacturing by opening a new purpose-built corporate headquarters in Plailly, just 15 km N.E. of the Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris. The new facility will house all the company’s management and manufacturing operations. 

LONDON — Legendary metal band Metallica embarked on a series of European shows at the end of June for their “Sick of the Studio '07” tour. For its concert dates the band is carrying a Meyer Sound system built around the MILO high-power curvilinear array loudspeaker, 700-HP ultrahigh-power subwoofer, and the new MJF-212A high-power stage monitor. A Galileo loudspeaker management system provides system processing and drive. Taylor, Mich.-based Thunder Audio is providing the sound system, with local support from Westfalen Sound of Emsdetten, Germany, and AVAB CAC from Oslo, Norway. 

LONDON — Live Earth, the mega-concert produced as a tribute to planet Earth, featured 70 Outline Butterfly Hi-packs installed by Britannia Row Productions at Wembley Stadium. The seventy Outline Butterfly Hi-packs were used along with twenty Subtech 218; Outline T Series amplifiers powered the system. Sherif El Barbari was system engineer for the event, as well as for the Lady Diana memorial concert on July 1.