Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
LumenRadio - Banner - April 2025 (embargoed til 2nd)

Rigging / Staging

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Edinburgh-based Prolyte distributor, Black Light, found that their Easter holidays were seriously disrupted this year due to the untimely intervention of BBC Scotland. The reason for the distraction was that the BBC needed a former warehouse to be converted in to a fully functional television studio at short notice. The new studio complex is required for an as-yet-unnamed new soap opera.

Black Light, in association with Scaffolding Great Britain, was asked to supply and install almost 600 metres of truss, so that a saturation lighting rig could be used on the set, thus enabling lighting designers to light every aspect of the studio area easily and efficiently. After a great deal of analysis, the BBC decided that Prolyte X30V triangular truss was the ideal product for this application, because of its good loading characteristics and ease of use due to the CCS conical coupling system.

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Set in the heart of Cheshire is Warrington's brand new performing arts venue, the Pyramid Centre. It is scheduled to bring the very best in dance, drama, music and comedy to the area and will host its official opening at the end of October this year.

The centre is aimed at all levels of performance from internationally acclaimed professionals to local school children. It reflects this versatility by offering an impressive array of facilities, including six performance spaces, an artist suite, three artist studios, a technology suite, four media studios plus hospitality suites, a restaurant, a reception and box office area. In addition to being a state-of-the-art entertainment venue, the Pyramid Centre will also host a range of corporate events and conferences.

With such a broad spectrum of potential uses for the venue, versatility was paramount for all equipment supplied for the proj

HOF - Banner Apr 2025

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Several members of the creative and technical teams involved in the recent Jubilee Celebrations have been recognized in a special honours list announced on Monday. All the honours, announced the day after the Queen Mother's birthday, are from the Royal Victorian Order, a decoration which is a personal award for services performed on behalf of the Sovereign. Amongst those honoured with an LVO (Lieutenant of the Victorian Order) were Alan Jacobi of Unusual - the main contractor for the central weekend events; Party in the Palace event producer Robbie Williams and Simon Brooks-Ward, director of the Royal Windsor Horse Show. Mark Fisher, creative director for the Queen’s concerts and Wilf Scott of Pyrovision, the company which handled the pyrotechnics, were awarded MVOs (Member of the Royal Victorian Order).

A comprehensive report covering the Jubilee events in central London runs in

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Alistage provided several of their ‘Alidome’ roof structures were used throughout the country during the Jubilee celebrations, by a variety of event organisers. Alidomes were used by local authority festivals in Newham, Wandsworth and Canterbury. BBC Wales also hired in an Alidome for their event, held in Cardiff Castle. Stratford-upon-Avon council also became the first user of their new Eclipse winch-controlled ground support system. Many other jobs had to be satisfied on a dry-hire only basis, because of the increased demand, which saw some 200 additional stage units being manufactured.

Alistage was also involved in some of the street visits which the Queen undertook in London, one in particular involving the construction of a ‘gold’ circular podium in the East-end. The stage came from standard equipment, but the police only allowed a 30-minute build time, whi

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Tomcat’s second annual Las Vegas Motor School is sweeping through the Western Region this year hot on the heels of LDI 2002. The workshop, scheduled for 21 and 22 of October, will be held at 4 Wall Entertainment and consists of a full day of motor instruction taught by Don Dimitroff of Columbus McKinnon, a half-day of fall protection led by Morgan Neff of Mine Safety Appliances, and a half-day of truss design, use and theory taught by Keith Bohn from Tomcat USA. In other Tomcat training news, the annual Tomcat Hoist and Rigging Workshop will be hosted by Tomcat USA in Midland, Texas, from 5-8 February 2003. Recognized worldwide as one of the most comprehensive training courses of its kind, the Hoist and Rigging Workshop is a unique learning opportunity for those new to the entertainment industry, as well as veterans of the business.

For more information regarding either workshop

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Star Hire (Event Services) Ltd provided the staging for ‘Feel the Noise 2002’, a series of five Emap radio roadshows. Star Hire supplied a mixture of their mobile SS 15-12V StarStages and VT 15 stages for the event, flanked by screens on either side of the stage and triangular PA towers, provided by SSE. The tour included a variety of venues including Newcastle, Blackburn, Liverpool and Hull, for their respective radio stations.

