Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Renkus-Heinz - Banner - May 2025

Rigging / Staging

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USA - Bandit Lites is currently on tour with lighting designer Eddie 'Bones' Connell and country music star Toby Keith, whose stage show includes a changing backdrop. Instead of employing the traditional 'Kabuki Stick' or the existing bulky Kabuki boxes to accomplish the curtain drop, Bandit Lites has improved on the design of the existing boxes to make them smaller, lighter and more maintenance friendly.

These newly styled Kabuki boxes were designed and manufactured by Bandit Lites' Technical Services Division. Each box has a load bearing potential of 15 pounds. The system is 'fired' from a custom-designed control centre, which is rack mountable and is contained in the PD racks. It holds the potential to fire up to 60 Kabuki boxes simultaneously. "This system is much more versatile than anything else on the market," said Richard Willis, Bandit Lites vice-president. Th

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UK - Summit Steel launched its new SmarTmast2 mast system at the recent Leeds Castle open air concert week, a series of sold-out events and classical concerts attracting 16,000 people per day.The SmarTmast2 is a development of the original SmarTmast, launched by Summit in 1998 to provide robust, compact mast for outdoor PAs, specifically line array systems. However, it has also been utilized to create lighting positions, and two SmarTmasts combined make an ideal support for external video screens, as recently demonstrated by Summit's Ken Nock for a BT event at Alton Towers.

Since its launch, the original SmarTmast has been enormously successful, and has been used for a myriad of events from the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations to the Henley Arts Festival, the Kenwood House summer season and many more. The SmarTmast2, constructed from robust 30cm square aluminium trussing, has

Doughty - Banner - from 8 April 2025

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UK - A big increase in demand this summer has seen London-based Alistage - already one of the largest stock holders of aluminium framed stage units in the country - having to manufacture approximately 300 more standard 8ft x 4ft stage units. This is in addition to the 200 extra units added last year. The range has been further extended with the introduction of a 4ft x 4ft chequer plate-topped unit and a 4.8m Perspex-topped circular stage. Recent productions that have put Alistage units to good use include Glastonbury, Womad, the disco night on Channel 4's Big Brother, Fame Academy and Later with Jools Holland.

(Barry Howse)

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UK - Carlsbro Electronics Ltd has announced the appointment of Dave Martin as its export agent. Martin's appointment follows the closure of Edgeworth Electronics Ltd, manufacturer of Torque amplification, which Martin had been selling on the world market since 1985. Carlsbro has appointed Dave Martin International as the exclusive sales agency for its complete product range on the international market, excluding China.

(Lee Baldock)

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Korea - When the LG Arts Center in Seoul, Korea ordered its new Liberty panels from dance floor specialist British Harlequin plc, they also specified a new-style storage cart to offer ease of handling and to protect the floor panels when not in use. Since then, Harlequin has received orders from other companies that have recognized the benefits of this newly-designed storage cart.

With each cart having a loading capacity of up to the equivalent of 20 full-size Liberty dance floor panels, six swivel wheels provide for complete manoeuvrability, while the chassis incorporates pockets to facilitate use with fork lift trucks. The cart's robust steel construction has a black powder-coated scratch resistant paint finish, and comprises a removable front gate and hinged sides to allow loading access from three sides.

Panels are stacked in sets of five, with additional support bars int

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Canada - Olympic skating champions Jamie Sale and David Pelletier christened Princess Cruises' newest passenger super liner Island Princess earlier this week, in a ceremony which also marked the operator's third decade of sailing from the Canadian Port. Island Princess and her sister ship Coral Princess, which joined the fleet in January, will be sailing seven-day Gulf of Alaska cruises from Vancouver and Seward.

The entertainment facilities onboard are second to none, featuring three show lounges including the state-of-the-art Universe lounge. Split over two decks, the Universe lounge was designed to facilitate a diverse range of entertainment options from Princess production shows to movie screenings.

Stage Technologies, perhaps most widely recognized for their work on land-based theatres such as the Royal Opera House and the stage production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

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UK - Adam Hall, world-renowned manufacturer and distributor of hardware components to the pro-audio, music and allied industries will be launching many new exciting product lines at PLASA this year. One of the many new lines they will introduce this year is the complete range of US made 'SKB' cases and 19" racks, including their innovative range of DJ workstations, turntable and record/CD cases and their unique light-weight range of Roto-moulded 'Gig-Rig' all-in-one 19" mixer/rack cases.

