Managing Director of The Q2Q Group Koen van Geene stated that he was" thrilled to be able to take on the sole UK distribution rights for such innovative and modern products".
Eurotruss is one of the leading suppliers of aluminium truss systems on the international market. It offers a wide range of aluminium truss systems Both Eurotruss and Q2Q will be present PLASA 08.
(Jim Evans)
Libra comes in the form of a Crosby shackle with a load sensing pin. Currently 3.25 tonne and 4.5 tonne versions are offered, both with a 5:1 safety factor. A Libra loadcell can either be connected directly to a Kinesys Elevation 1+ giving feedback about the motor being controlled by the Elevation, or daisy-chained together with other Libras and connected to an interface unit positioned on the floor.
A PC is connected to the interface via USB or Ethernet, and all the loads can be clearly viewed onscreen using Libra's free software. The software package also contains numerous other features including the logging of weights, warning and overload settings for both underload and overload, multiple grouping options and the
Totalling nearly 200 drapes of varying sizes, it's the Sowerby Bridge based company's largest single contract to date, with the work being delivered in four phases.
J&C Joel project manager Tony Griffiths, worked closely with ACCL production manager Gail Wroth to design curtain requirements for the various areas.
In the main 10,000 capacity Arena itself, the space needed to be turned into a variety of flexible formats including a complete 'black box', the traditional end-on stage D-shape format, in-the-round and sub-divided as a series of individual smaller performance spaces - all with curtains.
The main c
MRL Productions will specialise in providing a complete sound, lighting, video and staging technical service to the corporate event, theatre, fashion show and concert sector.
Their biggest contract to date has been with Great Leighs, the first new racecourse that has been set up in the last 80 years.
John Holmes' new venture - situated between Braintree and Chelmsford - hosts night racing as well as a large number of corporate functions for which MRL has been providing sound and lighting. This includes the opening night when Alexander O'Neal performed in front of an audience of 600.
The company has already developed a cutting-edge hire fleet. This
Once a year the little town of Towersey in Oxfordshire, with a population of 400, becomes engulfed with festival-goers, keen to soak up the five-day festival's atmosphere. Towersey is now in its 44th year, and has again attracted the cream of folk and acoustic music artists including The Commitments, who opened the show during the August Bank Holiday weekend. The festival also includes a showground, a wide range of trade stalls and catering venues. Daily visitors to this year's festival topped 2,500, with a further 3,500 choosing to camp.
Stage Electrics has been heavily involved with the festival for 15 years, and is also a main sponsor. Steve Heap, director of the festival comments: &q
Part of the festival included a giant screen installed at the foot of Nelson's Column, which played scenes from the Beijing Olympics. The screen showed everything from the opening ceremony in Beijing to the closing ceremony, and the handover to London and captured all of Team GB's successes. The festival had plenty of Chinese inspired performances to accompany the Olympic theme with acts and performances from the Flying Dragon Circus and the Yellow Earth Theatre. Many of the artists taking part in the festival used digital imagery and art as part of their act.
Stage Electrics worked
The newly formed Harlequin Asia Limited, a subsidiary of British Harlequin, is based in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong.
(Jim Evans)
Adrian Brooks, managing director of Litestructures, said, "I am delighted to announce the contractual completion of the deal with Impact Products, which we expect to be worth well in excess of £10 million over the next few years. Impact has a complete infrastructure in place to fully serve our mutual customers and we look forward to a highly successful partnership."
Impact offers Litestructures' products with immediate availability from stock in its Northampton base, supported by a national network of trade counters as well as fully automated on-line purchasing platforms on its webshop.
Litestructures is known for its wide selection of lightweight yet st
Tour News - With a canon of classic songs, unbowed enthusiasm and his musical faculties still sharp, Stevie Wonder has opened his first European tour for a decade. The US star took fans at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena on a two-hour journey through almost 50 years of songs that helped shape soul and pop. A sold-out crowd of 13,500 saw him play with a 10-strong band and four backing singers, including his daughter Aisha. Wonder, 58, now visits Manchester and London before other European cities.Festival News - Amy Winehouse has played her last scheduled show of the year
Currently, even the most sophisticated automation systems struggle to match the superior dexterity and subtlety offered by a manual flying system. However, as the use of manual flying systems is not practical, theatrical flying tends to be managed by large arrays of automated systems, costing Producers and Directors dearly in terms not only of programming and rehearsal time, but also in terms of artistry. Qtrack provides the answer, say Stage One.
Providing complete freedom of move
(Jim Evans)
Alan Thomson, a leading figure in the industry and formerly a director of PRG Europe, has joined Unusual to manage this new venture.
Alan brings over 30 years of experience in the provision of technical solutions within the entertainment industry and will be a valuable asset to Unusual.
Alan Jacobi, managing director of Unusual confirmed: "This is a major investment for the company. There is no doubt that the market in the Middle East continues to grow with an increasing demand for proven expertise in temporary and permanent rigging installation projects.
"Unusual Dubai will replicate
This year's distributor award was received by Xaxier Drouet of Axente, while the award for special contribution went to Jan Siemons of Relight.
According to Fokko Smeding, Axente won the Award due to "their long-term and non-relenting promotion of the Prolyte products in France". Axente has been Prolyte distributor for almost 15 years and has grown steadily over those years.
