UK - With a broad stock of event production and AV equipment, production company SXS has launched a dry hire service.
Available equipment includes arena-scale PA, high-resolution LED video walls, outdoor video screens, staging, marquees and one of the largest stocks of blackout drapery in the UK.
“We now have one of the largest and definitely the broadest of stocks of AV and production equipment in the UK. The equipment we are using is high-end, industry and standard and typically rider friendly,” says SXS project handler Nathan Dunbar who will be heading up the dry hire customer services with assistance from production executive Lucy Payne.
“I’ve been with SXS a while now and have been blown away by how well our team maintains some of the highest standards I have seen in every discipline in which we work. SXS is a genuine one-stop shop with technical an

UK - The Dirty Rigger developers have been in the thinking shed again, making “one of the most awesome tool lanyards you’ve ever seen”.
The Dirty Rigger screw-fasten mini loop is a 12cm long, super slim (4mm) steel wire rope that will fit through just about any of those niggly little loop holes and join together with a screw fastener.
To give the new mini loop justice, Dirty Rigger created a whole new lanyard to go with it. “We thought a 128cm (part-coiled to 70cm when unstretched) steel wire rope, fitted with a rated anodized aluminium alloy carabiner clip with captive eye, featuring 360 degree rotation and
The new Podger/Tool Lanyard should be ready for an official launch at PLASA 2017 (Stand E14: Le Mark Group).
(Jim Evans)

Poland - J&C Joel has announced the appointment of Step as its new bronze dealer in Poland.
Step was established in Poland in 2008 by its founders Marcin Konieczek and Grzegorz Sikorski, who are both long-time active members of the Polish stage and event market, working as light and sound engineers for live shows and events for more than 20 years.
In 2012 Step started to support theatres and rental companies, supplying them with a wide range of equipment including auditorium LED lighting systems manufactured by British GDS based in Bristol. Always focused on high quality products, Step has quickly become a reliable and dynamic partner for manufacturers.
Step will offer J&C Joel’s flame retardant fabrics, flooring and stage engineering solutions as well as their bespoke design, manufacturing and installation services as a complimentary solution to their

Europe - Milos has just released a technical video about their new MT-PA5030 PA Tower. In this video, Norbert Tripp (Area Four Industries technical director) gives an overview of the features of this new 5m (16.4’) Milos PA Tower and how it’s compact size perfectly suits the needs of small to mid-sized events and makes transport extremely convenient.
Check it out here: http://milossystems.com/hot-stuff/new-products
(Jim Evans)

UK -Floorbox has added Hesco TERRABLOCK products to its high security portfolio, delivering surface mounted barrier technology to the live events market.

TERRABLOCK® is the proven product of Hesco’s multi-million pound investment and rigorous testing. It stops a 15,000 lb truck travelling at up to 50mph in its tracks.

Available in a range of formats, TERRABLOCK® is a combination of an integrated vehicle barrier and a climb resistant weldmesh panel.

Flat-packed for delivery, TERRABLOCK® XL units are 1.2m high, 1.2m wide and 2.12m long. A trained crew can close off a 30ft wide carriageway with the system in just 40 minutes.

TERRABLOCK’s modular design means upgrades are simple in the event of a changing threat level.

John Davy, Floorbox Founder/Managing Director, comments: “Hesco’s primary focus is protectin

Hungary - A spectacular opening ceremony in downtown Budapest marked the start of the 17th FINA World Aquatic Championships, with 14 days of world class aquatic sports following the elegant, eye-catching event directed by Olivier Feracci from French event production specialist ECA2 and Hungarian film director Csaba Kael, CEO of cultural hub Mupa Budapest.
WIcreations was contacted by Guillaume Duflot from EC2A, responsible for delivering full technical production for the event, and asked to provide rigging and structures involving a number of bespoke black-steel elements, together with their extensive expertise and knowledge of working in large scale outdoor environments. The WI project was led by Koen Peeters, and on-site crew chiefed by Stano Kusik.
The stunning panoramic setting for the FINA OC show included a massive custom-built floating stage, moored on the Danu