As usual Adam Hall will be adding many new innovative items to their extensive range of hardware components including their new 'Easycase' system, giving case manufacturers a new quick and easy way to build strong light-weight cases. Also they will be launching their new 'TrussStacker' system, which tackles the age-old problem of safely transporting aluminium lighting trussing, both it

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UK - Star Hire (Event Services) Ltd completed its third year as principal stage contractor for this year's tenth anniversary of T in the Park, held in Kinross, Scotland. Star Hire supplied staging and site structures as T in the Park celebrated its tenth birthday, selling out 55,000 tickets and receiving rave reviews from festival goers and press alike for it's relaxed atmosphere and excellent line-up of bands.

A VT 20-20 FPVL featured as the centrepiece to the event, the main stage. With the recognisable T in the Park scrims, the stage acted as the settings for bands including The Coral, The Darkness, Supergrass, the Cardigans and headliners, Coldplay and REM. The stage measured 47.5m wide and 17.5m high to the apex with a 2.5m stage height.

The NME stage was a newly enlarged Vertech design by Star Hire; the VT 15-15 FL was introduced at T in the Park this year, in place of

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Portugal - For performing arts lovers everywhere, Portugal is the place to be this summer, with an array of festivals and events taking place right through until September. The programme of dance, music and drama has become a must tour stop for some of the world's most prestigious performing arts companies.

The world heritage village of Sintra is considered to be one of the country's hottest tourists spots for those seeking culture, with much of this accolade owing to its annual festival, Festival de Sintra. Hosting a variety of performances from Opera through to Ballet, the two-month long celebrations take place in every conceivable venue from theatres right through to churches and parks.

The annual success of this festival has seen a number of new builds take place in the small village, the Centro Cultural Olga Cadaval (CCOC) being one of the more recent. Stage Technologies

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USA - Polar Focus has introduced the Rocker Zbeam - a new line array rigging system designed to simplify installation. Currently, with conventional rigging techniques, a two-motor rig is usually suspended from one dead hang point and a carefully bridled second point. The acoustic aim of the cluster and the coverage is dependent on the accuracy of the bridled rigging point, and in order to focus the system effectively, the bridled point may need to be adjusted several times. However, the Rocker Zbeam claims to solve this problem by using only two dead hang points. However, if bridles are used, then their accuracy is much less important. In either case, the cluster can be quickly rotated to achieve the desired horizontal angle.

The key component is a rocker beam that keeps the centre axis vertical at all times, even if the two supporting hoists are not running at the same speed o

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UK - Summit Steel supplied six SmarTmasts to provide site-wide PA and lighting rigging points for the 2003 Henley Festival of Music & The Arts. The popular event, founded in 1983, is a complete entertainment experience across five evenings, immediately following the famous Henley Regatta, and sharing the same infrastructure and picturesque riverside location. Summit was hired by production manager Bob Caple, who needed an easy and elegant solution for placing lighting and sound equipment around site.

After utilizing three masts for the first time last year, Caple believes the SmarTmast trademarks of a neat footprint, robust construction and stylish appearance make them the best product of this genre on the market. He was also impressed with Summit's service and attention to detail. Set-up time was extremely limited, so SmarTmast was again the ideal choice. Another constructional

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UK - The Leicester Haymarket and Raymond Gubbay production of Rodgers and Hart's On Your Toes previewed at the Royal Festival Hall earlier this week. Directed by Paul Kerryson, it stars and is choreographed by ballet dancer Adam Cooper. The other cast principals are Sarah Wildor, Kathryn Evans and Irek Mukhamedov.

Having previously worked with production manager Graham Lister on Copacabana and the Leicester Haymarket production of On Your Toes, Stage Technologies was again asked to provide the control solution. This time round, the London production required additional scenic effects and with The Royal Festival Hall, most frequently used for music concerts, having no grid, the venue had the potential for a challenging fit up.

Stage Technologies' supply consisted of eight sliding tracks (including back wall sliders), two flown ballet bars, Stage Technologie

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USA - The legendary heavy metal group Metallica is currently making their way through this years' Summer Sanitarium Tour, with support from Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Deftones and Mudvayne. Metallica also teamed up with Upstaging and Tomcat USA to tour in style. The two companies came together to provide top notch equipment for the mother of all metal bands. Besides the 26 sections of medium duty, 1 section of heavy duty pre-rig truss, and various corner blocks, Tomcat provided 27 10ft sections and 17 8ft sections of the EDDY Award-winning Swing Wing Truss.

