Spain - Belgian-based engineering and automation specialist WIcreations has designed and fabricated a bespoke rotating system to hold and rotate five large scenic objects for the current Caos tour by popular Spanish singer, Mal

Spain - All Access Staging and Production were asked by the creative team at Black Skull Creative to look at the feasibility of placing a stage in a swimming pool on board the cruise ship TUI Discovery for its launch in Palma, Majorca.

The ship is the latest addition to the Thomson brand of cruise ships. Matthew Bull the sales and marketing manager took the lead on the project. The creative brief included building a stage into the ships swimming pool, as well as a main stage for Jess Glynne to perform on. The installation used the company's Versa stage deck and support structure. This system is designed for speedy construction and de-rig time - perfect for the ships tight build schedule.

The ship was launched on 10 June with a show and naming ceremony created by Black Skull followed by fireworks and a set from Jess Glynne.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The seventh full-length tour of their 20-year career, Coldplay's A Head Full Of Dreams boasts one of the year's most acclaimed productions and marks the third time the band has hit the road with Stageco Staging Group.

Designed by the celebrated Misty Buckley, following her work on Coldplay's appearance at the NFL Super Bowl 50's halftime show in February, the latest stadium tour sees a lavish explosion of colour accompanying the crowd-pleasing performances by the Chris Martin-fronted fivesome.

This time around, Stageco is building the sub-structure for the 65m wide x 25m deep main stage, the 30m long B-stage runway and a C-stage on which the band play a short, intimate set amongst the audience at the rear of the stadium. The company is also responsible for the steel structures that support the central video wall and side screens, the rigging points, PA and spot towers

USA - Garth Brooks' maverick Man Against Machine tour continues, now using a full Kinesys automation system which was specified by Atlanta Rigging Services (ARS), brought on-board by production to take care of all rigging requirements.

Seventy-one axes of movement feature a variety of CM Lodestar motors, 29 of which are fitted with Kinesys Elevation 1+ vari-speed drives and these move two (out of 10) chevron-shaped trussing pieces; four individual sides of a large video cube plus assorted other scenic metalwork elements like 'the claw' which flies in and out over 'the Orb' drum kit.

The other eight chevron trusses are flown on fixed speed motors that are controlled with Kinesys DigiHoists.

All of these are controlled via Kinesys' powerful and stable Vector control platform.

The tour kicked off in fall 2014 and is still going - such is Brooks' popularity as a live a

UK - Tuesday night saw Coldplay headline the first concert at Kensington Palace, a benefit for Sentebale, Prince Harry's HIV/Aids charity, in front of 3,000 people.

Fresh from Glastonbury Festival, the band performed on a Star Events' 15m by 12m SAM platform, the largest single truck mobile stage in Europe.

Since 2006, Sentebale has been helping children in the south African kingdom of Lesotho affected by HIV/AIDS and Coldplay's 11-song set culminated in current single Up & Up accompanied by the Basotho Youth Choir and the charity's founder.

"Please drive home safely and carry on the work of Sentebale," Prince Harry said afterwards. "And thank you to Coldplay, you've rocked the palace."

Working to the tightest deadline, in on Sunday night, show on Tuesday, out first thing Wednesday, Star Events fitted the SAM stage with extended wings to accommodate Coldplay

UK - The Rose Theatre Kingston in South West London has added to its rigging inventory four 1t Loadlink Plus units from Straightpoint, which were most recently used during installation of sets for a production of Shakespeare's King John.

The famous play, directed by Trevor Nunn, was performed during a three-week run at the theatre. It required an elaborate set that included a large raised floor with an automated lift, two 9m-high towers and three platforms connected via numerous staircases and walkways. Any remaining empty space between those towers and walkways was finished with wooden cladding. Elsewhere on set, two large sliders concealed a throne.

Wayne Parry, head of production at the Rose Theatre Kingston, explained that the load cells were used only for set installation, not during performances. He said: "Large steel sections were lifted using several motors

UK - PLASA will host its 2016 AGM & Members Lunch on Tuesday 26 July at the magnificent Jacobean stately home, Hatfield House, just 20 minutes by train from London's King's Cross. All PLASA members are invited to attend and contribute to this key event for the Association, whilst enjoying the chance to network with fellow members.