Jan Siemons of Relight received the award for special contribution for his dedication to the Prolyft products and critical and in-depth product testing and reviews.
Displaying three new products at the show, the rotating stage, the mammoth truss and the Stage DEX support frame for multi-level stages, Prolyte reports much interest from visitors.
(Jim Evans)
The Serious team of 18 was led by Steve McConnell and it took approximately five days to erect the various structures.
The main Open Air Stage comprised a three-bay version of one of Serious's new Supernova roofs - also featured at Glastonbury, Latitude and other festivals this summer. This version of the Supernova offered 22m x 14.4m of stage space. It was customised with an 18m Orbit D-End built on to the back and utilised as a 9m changeover area.
The back area of the stage was joined to the main roof by an interconnecting sheet, and the entire structure was covered in white skins, matching the vibe
A special German version was released in 2007, focusing on the special regulations and rules for the German market. Based on this version, the newly released English translation is again fullyupdated with new developments, such as the European CWA 25 workshop agreement.
"We are aware that numerous technicians carry our brochure around, just to have all the detailed and practical information on truss and rigging topics at hand, which is one of the reasons why we have published the Black Book in a handy A5 format. Developments on international regulations are progressing strongly and Prolyte is always keen to inform its customers of the late
Shatzkin brings more than 25 years' experience in marketing, sales and public relations to Clancy, as well as expertise in all facets of technical theatre. A working lighting designer, Shatzkin served as team leader on the renovation of the J.H. Mulroy Civic Center in Syracuse, NY, which involved the total replacement of sound, lighting, stage lift and rigging systems.
"We're very pleased that Charlie is joining us," said Tom Young, vice president of marketing and sales for J. R. Clancy. "With his long experience in theatre and international sales work, he is a perfect fit for us. Charlie will be a terrific asset as we build on our already strong presence outside of the United Sta
During the programme, the CWA 25 regulation was presented by one of the workgroup members, Gert Jan Brouwer of Frontline Rigging. For more than two years, an international group of entertainment industry experts have worked on the European code of practice for stage machinery and load bearing structures, which is officially titled Lifting and load-bearing equipment for stages and other production areas within the entertainment industry.
The CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) will be the first stage in the process to build a Europe-wide consensus community. The initial objective of the workshop will be to make an inventory of standards and standard-like documents, as well as l
The University of Derby approached A.C. Rigging for a solution to improve students' hands-on experience in this specialised field of entertainment technology.
Specified by A.C. Rigging sales executive, Paul Hadfield, the university opted for a powered rigging system to add to its existing manual version. Hadfield states, "It was felt that the electrical system would better equip students with the experience and knowledge current in today's market, which they would ultimately be entering into. The University of Derby is renowned for providing highly qualified and highly sought after graduates to our industry and A.C. is proud to be associated with a
Southern operations manager Chris Hollands says: "AP's remit on this occasion was to look after the public and we had a total of 80 staff on site to do that. We were also working with another company - the stars often bring their own staff with them - so we had to liaise with them. We're happy to work with anyone as long as they'll work with us and these guys were brilliant. They gave us all the information we needed and we passed our info to them, so everything went very smoothly."
(Jim Evans)
Summit's Jay Call has co-ordinated the project from its Kent HQ, liaising closely with the touring crew including head rigger Gabe Wood and production manager Craig Finlay.
The supply includes a 26 way Kinesys variable speed automation system with K2 control and a 10-way Kinesys fixed speed automation system with Vector control; 46 1 tonne CM Lodestar hoists and eight half tonnes for lighting and scenic rigging, along with a further two 2 tonne and twenty 1 tonne hoists for the PA hangs and 76 cm and 52 cm JTE trussing.
Twenty-two of the 26 Kinesys vari-speed motors (being run in conjunction with Kinesys Elevation 1+ control units) are being used to automate a series of 'wave' trusses - four individ
Shannon Sullivan joins J. R. Clancy as a technical designer, with responsibility for both manual and motorised rigging projects. Sullivan comes to Clancy from Syracuse Stage, where she served as a scenic carpentry apprentice.
Micah Ascano comes to Clancy as a mechanical designer, working on standard production lines with the goal of making products and parts more efficient and easier to use.
(Jim Evans)
For the opening night at Cardiff, the company deployed 146 staff to cover the artist's security needs, while a team of 182 was deployed at the New Wembley Stadium.
"Our experience of venues of this size meant that Showsec fulfilled all the criteria required by the Madonna production team," says Mark Logan, Showsec's operations director. "We have extensive understanding of the level of planning and commitment required for tours of this size. Madonna is the biggest grossing artist on tour this year and we were delighted to be chosen as security partner for the UK dates."
(Jim Evans)
His 22-mile France-to-England journey took 13 minutes, and ended when he opened his parachute system and floated down to a ploughed field not far from the White Cliffs of Dover.
PSL's production team had turned that field, which belongs to the National Trust, into a veritable media village for Rossy's sponsors, the National Geographic Channel. Handling all the site issues, including the management of the landing site, PSL's Neil Smith and Stuart McLaren had to contend with the extremes of British weather - just like the Jetman. "On our first day of build, we got absolutely soaked; later in the week, conditions were still not right and Yves ha
