News

AUSTIN, TX — As with Coachella, the 12th annual Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival adopted a double-three-day weekend format, effectively doubling attendance at the annual event held at Zilker Park here in early October. Featuring identical lineups on the consecutive weekends, Houston-based LD Systems supported the audio needs at the stage known as AMD on the first weekend and Lady Bird on the second with an L-Acoustics K1 loudspeaker system.

CONCORD, NH – Gibson’s Bookstore, which first opened here in 1898, relocated during the revitalization of the city’s historic downtown to the first floor of a new five-story office building. Owner Michael Herrmann used the opportunity to design the store to his exact specifications and installed a single, two-rack space Ashly ne8250.70pem eight channel 250w network amplifier with an on-board Protea DSP processor to accommodate events of varying sizes and styles.

PHOENIX – A crew from Clearwing Productions worked last year to transform Phoenix Zoo’s annual seasonal spectacular, ZooLights, from a linear roadside display into an immersive, 360-degree audio and lighting experience that encircled the zoo’s central water lagoon. The upgrade convinced zoo officials to deploy the system year round, delivering multi-zone background and event music to visitors across the lagoon area. Clearwing provided Technomad loudspeakers for the project.

HOBBS, NM — The Lea County Event Center, located here in the southeastern corner of the state, has upgraded its installed sound system to QSC WideLine-8 line arrays powered by CX Series amplifiers. The multi-use venue, which can seat more than 10,000, is home to a diverse range of commercial, industrial, community, social, sports and entertainment events throughout the year.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The Exploratorium science museum here recently opened its new multidisciplinary theatre, the Kanbar Forum, with a Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system. The theatre also features other advanced acoustic technologies including SpaceMap multichannel panning, a technology that allows sound designers to fly sounds through space.

The 135th AES International Convention at New York City’s Javits Convention Center (pictured here) is right around the corner, and registration for a free Exhibits-Plus badge ends this Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 5 p.m. EDT. The convention begins Oct. 17, with the exhibit floor open Oct. 18-20. This year, the AES crew has assembled an impressive track of events, seminars, workshops, technical sessions and papers targeting sound reinforcement professionals. And of course the exhibit floor is a major highlight of the show.

CHAMPAIGN IL and MADISON, WI – The University of Illinois’ 60,000-seat Memorial Stadium and the University of Wisconsin’s 80,000-seat Camp Randall Stadium have a visual difference for the 2013/14 season – new Daktronics video boards measuring 3,500 and 4,200 square feet, respectively. Along with the screens, both stadiums are also offering an audible difference in the form of Daktronics-designed and installed sound reinforcement systems, bolstered at the low end with four Danley TH-812 “Rock Monster” subwoofers.

NEW YORK — Days before their 19-date October/November tour was set to kick off in Upper Darby, PA on Oct. 11, the Jonas Brothers canceled the shows, with reports citing a “deep rift” and artistic differences. Separately, a five-show Australian tour leg featuring Pitbull and Ke$ha, due to begin Oct. 30 in Brisbane, was also canceled, with reports citing soft ticket sales as the likely reason.

LOS ANGELES — Marshall Holmes died of a heart attack Sept. 25, 2013 while traveling with others to Los Angeles after the load-out of a Luis Miguel show in Bakersfield, CA.  Sept. 25 was Holmes’ birthday; he had just turned 55. The veteran touring crew member had a long career supporting various touring productions for artists ranging from Miguel to Midnight Oil and The Tubes, among others. A memorial service is being arranged by Holmes’ longtime friends, Steve Macfadyen and Steve “Chopper” Borges. It is set to take place Oct. 23 at the Fillmore in San Francisco, CA from 7 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.