The events, production managed by ClearChannel, featured Blue, Darius and the talented Sugar Babes amongst the artists, with Gareth Gates closing the show, much to the delight of the 25,000 strong crowd. The central stage was 15m wide, 12m deep and 10m high with a stage height of 1.8m. Each stage was constructed in its ‘Vista’ layout with screamers or 'ego-platforms' extending in front of the screens which were set back to improve audien

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Internationally-recognized American artist Chris Burden has produced a scale model of the Tyne Bridge made from Meccano. However, the scale was such that it was not possible to install it in the gallery by conventional means. At 282cm high and 153cm wide the problem was the length of 945cm and the destination of the top gallery space. The exhibit was constructed of specially-fabricated Meccano parts in stainless steel and consequently was of some considerable weight.

Tim Roffey of Unusual was given the task of finding a way of getting the bridge up to the 4th floor gallery. Although it couldn’t fit into the goods lift on the level, there was a possibility that it might fit in if loaded into diametrically opposed corners. A ground support was built inside the lift using mini-beam truss. Using manual lever hoists attached to the temporary grid, the exhibit was gently coaxed into po

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Star Hire (Event Services) Ltd provided all of the technical facilities for the Queen’s Jubilee Baton Relay Tour evening celebration sites, covering 47 sites in 48 days of a 50-date tour, the first time a tour of its kind has been attempted and completed successfully in the UK.

Drawing on the theme of fifty, the Baton was carried by 5000 runners passing through 500 places in 50 days. The relay traversed the whole of the UK, stopping overnight in venues so that the Baton could change hands and to allow for evening entertainment. The Baton’s journey culminated in Manchester at the opening of the Commonwealth Games on 25 July 2002.

Star Hire provided one of its SS11-09 Mobile StarStages for the tour and managed the technical production elements of sound, lighting, power and video screens for the evening entertainment events. They were also responsible for the design, manufa

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L&SI magazine is running two Round Table discussion sessions during the forthcoming PLASA Show (September 8-11, Earls Court 1, London) designed to address some of the most central issues in the industry.

The first session Freelance Rates - Due for Review? will focus on the current rates of pay for freelancers, which over the years have shown a downward trend in real terms, and will be led by a panel of industry professionals on both sides of the fence. The second session, Discounting Rental Rates: Is it Economic Madness? will look at discounting in rental markets, and how companies may be devaluing the services they provide in their attempts to undercut competitors. Once again, the panel will be drawn from those who deal with these issues on a daily basis.

The Freelance Rates session will take place on Monday 9 September at 3pm in the Westminster Room on the Mezzanine L

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Star Hire (Event Services) Ltd supplied all of the staging and supplementary site structures for the Route of Kings series of concerts, promoted by the collective talents of Triple A and ClearChannel Entertainments this summer.

The 2002 Route of Kings series of shows this year took place in London, Cardiff, Warwick and Leeds and featured headline artists including Paul Weller, Rod Stewart, Meatloaf, Bryan Adams and St Germain. Through the course of this run, Star Hire supplied its Vertech stages to the Route of Kings sites. During this busiest of periods, the company logistics involved 63 truck movements transporting equipment all over the UK, employing 48 staff across nine event sites, while the artists on Star Hire stages were watched by a collective audience in the region of a quarter of a million people.

This summer Star Hire improved its award-winning Vertech system through the

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Sunday 8 September - 7.30pm till late . . .

This year the PLASA Show is celebrating its 25th year, and it’s something we’d like to share with as many exhibitors and visitors as possible. So, we’re hosting a PLASA Party on the evening of Sunday 8th September at 'The Bridge' (underneath London Bridge) - one of London’s newest venues, to which everyone is welcome. The all-inclusive tickets are just £50.00 (plus VAT) and include a champagne reception, buffet supper and all you can drink. Not to mention the chance to dance until late.

For further information call Mikaela Fenton-Jones on +44 (0)207 370 8207.