At the meeting, the association's new managing director, Peter Heath, will be outlining his plans for the development of PLASA during this time of change and renewal. Peter commented: "I am looking forward to meeting many industry colleagues and friends at my first AGM in charge of PLASA. The AGM is our big opportunity to bring members together, to communicate our aim to grow PLASA and clearly explain the benefits this will bring to all."

PLASA members will be encouraged to ask questions and participate, and, perhaps most importantly, to come tog

Italy - ETC has appointed Enrico Nobile as European rigging sales manager, a new position devised by the company to fuel the growth and development of its rigging division in Europe.

In his role, Nobile will be based out of ETC's Rome office, with much of his time spent in the sales territories of ETC GmbH and ETC Ltd, working in collaboration with distributors, dealers and integrators.

Nobile's involvement in the industry began in 1979 when he established the design and installation company Elettrosistemi. Six years later, he accepted a position with ARRI Italia and developed the technical department while working alongside Fulvio Cotogni, the former ETC regional manager for Southern Europe and the Middle East. Subsequently, Nobile served as a project manager for Strand Lighting, and later for the Manfrotto Vitec Group, before setting up the TEYCORIG rigging brand in 2011

UK - Theatres and stages rely on lifts to raise and lower lighting, sound and other equipment. Traditional theatre cable reeling drums will generally only handle one cable type, and with the demand for ever more technology and cables, multiple drums have to be used. This can cause problems for technicians when overhead space above the stage is limited or already allocated to other lifting equipment. In addition, a slip ring is often necessary to accommodate the inner rotation, making other services such as fibre optic cables or fluids difficult or impossible.

igus has developed a cable-friendly alternative to the reeling drum with its e-spool system, which allows multiple cable types and diameters (even compressed air and fluids) to be enclosed in one e-chain, with no limit on the direction of travel and no joins or slip-rings. An integrated spring enables rotary retraction, a

UK - Another wave of thought-provoking seminar sessions have been launched in the run up to PLASA Show 2016 (18-20 September, London Olympia). The latest offering includes sessions focussed on 'Broadcast Meets Live Sound'; the Rio Olympics; 'Sadler's Wells: New Technology for the Stage'; and a production masterclass from the team behind the Eurovision Song Contest.

Innovation and collaboration is at the heart of the entertainment technology industry, and is therefore a hugely important element of the PLASA Show. 'Sadlers Wells: New Technology for the Stage', on Tuesday 20 September at 1pm, is a great example of this, highlighting significant improvements of the theatre's systems through technical innovation and collaboration. This session will be presented by Emma Wilson, Sadlers Wells' director of technical production and Christian Wallace, technical manager.

Wilson says:

UK - Hyundai's Football Heaven, in an upgraded Star Events' Orbit structure, was exactly that for expat Portugal fans. They took to the North London temporary venue on Sunday to see their team defy the odds and win the European Championships from favourites France.

A first event for Lewis Cubitt Square, the new civic space behind King's Cross station, production company Produce called on Star to design and deliver the structure, enveloping a 360° screen, to broadcast live coverage from 45 Euro 2016 matches. Forty five thousand tickets were available free via Ticketmaster over the course of the tournament.

The Orbit Flexidome's modular design brought the best out of the small site, its roof comfortably accommodating over 500m2 of projector screens, lighting and sound. In a major first, Star treated the whole building with a new acoustic barrier system, lowering the exte

UK - Tree surgeons and other professionals from the arboriculture industry have embraced a new technology that measures the shock load and weight of branches as they are cut during felling or maintenance.

The Impact Block load cell is manufactured in partnership with tree safety equipment pioneer DMM and contains electronics and software from force measurement, load monitoring and suspended weighing load cell equipment specialist Straightpoint. A tree maintenance company in the sector commissioned the product.

The industry has acknowledged that the Impact Block can fill gaps in knowledge about the forces put through rigging equipment and the weight of loads as they are cut away from trees. It can become as important as a training device as it is a practical onsite tool for the sector.

Unlike crane-related or other typical rigging scenarios, in tree applications profess

Taiwan - Looking for a recognized brand to reflect the company's high quality reputation, Heng Mao selected Prolyte to supply B100RV truss for its expanding rigging department.

