Rigging / Staging

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14 March 2016

To gain the certificate the stage and its documentation were examined in detail by one local authority, whic

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14 March 2016

By adding several new features to its rental management software system RentalDesk, Navigator Systems have now made it possible to search quickly and easily for the ‘First Available Date’ for the ‘demo’ item required. Thus, if a company requests a mixing desk for a five-day period in June, the sales rep can check whether it’s available for that period and if it isn't, give the

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14 March 2016

Founded in Belgium in 1985, Stageco now has rental operations in Belgium, The Netherlands, France, Germany and the USA, and has serviced some of the world’s most high-profile tours, sporting events and festivals, counting the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Pink Floyd, U2 and Robbie Williams among its clients.

The company stocks in excess of 7,000 different products - sometimes holding as many as 10,000 examples of each - making for a stock-holding which numbers literally millions of items. Consequently, the logistics of tracking movement and availability presents a huge administrative effort, hence why the company turned to RMS.

The system that

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14 March 2016

Nick Whitehead, MCL's head of lighting, commented on the controller's performance on its first outing for a big corporate presentation at the ExCel centre in London's Docklands. "It's built well and has a good specification. Importantly, it complies with all current EU safety regulations, that's an essential consideration for us." The controller's features include a three-pole type 'C' MCB protection on each motor channel, allowing identification of a faulty motor or cable from the rack. The controller also auto-senses local voltage; provided the hoists are set to the correct vo

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14 March 2016

Tomcat also fabricated head blocks and a custom guide system for each tower utilizing six 2-ton chain motors that run in tandem. "The Sandia Casino did not want the grid to block the view of the mountains and the lush casino that sits behind it, therefore it was imperative that the grid design could be easi

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14 March 2016

BSR E1.21, Temporary Ground-Supported Overhead Structures Used To Cover Stage Areas and Support Equipment in the Production of Outdoor Entertainment Events: The standard will offer guidance to ensure the strength and structural reliability of the structures within its scope (ones in which the structural elements are rigid towers, trusses, and space frames) but does not address fire safety or safe egress issues, nor cover membrane structures and other structures in which the majority of the structural elements under tension are made of flexible elements.

BSR E1.22, Entertainment Technology - Fire Curtain Systems: The standard to be developed

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14 March 2016

The company is supplying all technical infrastructure, co-ordination, site and production management for this mind-boggling task, working closely with show producer Major Sir Michael Parker and the Golden Jubilee Weekend Trust. Unusual has employed over 250 sub-contractors and mounted a major logistical exercise to ensure the event - being broadcast live worldwide - is a well-oiled operation. To this end, the company has been interfacing with various authorities including Westminster City Council Special Events, the Metropolitan Police, Royal Parks, the GLA, the WRVS, London Underground, London Ambulance, St. John Ambulance and the British Red Cross.

The event i

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14 March 2016

(Ruth Rossington)

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14 March 2016

ESS’ US team has just completed a Memorial Day Concert, honouring US soldiers, at Auditorium Shores in Austin, Texas. Grammy Award winners Asleep At The Wheel and Travis Trite headlined the day, performing on an ESS Orbit 15m stage. A second ESS stage hosted five bands billed to provide a backdrop to a traditional Texan barbecue ‘cook-off competition’. In true Texan style, 30 accomplished contestants arrived with their barbecues toed onto the site by trucks and prepared their fayre over 24 hours throughout the course of the event. &

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14 March 2016

For the last number of the show, all five members of the band took to the air in flying harnesses. Star Rigging had put the members of Westlife through basic training before the tour began to ensure they were safe and confident in being hoisted 30

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14 March 2016

ESS is providing a similar tower configuration to the one used successfully at this year’s Aintree Grand National to allow the host broadcaster to be able to follow the races by flying a television camera across a suspended line held under tension by ESS’ ballasted towers. John Wilson, ESS’ senior project manager tasked with delivering the trackside solution, has been travelling between Epsom and Finsbury Square in the centre of London during the set-up period, whilst also overseeing an ESS building installation in the City for Bloomberg, the blue chip financial information business. Both installations were completed as ESS were putting the finishing touches

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14 March 2016

Since time was of the essence, the designers at Total Structures set to work on the proposed form, adapting tried and tested designs and using well known fabrication techniques to create a visually pleasing structure. The canopy tapers down from the rear hinge to a point, with the top chords curved to enhance the elegant form. The truss skeleton is covered with fabric with spaces for lighting fixtures to spotlight the new models with spectacular effect. The canopy is built at ground level and then lifted on chain hoists to trim height. The rear of the canopy is attached to a grid structure above the dividing wall through a hinge, allowing it to be rotated to the required angle.

