20 Years Ago . . . LSi June 1993

"News this month: the assets of Starlite Technology, which had recently gone into receivership, had been sold to a consortium of previous management, ex-employees and a supplier. "We have absolute faith in the product," said Ray French, the new MD. Other members of the consortium included Starlite's original software developer David Snipp, Starlite's former financial controller Robert Bunce and Laser Grafix Sales and Hire, led by Mark Brown."

10 Years Ago . . . LSi June 2003

"Sound contracting news: Millbank, one of the best-known brands in the voice alarm business, had been acquired by Ampekko from Federal Signal, making Ampekko the largest UK-based manufacturer of voice evacuation products. US-based Federal Signal had acquired Millbank in 1999 (and Ampekko would itself be acquired by Australia's Vision Systems in 2004)."

This month: Leeds United

"When I visit these towns now, I find myself struggling to find a decent patch of wasteland where you can love the sound of breaking glass, or a properly menacing pub: one that sends a frisson of inner-city threat right through your beer as you avoid catching the eye of the local wife-beater."

This month: The Compact Cassette

"Should you still mark an anniversary when the thing itself is no longer really used? It's an interesting question in the case of the cassette tape, introduced at the Berlin Radio Show in August 1963. When was the last time you used one?"

This month: Production manager Alex Harris

"I got into guitars whilst serving in the army but I've always been a better technician than a musician. I got my first gig as a backline tech back in the late '90s through a friend who knew Dave Hill from Slade. They needed a tech for an upcoming Christmas theatre tour and after a very brief phone interview with Slade's manager Lenny, I was on the road with the old-school glam rockers."

This month: Ian Dow recalls Showlight 2013, in CeskĂ˝ Krumlov

". . . delegates were led outside to see the castle gardens outlined with the baroque version of moving lights: 2,800 candles made from an ancient wax recipe contained in pots which had been hand-made by the castle staff."

This month: The Barista's Etiquette

"When I started out riding the faders of live sound, concert audio wasn't really taught. At college, I had one afternoon in a three-year course on live PA systems."

This month: Transporter

"Now, here is all at once a great idea and proof that Kickstarter, covered last month, actually works: Transporter, sort of your own private version of Dropbox."

This month: Whose gig is it anyway?

"Many of the frustrations that riggers suffer are due to the fact that the people employing them don’t understand rigging and who does what . . ."

This month: Adding Fibre to Your Video Diet

"If you are in video production and you want to have a more secure future in the business, learning how to terminate fibre will give you a skill that will be in increasing demand as video formats and networks become more bandwidth hungry.""

This month: Paul Watson talks to Keith Wood, tour and production manager for AEG.

"A tour today can literally be half a dozen shows if that, but also, tour schedules are becoming a lot tighter now. You don’t have half as many days off, as the nature of the business and the economics that surround it mean when you’re not working, you’re not earning money."

We've added over 175 photos of the PLASA Show in London from the LSi archives dating back to 1993.

Select a year:
1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1998 | 1999