USA - Six standards are available for public review on the ESTA website - click here. Five have comment deadlines of 25 September 2017, but one is a week later, 2 October. People materially affected by these standards are invited to review them and to comment on them, saying they are acceptable as they are or are in need of changes.
BSR E1.9, Entertainment Technology - Reporting Photometric Performance Data for Luminaires Used in Entertainment Lighting
This standard defines the minimum data to be presented on documents purporting to accurately describe the photometric performance of stage and studio luminaires used in the live entertainment and performance industries. This is a proposed reaffirmation of the standard first published in 2007. The closing date is 25 September 2017.
BSR

UK - Romsey Abbey is a magnificent 12th century church – the largest parish church in Hampshire and home to a vibrant congregation. It has also been used as a performance venue by Music in Romsey (MIR) since the early 1970s. MIR hosts an extensive series of concerts there throughout the year. Musicians involved range from local choirs and bands to international soloists and orchestras. However, the group has always struggled to 'raise' their performers due to a lack of any special staging.
Bob Smith, stage manager for Music in Romsey said: "In the past we've had to use whatever we had to hand – literally – old beer crates with sheets of hardboard laid over the top come to mind. We then had some wooden platforms made which could be stacked and placed on trolleys and these were used at every concert when staging was needed until about four years ago. They were 1.3m squar

USA - After announcing the Joanne World Tour six months ago, Lady Gaga stayed mum on the details of this major production. As the Rogers Arena doors opened on 1 August, 2017, the hashtag #JOANNEWorldTour interrupted social media threads and trended worldwide as followers raved about Mother Monster’s extravagant set and stage design.
The stunning aesthetics of the Joanne World Tour gave many attendees goosebumps as the set and stage, built by TAIT, took over the entire arena. The full layout consisted of a very dynamic and kinetic main stage, three flying bridge platforms which double as projection displays, two satellite stages and an LED integrated b-stage.
Lady Gaga opened the Joanne World Tour with a show-stopping performance of Diamond Heart on what looked like a typical TAIT stage platform until the stage went ‘Gaga’ and moved into different configura

USA - Kent State University chose three, side-by-side James Thomas Engineering PRT roof structures for their recent commencement ceremony.
PRT systems are James Thomas Engineering Pre-Rig Super Truss roof systems with 38.1mm (15 inch) towers. They measure 12.2 x 12.2m (40 x 40ft), with the centre roof having an additional mid-stage span. The structures are tied together with Pre-Rig SuperTruss, which forms the sound bays.
All structures were provided by KO Management.
(Jim Evans)

UK - Equipment manufacturer and supplier Hoist UK announces the appointment of new general manager John Ball with immediate effect.
John will manage the business’s sales and marketing teams, contribute to overall business strategy and lead business development activities which include delivery of Hoist UK’s sales, commercial and customer strategies.
With over 25 years in the lifting equipment industry, John is recognised throughout the market and a welcome addition to the growing Hoist UK team. Commenting on the new appointment Paul Jordan, said “Having known John professionally for many years I’m delighted to welcome him to the role of General Manager and have every confidence that he will contribute effectively to our growth and development.”
John added, “It’s exciting to join a growing business with such a strong established position with the lif

UK - CPL (Central Presentations) working for creative event producers Bright, took its experience and knowledge of festival productions and delivered full technical production - sound, lighting, rigging and some AV - for the 2017 OVO festival.
The event, now in its third year and a big hit with OVO’s staff, families and friends, was again staged at Mojo Active, Almondsbury near Bristol. CPL and Bright are regular collaborators and there is a great synergy between the two companies in their respective roles and end-goal of ensuring that event environments are smooth, entertaining, memorable and fun for all guests.
CPL’s project manager Mike Radford commented: “We were delighted to be involved again, and enjoyed working closely with Bright’s team led by their PM Mike Matthews. The brief was to bring all the production values of a premium festival to this event