Metallica kicked off the tour in San Francisco on 18 May and will continue across the world. Heavily promoting their new album 'St. Anger', the tour covers Europe, America, South America and Japan, before ending on 1 February 2004 in Australia.

(Lee Baldock)

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Germany - London-based Park Avenue Productions collaborated with German sister company Citigate SEA to produce a spectacular live show for the launch of the newly-formed HSH-Nordbank in Hamburg. The event, staged at the city's Colour Line Arena, celebrated the merger of two of North Germany's main financial institutions - Hamburgische Landesbank and LB Kiel.

Whilst the event's logistics were handled by Citigate, it fell to Park Avenue to co-ordinate all the technical and creative aspects of the show, one of the highlights of which, was a dramatic 20-minute aerial display of colour and movement artistically directed by lighting designer Simon Tapping and choreographed by Micha Bergese- well known for his work on the Millennium Dome's Central show.

Park Avenue realized an ambitious immersive environment, which included the tasteful branding of all Colour Line's foyer, public an

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USA - Several people have been in touch to draw our attention to a story that was posted on the online news site of the Atlantic City County News, which reports on a major collapse of the rig for a concert planned to take place at the city's Boardwalk Hall venue, featuring Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera.

According to the news report, the large steel grid, on which a substantial amount of technical equipment was rigged, collapsed in the early afternoon during set-up. It also mentions that whilst most people escaped unhurt, three sustained minor injuries. The truss was apparently attached to the Boardwalk's false ceiling which was installed in the venue as part of a recent $90 million upgrade. An investigation is now underway. You can read the full report at the website below.

(Ruth Rossington)

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UK - Red Bull UK staged their biggest ever event in Hyde Park, London, in early August. The event, hosted by Tess Daly and Brian Dowling, involved 40 teams launching their homemade flying machines off a 6m high runway into the Serpentine, cheered on by thousands of enthusiastic onlookers.

Attended by an estimated 150,000 people, who watched the 40 teams of mad participants launching themselves in home-built 'flying machines' from the huge floating runway, the event was the climax of 18 months of planning and development, which involved over 110 Red Bull staff.

At the centre of the serpentine was the main runway, built by Star Hire, an impressive 40m long by 10m wide, leaving the contestants and their flying machines a 6m drop into the water. To ensure all the crowds could see the action in the park, which is covered in trees, four big screens with relay sound systems were empl

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UK - This year's Festival of Speed, the 10th anniversary event at the Earl of March's idyllic Goodwood estate, was dominated by a stunning structure built for Ford by Edwin Shirley Staging (ESS). Designed by Gerry Judah of Judah Design and turned into reality by ESS's Steve Colley and Graham Turner, the spectacularly sloping structure presented replicas of the three Ford GT40s which won the historic 1st, 2nd and 3rd place victory at the 1966 Le Mans 24-hour race.

"The project was all about 100 years of Ford," said ESS project manager Rob Smalldon, "and was one of the most challenging projects I've been involved with for some time."

From the ground, the structure rose 34m with a width of 25m. Edwin Shirley Trucking (EST) shipped in 217m of regular roof truss, 126m of LT Tower Truss, 604m of cabling and 102 bespoke purlins in a total of 16 trucks. The ESS tea

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UK - It's being described as popular entertainment at its best, a show which reverts to 'a time when men were men and women were broads'. Frank, Sammy and Dean - The Rat Pack Live from Las Vegas opened to rave reviews in June at the Strand Theatre in London. Just over a month later it has succeeded in breaking the theatre's box office records with more than 200,000 tickets sold so far. The show, produced by Flying Music, celebrates the talents of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr and Dean Martin, who are immortalized on stage in this lavish production set in their favourite live venue, The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas.

LiteStructures was called in to build the stage set. John Roe, LiteStructures' sales representative said: "When Sean Cavanagh, the set designer came to us asking for something tough but attractive enough to keep up with the glitzy Las Vegas image, ClearDeck wa

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UK - This year the education programme has been relaunched to meet the changing demands of the PLASA visitor and will be hosted by the PLASA Professional Development Programme (PLASA PDP), the Association's new training initiative. A full timetable is now online and taking bookings - check out the website below.