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Tomcat UK and PCM would like to remind all of their customers that from 1 September 2002 they will be supplying all Columbus McKinnon Lodestar hoists with 4-pin, 110V, 16 Amp yellow CEE-form connectors instead of the current 3-pin version. The majority of customers will now have received letters from their respective supplier explaining the change. In addition, any users of Columbus McKinnon theatrical chain hoists with questions or concerns are invited to a meeting to be held during the PLASA exhibition in London. It will allow users of the product to discuss the matter with representatives of the PSA, Columbus McKinnon and their two UK distributors, PCM and Tomcat UK.

The meeting will be held in the Westminster Room (Earls Court 1, Level 1) on Tuesday 10 September 2002 at 10:00 AM.

(Lee Baldock)

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Fineline and Tomcat UK recently made the seemingly impossible possible by designing and manufacturing a completely new design roof structure in just over two weeks from initial conception. When approached to provide an outdoor roof structure for the recent Joe Calzaghe vs. Miguel Jimenez fight at Cardiff Castle, Fineline managing director Darren Wring thought that he would have to turn the offer down as he did not own a structure of the size or specification required. But after bit of head-scratching, it became apparent that he already owned a large enough quantity of truss to produce the majority of the structure - all he would need would be the custom components to create the roof.

Wring then contacted Tomcat UK and the design work started on the four-tower, 18m x 16m system. In just over two weeks, Tomcat and Fineline had designed, engineered and manufactured the necessary component

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Vertigo Rigging was appointed by production company MICE to provide precision rigging for a sales training event at the Berlin ICC to mark the takeover of Compaq by Hewlett Packard. The HP Enterprise Storage Group conference included an appearance by F1 racing driver Ralph Schumacher, who launched the new Williams car in one of the halls and made a guest speech.

Two of the ICC’s largest halls were decked out as auditoriums with stages and screens for large-scale AV presentations. The Vertigo team, led by crew chief Paul Darby, rigged three large soft front-projection screens in hall one, the centre one measuring 26m x 9.5m and spanning the entire width of the stage. This was flanked by two 16m x 9m side screens, angled to be parallel to the auditorium walls, and tapered at the front to match in with the raked seating. Vertigo also rigged two large overhead sound baffles, measurin

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North East-based Hi-Lights Theatre Services recently saw its new Prolyte stage in action at the National Trust's Ormesby Hall over the August bank holiday weekend. With a concert featuring Suzie Quattro and headlined by Status Quo, the Prolyte ST complete roof and tower system with additional front cantilever proved a great success, especially with the rigging crew, thanks to its speed and ease of construction. The fully fitted cover also meant that rigging could continue in the heavy rain experienced before the event which thankfully cleared up for the night.

(Lee Baldock)

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Litec will show its new professional truss system designed for very heavy duty use, at PLASA 2002. This new range is designed to meet professional needs when a high loading capacity is required together with wide spans. It is particularly suitable for building large covered structures. The connection systems consist of aluminium or steel forks according to the model. The High Load line expands Litec's range in this demanding professional sector, where materials have to meet special needs and be highly reliable.

Litec can be found on Stand E16.

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Next week’s PLASA Show will see the launch of the largest collection of new products ever from Milos Structural Systems. Amongst the many launches planned are the QuickTruss M400 and M520 ranges for heavy-duty applications, including folding truss sections and Super-sized MR3 ground-support roof systems to cover areas up to 280sq.m. However, the central launch will be that of the X-Stage platform system. This is a lightweight range of fast assembling deck systems with high loading capacity offering a versatile solution for stage and touring applications.

Representatives from Milos, Milos UK and Milos America will all be at the show to welcome visitors to the stand.

Milos can be found on G45/H60.

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BSR E1.4, Entertainment Technology - Manual Rigging Systems, is available for public review through the end of the business day on 19 November 2002. This draft American National Standard describes the design and construction of manually powered rigging systems to enhance the safety of these system. These systems are used in theatres to raise and lower scenery, properties, lighting equipment, and similar loads over the stage. The standard does not apply to raising and lowering people, or to motorized systems.

Copies of the document may be obtained from the ESTA website at www.esta.org/tsp/ or by requesting a copy from ESTA's technical standards manager by writing via mail, fax, or e-mail. Comments on the document should be received at the ESTA office before 17:00 Eastern Time on November 19. Comments submitted after the deadline may not b

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Following the success that AVW’s motion control system Impressario, culminating at this year’s ABTT show in London where it won the prestigious Product of the Year Award in the Engineering category, AVW has today introduced Impressario Advance! - a new product at PLASA 2002.

