The masterclasses of Vidal Sassoon, Trevor Sorbie and Tim Hartley provided the big draw to Salon Live, where, for £90 a ticketed session, hairdressers from around the world could watch their scissor-work on three giant screens in a purpose-built theatre, designed by PSL.
The auditorium featured a flat stage with catwalks, dominated by three 14' x 10.5' screens, coupled with double-stacked Barco ELM R12 projectors. PSL provided a 4-camera PPU to capture every detail of styling technique and relay it to the screens. Over three days of special events, the theatre also hosted presentations on products and techniques from leading brands in the hair industry, including Aveda, Tigi and Wella.
Under the supervision of PSL project manager Stuart McLaren, lighting designer Barry Denison and head rigger Craig Saunders, PSL engineers had to install spreaders in ExCeL's ceiling space in order to distribute the weight of the equipment more evenly. More than 40 tonnes of trussing and rigging, lighting and loudspeakers, needed to be flown from ceiling points in the two rooms. And it might have been more: PSL engineers put in a special ground-support to hold the 64 panels of LED display wall, the main feature of the function room, taking a further five tons of weight out of the ceiling.
Immediately adjacent to the Salon Live Theatre, the large 1500-capacity function room was set up as an on-site venue for the industry to stage its largest sponsored entertainments. With presenters like Vernon Kay getting the live entertainment underway, PSL's 3-camera PPU kept the visual content flowing onto the giant LED screen, mixed by a full SDIF set-up. A full PA system of L'Acoustic dV-Dosc, provided by ML Sound Advice, kept the dancers moving on PSL's custom-built 10m x 10m checkerboard dancefloor.
Throughout the rest of the Salon International show, PSL's Exhibitions Team acted as Official Video Supplier, providing display equipment for the seminars of organisers Reed Exhibitions, and to many of the exhibitors on the floor.
(Chris Henry)