(Ru

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14 March 2016

Billy Tubb of APAC, an Albuquerque theatrical consultant, teamed up with Eric Kennedy, a local freelance lighting designer, to design a modern lighting rig which would incorporate both static and modern moving light fixtures for the events centre. The upstage and downstage trusses were specified as conventional pre rig truss, whereas the grid over centre stage area comprises Intelligent Pre-Rig Truss (IPRT) with straight legs radiating from a central circular hub, to form the Zia, the state symbol of New Mexico.

The circular IPRT provides the support for a small projection screen for gobo images and the whole g

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14 March 2016

South Ayrshire Council provided the project management. The Pilewind winches enables the Gaiety’s busy technical staff to raise, lower and position four of the stage lighting bars quickly, efficiently and safety. Before the Pilewind winches were installed, the Gaiety crew was reliant on old hand winches, and hauling ropes to position each lighting bar. This took considerable time and physical effort. PCM’s Pilewind winches, operati

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14 March 2016

Twenty artists appeared across two stages, whilst 48,000 heavy metal devotees partied hard as Castle Donington was reclaimed by the new generation of rock fans. As well as protecting the bands, the 25-metre Vertech stage protected the PA and monitor system (supplied by Audio Rent), the huge lighting rig (supplied by Light & Sound Design) and gave the production team plenty of room to prepare equipment to ensure the tight schedule of 10 bands was kept on time throughout the day. The main stage area was then extended with Vertech PA towers, which flanked the stage and housed 28 tons of Clair Brothers’ PA. Outside of these were the screen supports housing Screenco’s LED screens, and cre

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14 March 2016

(Lee Baldock)

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14 March 2016

The company embarked on the process after discussing with clients what key properties would provide assurances to them regarding working with businesses in the future. It became apparent from this research that a growing number of clients from the private and public sectors, based in the UK as well as the other international markets served by ESS, that the ISO QA standard provides an acceptable objective measure of how a business deploys its services. As with all ISO-accredited businesses, ESS will undergo regular audits by a

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14 March 2016

Aerial Rigging also supplied Pro Stage of America earlier this year an MPT-roofsystem of 47' 4" x 42' x 30' 5" (12 x 10). Blake Ferry, president of Pro Stage West and Pro Stage of America commented: "We have been working with Prolyte truss for some years now. We have become very spoiled because the truss using conical connectors goes together so quickly, which has saved me a lot of time and money on the set up of a production.

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14 March 2016

ESS delivered a 20m Orbit stage, called the floating stage as it was positioned in the Thames facing back to the riverbank, as well as producing a 14m wide, four-bay clear-panelled Superstructure building christened the ‘Transparium’

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14 March 2016

LGH Rigging services manager, Bob Dean, commented: "We were very pleased with the progress of the job. We reacted very quickly to the FA’s request and were very happy with the result. It’s a shame that we didn’t feel the same about the result of the England match!"

The erection of the flag was featured on the National Television News, as was the tearful

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14 March 2016

Graham Drew headed up the Star Hire crew who had to cope with the summer’s inclement weather and the soft ground of Hackney Marshes that meant production schedules were stretched. "The whole production team work

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14 March 2016

In 1997 he became RUG’s director of production, managing all aspects of the company’s producing arm. Martin’s role at Vertigo will include overseeing the project management department, supervision of the larger contracts and aiding in the day-to-day management and running of Vertigo, an extremely busy hire and service company.

(Ruth Rossington)

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14 March 2016

The two new hoist controllers build on the success of the Programmable Hoist Controller launched at PLASA two years ago. The Programmable Hoist Controller Plus adds even more features for the most demanding applications, including an Ethernet port allowing linking of controllers and remote PC control. The HC8 complements the range, providing control of eight Lodestar or Verlinde style hoists, together with the new safety features now required for hoist control systems in the entertainment industry.

Ibex’s new audio product - Sonix MP3 - is a professional audio sound store, with a versatile range of triggering options. Audio files, using the high quality MP3 format, are played from inexpensive, high capacity CompactFlash memory ca

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14 March 2016

"What makes this system so unique is that it is surrounded by water on three sides and a portion of the towers are actually underwater," comments Tomcat design manager, Keith Bohn. The two upstage towers go through the stage and rest in 15ft (4.6m) of water. Custom bases were designed to accommodate the uneven floor at the bottom of the lagoon. The underwater towers consist of steel with multiple coats of two-part epoxy paint. All chords are capped and kept air-tight to help resist corrosion. All four towers interact with the stage for