The most obvious change is the new-look silver console, but underneath its modern exterior Impressario Advance! makes use of the latest computer technology in the form of Windows XP. Hardware developments mean that a floppy disc is no longer necessary, being replaced with a CD R/W drive, whilst the Pentium II board had been replaced with a more powerful and faster Pentium IV.

Changes to the software include a new Cue List and Equipment List facility, which enables users to look at all cues/equipment on a single page rather than scrolling through as is currently the case. To provide more relevant info

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One of the most talked-about live music mixing consoles of recent months - the DiGiCo D5 Live - was launched at PLASA yesterday, with and Dave Webster and Bob Doyle making a special presentation to members of the press over an enjoyable Sunday roast. On stand D28, the D5 Live system is on demonstration in a fully working set-up with a digital multitrack concert recording sync’d to video.

Designed from the ground up to deliver high sonic purity and powerful, instantly accessible controllability, the D5 Live comprises the D5 Live console itself, a front-of-house Digirack containing A/D converters and I/Os, a matching stage Digirack and 100m of fibre optic cable. This is a complete, self contained system that does away with the need for a multicore, splitters, line drivers, dynamics processors and - optionally - an entire effects rack too. The D5 Live can even record live to multitr

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The 2002 PLASA Show got off to a positive start yesterday as the industry congregated in Earls Court, London. With another bumper crop of new product innovations on show the PLASA Show is providing an unmissable opportunity to see and discuss the state of the art in entertainment, communications and presentation technology. Comment from exhibitors was upbeat - one first-time exhibitor told PLASA Media he had been overwhelmed by the attention his company had received on stand, and wished he had more staff to deal with enquiries.

O Sunday night, PLASA’s 25th anniversary party took place to round off a highly successful day on the show floor. The event - staged at The Bridge - was attended by over 500 exhibitors and visitors who participated in numerous side shows at the Party including a bucking bronco, sumo wrestling, boules and the highlight, a full-on seventies disco.

On the

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Mobil Tech UK is to take on the manufacture and distribution of selected items from the Mobil Tech France range, which will include the ALP, Standtech and Alutech lines, and will also see the reinstatement of some of the company’s most popular stands from previous years. The move comes after Mobil Tech France had experienced some problems with its manufacturing capability. It is also envisaged that Mobil Tech UK will change its name to Mobil Tech International to reflect this change in emphasis.

Mobil Tech can be seen on stand D28.

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The Martin Audio stand at PLASA 2002 was the site for an important announcement yesterday, and the first appearance of the Synco W8L Line Array System by Martin Audio, a specially configured version of the Martin Audio W8L line array system which is exclusive to the Synco Europe Network. Fred Heuves, MD of Synco Europe, and David Bisset-Powell, MD of Martin Audio, announced the signing of the deal that will see Synco Network members equipped with the system.

The deal represents Martin Audio’s largest single European sale since the launch of the acclaimed W8L system in the spring of this year. The Synco W8L Line Array will be operated in parallel with the existing stocks of the network’s Renkus-Heinz Synco Touring System and proprietary Synco floor monitors. "The network has grown very fast in the five years since we launched it and reached over 1000 cabinets but still

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Announced at the PLASA Show, Chameleon Audio has appointed the UK’s leading export company, Expotus, to source potential distributors for its products throughout Asia, and the alliance has already borne fruit, with three companies now handling the line.Total Solution, Singapore, Stagecraft International in the Philippines and Phoenix Audio & Lighting Technology, Hong Kong, are now official distributors of Chameleon amplification.

According to Chameleon MD, Paul Houlden, the decision to appoint Expotus was based on the company’s imposing track record of successfully marketing other UK brands overseas, particularly the Far East. Says Houlden: "Trying to break into the Asian market has been a particularly tough nut to crack. However, thanks to Expotus’ expertise, it’s already beginning to pay dividends for Chameleon."

Following a series of field trials,

  1. New development for award-winning Impressario
  2. PLASA Awards 2002
  3. US division of Doughty UK grows again
  4. PLASA Show Closes on a High
  5. Edwin Shirley Staging back in the city
  6. Follies at the Festival Hall
Page 74 of 232
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