Canada - Ontario's Canada Day celebration at Queen's Park has been a tradition since 1967 and commemorates the formation of Canada as one country on 1 July 1867. The event draws audiences in their thousands, offering music and dance performances, roaming performers, games and children's activities.
This year, the festivities extended into the evening, with musical performances to celebrate Ontario and Canada's 150th anniversary. Bespoke Audio Visual was brought on board by the Ontario Provincial Government to provide all the audio/ visual/ lighting/ staging and technical support – site-wide – for the event, and with a bigger lighting package in use to illuminate the event into the evening, the company turned to BroadWeigh to supply load cell monitoring and logging for their rigging package.
Andrew Bernacki, production manager at Bespoke Audio Visual, explained: "Wi

Ireland - The annual Galway International Arts Festival is one of Ireland’s largest cultural events. This year’s line-up features musical performances by Dublin’s own Gavin James, England’s Passenger, original Beach Boy Brian Wilson, and many others. Lighting for the eclectic series of nightly concerts in the festival Big Top is provided by Light Source, with data networking by ProPlex.
“We have used ProPlex cable and devices for every show over many years,” says Light Source general manager, Ciaran Donnelly. “This gig has two GBS 10-port switches, four Opto-Splitters including two Minis in the truss, and an IQ Two 1616 16-universe DMX node. Tying the system together are over 200m of ProPlex Fibre, and 200m of ProPlex Cat 5e and DMX cables.” Donnelly added, “Additionally, we are using 200 meters of ProCable Multicable, fanouts, and 16 amp TRS mains cables.

Hungary - J&C Joel, has appointed Szinpadtechnika Kft as its new bronze dealer in Hungary.
Szinpadtechnika was established in 1998 and is now one of the leading theatre engineering companies in Hungary. They design and produce stage machinery for theatres, cultural centres and film studios as well as providing machinery maintenance services for more than 50 venues all around Hungary and getting involved with scenery design.
The firm is also gaining recognition from the theatres in neighbouring countries and in light of this is aiming to be the leading company on the field of theatre engineering in the Carpathian Basin region.
Norbert Horvath, sales manager at Szinpadtechnika, said: “We are really excited to introduce the innovative solutions of J&C Joel in Hungary. I’m sure our customers will be really interested in the great product range that J&

UK - When Prolyte received a request for help from a theatre in Scotland, with some doubts as to how to build their new truss structure in a safe way, they jumped to the task. Prolyte organized a one-day on-site training to make sure the technical staff of the company can use their truss safely and efficiently whatever the project.
“Hi there, this is Adam from Scottish Dance Theatre. We have just bought a batch of H30V truss. After using it a couple of times, we now want to use it to build a tower system. I wonder if I could ask some questions…”
This was part of the request that Prolyte received through it’s website in late June this year. The Prolyte team knew this request could not go unanswered and decided to offer the assistance Adam was asking for. Together with distributing partner A.C. Entertainment Technologies, they set out to make an appointment for

Italy - WIcreations provided StageCo with specialist automation services to move four massive towers onstage at the epic Vasco Rossi concert and spectacle in Modena – the Italian rock superstar’s only scheduled live appearance in 2017 - attended by 250,000 rapturous fans on a blisteringly hot summer’s day in Modena Park.
As well as working closely with StageCo, who provided all the black steel for the event, WI’s project manager Hans Willems liaised with Claudio Santucci from Gioforma, the show’s creative director. WIcreations has a long history of collaboration with IK Projects from Milan who provided automation operators and crew for this project.
The show was also televised live by national broadcaster RAI and streamed live to selected cinemas, extending the reach yet further as well as being recorded for DVD. It was a BIG deal!
The four towers that

UK - Preparations for the 2017 PLASA Rigging Conference, which takes place on Monday 18 September during the PLASA Show, are well under way. This year’s conference is in a new mould, targeting a broader audience through the addition of topics on both production and safety issues and encourages discussion from a wider range of contributors than before. New additions to the line-up include head of technical operations for the Ambassador Theatre Group Stuart Graham and John Green, European health and safety director for Laing O’Rourke.
Stuart has supported the conference since it began in 2009 and was keen to be a part of this year’s expanded offering.
“I felt that discussing the contracting process of shows would be of great value,” says Stuart. “Establishing a venue’s responsibilities against the show’s responsibilities with regard to rigging and safety