Heng Mao is one of the main players for rental of truss constructions and hardware integration in the event and touring industry in Taiwan. With a wish to grow and further expand their business, they were looking to invest in truss with a high loading capacity for their rigging department.

As Mr. Su Xin Bin, managing director of Heng Mao explains, "Our company has a reputation for delivering top-notch services to its customers. Safe working practices are a high priority within the company, furthermore the requirements for truss constructions are getting more and more challenging as the demand for complicated set ups and ever increasing loads grow.

"We also see a growing demand from the organizer

UK - Serious Stages has been awarded a further three year contract to supply staging and ancillary structures to Forest Live, building on its longstanding relationship with the summer concert programme, June 2016.

Established in 2001, Forest Live is an independent concert series, promoted by the Forestry Commission. Hosted within seven nationwide forest locations, which include Westonbirt Arboretum, Thetford Forest, Dalby Forest and Mansfield Sherwood Pines Forest Park. This year's line-up has seen performances from Rudimental, Kaiser Chiefs, James Bay and Guy Garvey.

For the 2016 shows, Serious Stages supplied two 16m Supernova's to accommodate simultaneous performances at different locations throughout the summer. Serious Stages also installed steps, access ramps, handrails and two flanking single PA masts, as well as a double decker front-of-house tower to accommodate t

Georgia - The Black Sea Arena in Georgia officially opened its doors on 10 July 2016, with a special opening show. A broad array of Prolyte products was used to install this modern event facility.

The ultra-modern venue, designed by German architects Drei Architekten, is located close to the shores of the Black Sea, its stunning architecture has some nice twists; the open auditorium can be closed within minutes when rain comes up, by means of 168 rotating, translucent facade lamellas, that protect the audience from sun, wind and rain, but once opened allow full view on the beautiful landscape between Great and Small Caucasus.

The auditorium has a capacity of 10,000 seats circular grand-stands. Visitor lounges, VIP areas, four cinemas, auxiliary areas and technical rooms are arranged below these. The auditorium, with a stage width of 36m., is designed to accommodate the lar

Germany - The Bluetone festival 2016 opted for the new stands from Gravity, an Adam Hall Group brand. The Sportfreunde Stiller, Seiler und Speer, Anastacia were among the artists that attracted over 18,000 visitors to Straubing,

On all six days of the festival, which was founded in 1987, the stands provided solid stability for the artists' performances - and additionally added stylish highlights to the stage. Tobias Lange, Bluetone production manager and managing director of PM Systemhaus, says, "We had already opted for Gravity stands for the Gregory Porter tour as well as the Jazz Baltica festival. They immediately convinced us with their handling and stability."

The PM Systemhaus team was responsible for the production of the Bluetone festival together with local rental company StereoMike. "The musicians' feedback regarding the stands was excellent," says StereoMike hea

China - Hong Kong's leading recording facility for many years; Avon Recording Studios, was taken over by popular singing star Hins Cheung when the original owners called it a day. Hins is a well-known and successful artist who is intensely passionate about vintage analogue recording equipment. Under his management the studio has been refitted by Mode Engineering's Peter Higgs with classic analogue equipment supplied by Funky Junk and using cabling and wiring assemblies from London based VDC Trading.

Higgs explains, "I was initially introduced to Hins in 2010 via Funky Junk who have supplied equipment, provided advice and support and been instrumental in the successful outcome of Avon Studios' refit. In 2015 Hins asked me to decommission the two studio recording rooms at Avon to clear the way in preparation for a completely new installation comprising an exciting and eclectic r

USA - A Kinesys automation system is adding depth and dynamics to the stage for country singer / songwriter Miranda Lambert's current Keeper of the Flame tour in the US.

The automation was specified by production designer Paul 'Arlo' Guthrie, who wanted the additional dynamics of being able to change the architecture and form of the performance space. Having used Kinesys successfully on other tours including Lady Antebellum and Sheryl Crow, Arlo again added it to his stage plot.

"I love the smooth movement - it really suits this show," he explained. The brief for the stage, lighting and visual design was to keep the look clean and direct, with all the attention focussed on Lambert and her powerful music and stage presence which has earned her the title 'Queen of Country'.