This extended educational platform will examine current trends and issues across the wide range of the industry and provide visitors with the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and learn from the experts. The format has been revised with four different types of sessions - Technical Workshops; Business Seminars; Industry Seminars and Masterclasses.

Many of the sessions are supported by associations, trade bodies and publications and for the first time RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) are also supporting the programme. Their endorsement is clear recognit

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Canada - In its ongoing effort to serve production and lighting professionals worldwide, TMB is expanding its North American presence with the opening of TMB-Toronto. The new distribution centre will provide a faster response and turnaround throughout Canada.

Lighting veteran and renowned fugitive from justice Mike Gillis will head the new location. Gillis has 20 years' experience in the Canadian lighting industry as a distributor and lighting company owner. Colin Waters, TMB CEO commented: "There's a lot going on up North, but that pesky border keeps getting in the way. This should solve that problem. TMB continues to grow, but all of us are more committed than ever to not forgetting where we came from. Meanwhile, we keep building a global network providing choice, support and service to companies who earn their living from entertainment production."

With locations

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UK - LiteStructures will be unveiling much more than most other exhibitors at PLASA 2003 - as it will lift the lid on its brand new image and new website. LiteStructures' makeover comes during a period of expansion, which sees the company growing both in size and reputation. Managing director Adrian Brooks explains: "It was definitely time for a change. LiteStructures is going from strength to strength and we wanted to overhaul our image to reflect that."

While the LiteStructures logo is certainly different, visitors to the stand can rest assured that the company's products are still as stylish and reliable as ever, as Brooks explains: "The quality and service you'll get from LiteStructures is the same as before. The change of image simply brings the LiteStructures 'look' in line with the 21st century." Visitors to stand M40 will also be able to see LiteStruc

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UK - Le Mark will celebrate its 20th anniversary with the launch of its new catalogue at PLASA 2003. After nine months in the design and production, the new catalogue will be launched on Sunday 7 September at the PLASA Show, Earls Court, and will include many new and innovative products.

This issue will reinforce Le Mark's reciprocal trading policy: the catalogue features exciting accessories from Apollo Design Technology Inc, City Theatrical Inc and GAM Products. For the first time, products from Le Mark's recently-announced production partner Tesa UK Ltd are introduced, including the new high heat-resisting Scroller-Tak splicing tape. "Le Mark offers an 'open house' on the day of the launch, with a Champagne toast at mid-day," says catalogue design co-ordinator Mark Gibbons. "It's been a tough time for many areas of the entertainment industry - we have worked ha

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UK - Queen Elizabeth School in Kirkby Lonsdale recently approached Maltbury to build a raked stage for the school. QES is a secondary school with specialist Arts Status and, as such, places great emphasis on the quality of its performing arts facilities. Peter Hooper, head of music at the school, gathered a selection of staff from relevant departments who sat down with Maltbury MD Philip Sparkes to discuss all available options. The result of this invaluable meeting was an extremely carefully planned package of equipment, which managed to accommodate a wide spectrum of requirements.

The choice was Metrodeck and the final total was forty 1m x 1m modules, triangles and quadrants. Sets of legs were added to give both flat and raked stages also bolt-on kick-rails and black serge drapes made up a package offering maximum versatility and ease of handling.

The first use of the equipm

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UK - Wolverhampton-based Ra'alloy recently supplied Brighton Palace Pier with one of its Rapi-stage staging systems for promotional events scheduled throughout the summer months. Following its recent well-publicized fire, Brighton pier management had a very large repair bill and not much time before the peak influx of holidaymakers.

Ra'alloy's new Rapi-stage was seen to fit well with plans to promote the Pier. Copycat acts such as Queen, Shania Twain, Britney Spears and many more were scheduled to perform, aiming to encourage a full spectrum of visitors to the pier. The stage was manufactured in just four weeks and stands 25ft high and is clearly visible from the seafront. Face on the stage measures 50ft wide by 18ft deep.

The system was launched last year and is manufactured from aluminium and fabric. Rapi-stage is a fully integrated roof and deck system, therefore minimizing

  1. Prolyte signs up for T2
  2. New Trio for ARB
  3. Hall Stage lines up innovations for PLASA
  4. Triple E and DHA team up for Sophie's Choice
  5. Het Muziektheater installs ProTrac
  6. Massive protection from Rola-Trac
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