UK Manufacturer of flame retardant fabrics, drapery and stage engineering solutions, J&C Joel, has announced a new structure for its projects department.
Ben Richardson-Owen, previously Middle East project manager, has been promoted to head of projects (International) alongside Fraser Davidson, previously UK and Europe project manager, who has now stepped into the role as head of projects (UK and Europe).
Ben has worked for the company for six years and worked in the company’s Dubai office for five years, returning to the UK office last year.
Fraser has worked for the company for 17 years, starting out as an apprentice installing J&C Joel products all over the world - alongside J&C Joel’s CEO James Wheelwright - before eventually moving into the coordination and management side of Project delivery.
Matt Corbett, operations director, said:

UK - Star Events supplied the cavernous Mayfield Depot with seats in two custom-built arenas for the Manchester International Festival (MIF), which wrapped on Saturday.
The first was for the world premiere of Yael Bartana’s What If Women Ruled The World, the second for choreographer Boris Charmatz's 10,000 Gestures, one of MIF’s final fixtures.
Set opposite Manchester Piccadilly, Mayfield Depot is the under platform area of a semi-derelict Victorian railway station. Boarded up for years there was minimal natural light as Star Events built a single stand of 430 QP Grandstand seats. To accommodate Saygel & Schreiber’s What if Women Ruled The World set design, the system included a 166mm rake onto the existing ‘stage’ plinth and around the venue roof support columns.
The solution for 10,000 Gestures’, ‘thrilling blizzar

UK - Wireless load monitoring brand BroadWeigh is now an associate member of the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA), the leading representative body for all those involved in the lifting industry worldwide. The membership is the latest step taken by BroadWeigh as it strives to be the best – not only in the quality of products that it offers, but in the example the company sets within the entertainment industry.
Jonathan Purdue, business development manager at BroadWeigh said: "Becoming members of LEEA is something we are very proud of. We started the ball rolling several months ago, then in May, a representative from the LEEA came to our premises in Exeter for the day and audited all our BroadWeigh processes and calibration machines.
“Applying for membership isn’t something we are obligated to do, but we felt it was the right thing to do – both for

Europe - One of the most eagerly anticipated and high profile tours to embark on a worldwide journey in 2017 must be Ed Sheeran. The show’s production company, Major Tom Limited has purchased LoadGuard hoists from LTM- Lift Turn Move to fly the entire lighting, sound and AV system. In total, LTM have supplied 68 1t and 36 2t LoadGuard motors all running at four metres/per min. The motor control system is Kinesys throughout and operated by Steve Bliss from LCR.
The fan shaped mothergrid was designed by Jeremy Lloyd of Wonder Works and is lifted by thirty 2t LoadGuard hoists. Rigged within the mothergrid are 50 1t motors from which fly the lighting trusses and AV screens including four moving lighting pods which drop down on three Liftkets on Kinesys control during the show. Unusually, the 1t motors remain pre-rigged within the mothergrid (1m deep truss from Litec) in transi


USA - ESTA and USITT have announce the New World Rigging Symposium, taking place 13-14 March 2018 in conjunction with the USITT Conference and Stage Expo 2018 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The Symposium will provide an opportunity for riggers and those interested in the live entertainment rigging industry to network, discuss current issues and new technologies, and help shape the future of the industry.
In 10 sessions over two days, participants will be given a wide range of opportunities to further their technical knowledge, keep up to date with codes and standards, and learn what it’s like to work as a rigger in other segments of the entertainment industry. Attendees will also hear from experts in related fields such as structural engineering and risk management. The Symposium will carry ETCP education renewal credits for re-certification.
The New World Rigging Sy

Iceland - J&C Joel has confirmed a new partnership with Exton who are now their bronze dealer in Iceland.
Exton was established in 1992 and is the market leader in A/V rentals and sales in Iceland; providing rental of audio, lighting, video, stage and rigging equipment from simple systems up to full production packages.
As well as being the premiere rental company in the region Exton also sells audio, video and lighting equipment and offers an integration service which provides design and installation for any kind of broadcast, audio, video or lighting project.
They will offer J&C Joel’s fabrics, drapery and stage engineering solutions along with their bespoke design, manufacturing and installation services as a complimentary solution to their already established products and services.
Exton’s director, Sigurjón Sigurðsson, said: “We look f

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