The automation is being supplied by Upstaging who are also the lighting contractor, and comprises

UK - At this year's PLASA Show, igus will be demonstrating its innovative bearings, linear slides and cable management systems for the live entertainment technology industry. Returning to the heart of West London at Olympia the show, which runs from 18-20 September, is a significant date in the calendar for professionals working with pro audio, lighting, broadcast, AV, rigging and stage technologies.

On the igus stand (Stand C20) there will be two main demonstrations; the first is the drylin W curved rail system. These rails offer an innovative way of mounting sound and lighting rigs, or displays and control panels - anything that needs to be adjusted regularly. As the aluminium rails can be modified by precision bending, the profile of the curve can be tailored to customer requirements. The use of spherical tribopolymer bearings enables the guide rail system to be self-adjust

Germany - For its Musikladen (music shop) event programme, Stuttgart's Club Zwoelfzehn now relies on stands from Gravity, an Adam Hall Group brand.

"Top equipment for our young music talents in the Club Zwoelfzehn is very important for us," says Kay Swoboda from the organiser Popb

UK - Penn Elcom completed the design and installation of a wiring infrastructure for a new recording studio in Hastings, housed in an old Methodist Church building in the heart of the town. The studio is owned by Paul Godfrey, songwriter / producer and well known as creator of the popular trip hop trio, Morcheeba.

The installation entailed delivering all the multicores, cables, stage boxes, patch bays, wall racks plus associated metalwork, and was overseen by Penn's Leon Whipp who heads the company's specialist wiring division.

Every centimetre of space in the characterful building has been utilised meaningfully in the conversion to serve as a busy and proactive recording environment offering a large control room, main space and mezzanine floor chamber.

Cat 5 connectors have been used throughout. A 48-way line system from the control room connects the recording spaces

UK - Rigging industry experts from across the UK joined forces at Birmingham's' Barclaycard Arena to trial the Trailblazer Live Event Rigging Apprenticeship assessment on 29 June.

The Live Event Rigging Apprenticeship, part of the government's Trailblazer scheme encouraging three million new apprentices by 2020, has been developed by the National Rigging Advisory Group (NRAG) to provide formal training to new recruits, supporting them beyond the National Rigging Certificate Level 2, and plug the gap in trainee numbers to fill increasing demand throughout the entertainment rigging industry.

Key rigging leaders from Blackout, UK Rigging, RTM Rigging, PSI Production Ireland and NEC Group attended the trial run of the newly-created Live Event Rigging Apprenticeship, to scrupulously test the assessment format and marking system before it is formally launched to the industry in

Spain - The summer season is in full swing and this is when live entertainment can be enjoyed in the open air on terraces, in parks and town squares all over the northern hemisphere. Some of the most popular and exclusive holiday destinations put their trust in the quality products from the Spanish manufacturer GUIL to ensure their events are a success. Stage platforms, aluminium barriers, trussing and lifting towers, all manufactured in Spain, are not only chosen for their stylish and innovative designs but also because they meet the strictest safety regulations.

For example, the prestigious Ushuaia Club in Ibiza not only use GUIL aluminium crowd barriers to restrict access to the main stage where the best DJs in the world perform (David Getta, Bob Sinclair, Dj Luciano, etc.), but also to separate the private and VIP areas from the rest of the club.

Various GUIL products

UK - HSL supplied lighting, rigging and a Kinesys automation system for the recent European leg of Chris Brown's "One Hell of a Nite tour, working for production designer and manager Tom E. Marzullo from Out Of Our Minds Creative Services, LLC.

HSL project managers John Slevin and Jordan Hanson co-ordinated everything for the Blackburn- based rental company and ensured that the production design - created collectively by Tom E with input from Christie Lites' Robert Roth and Robert Achlimbari from All Access - was supplied with all the lighting, rigging and automation elements it needed.

The tour's technical director Brian Spett who ran video content for the show and lighting director Charles Ford (also the lighting programmer / operator) additionally had their input, while HSL supplied a top crew chiefed by Simon 'Piggy' Lynch, to ensure that everything ran as smoothly and

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