17 June 2013

Alice In Chains locks up Sharpy Washes

USA - Grunge rockers Alice In Chains are in the midst of a five-week national tour, and Clay Paky Sharpy Washes are shedding light on 22 dates coast-to-coast as the band plays festivals, theatres and small clubs. The band began their spring tour in Miami and will finish in San Antonio, TX to generate buzz for their latest studio album The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, their first since 2009. Main Light provided 14 Sharpy Wash 330 units to lighting designer and director Marty Postma. "They're part of the floor package for effects," ... More >>

GDS sponsors student award

UK - The 2013 National Stage Management Awards Ceremony was held recently at the Old Truman Brewery in London, during the ABTT Theatre Show. The award for 'Stage Management Student of the Year' is sponsored by GDS, itself an award winning manufacturer, and was won this year by Alex Bradford of Rose Bruford College. The award honours outstanding student achievement and Alex was considered to have truly risen above the competition, fully demonstrating her ability to take responsibility and apply herself skilfully and passionately to her ... More >>

Doughty Engineering reaches new heights at ABTT 2013

UK - Doughty Engineering unveiled the latest addition to its catalogue of products - a motorised lectern -at this year's ABTT show, as well as its new and stronger range of truss adaptors. The motorised lectern is fully DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) compliant, leading many visitors to the stand to try it out 'for size'! Designed and manufactured in the UK, the black powder coated steel lectern is supplied with a reading light and fitted with anti-vibration/noise dampening microphone mounts to ensure a clear, concise sound from the ... More >>

Harlequin publishes guide for architects

UK - Harlequin Floors have released a new guide to architects highlighting the best practice for dance floor selection. The guide aims to help architects ask the right questions to ensure the needs, safety and health of dancers are considered when choosing flooring. With a growing interest in the provision of spaces suitable for dance - for professional performance and rehearsal, private dance schools and throughout the education sector - there is increasing focus towards specifying dance floors that meet both performance aspirations as ... More >>

5 Star keeps in the Fast Lane

UK - Championship water skier Jeremy (Jez) Harford commissioned 5 Star cases to design and build a custom lightweight flightcase for his slalom skis, to ensure that they can safely be transported overseas for training and competitions - without costing a small fortune in excess baggage! Packing the skis for travel has always been a challenge explains Jez, and it was time to move permanently on from bubble-wrap, soft bags and keeping fingers crossed that they arrived in one piece ... to something more serious! Water skis are constructed ... More >>

Yamaha aids Derry Showdown on the river

UK - Celebrating its status as the first quadrennial UK City of Culture, the Northern Ireland city of Derry / Londonderry is staging an array of events throughout the year. The most spectacular was the finale Showdown on the Foyle of The Return of Colmcille on 8 June, where a mile of the River Foyle was the stage for a dramatic battle of good against evil. Despite immense technical challenges, Yamaha audio equipment ensured that thousands of the city's citizens had the night of their lives. Produced by outdoor arts experts Walk ... More >>

Sound Technology stages Houses of Worship event

UK - Sound Technology, the exclusive Harman Professional distributor in the UK/ROI, is to present its audio solutions for Houses of Worship at its pro audio demo facility in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, on Thursday 18 July 2013. The demonstration day at Sound Technology's custom designed facility will be an opportunity for UK installers and consultants to see, and most importantly hear, the latest specific solutions for Houses of Worship from JBL, Crown, BSS, dbx, Soundcraft and AKG. Operating in typically very demanding ... More >>

Unusual Rigging and DTS2 collaborate

UK - Unusual Rigging has forged a working relationship with Dutch company DTS2 (Dutch Theatre Systems) to introduce a new line of automation systems to the UK market. DTS2 manufactures and installs a complete range of winch, hoist and control technology. In an announcement made at this year's ABTT show in London, the two companies have joined forces to provide permanent installations in new build and refurbished theatrical, event and exhibition venues. Speaking about the collaboration at the show Mark Priestley, capital projects manager ... More >>

Rod Stewart lives the life with Tait

UK - Continuing a long-standing relationship with the Rod Stewart team, that spans nearly three decades, Tait was eager to produce customised staging elements for the artist's widely- anticipated Live the Life tour. Working alongside set designer Paul Staples, production manager Lars Brogaard and lighting designer Mark Payne, the team integrated Tait's fully-optimised stock assets into the set design. Tait supplied six custom Periaktos, which are positioned on the mainstage and manually rotated throughout the performance. Each of ... More >>

ABTT 2013 Annual Awards presented

UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians 2013 Annual Awards, sponsored by two of the organisation's Silver Industry Supporters Group members, Stage Electrics & Triple E, took place on Wednesday 12 June, following the first day of the ABTT Theatre Show. With the Awards' jury judging throughout the day and final deliberations taking place late in the afternoon, winners were presented with their individually engraved hook-clamp trophies at London's Truman Brewery, in front of exhibitors, guests and ABTT members. The winners are ... More >>

Adlib supplies Lana Del Rey tour

UK - Liverpool-based technical solutions provider Adlib supplied innovative singer / songwriter Lana Del Rey with an L-Acoustics K1 sound system for her on-going and highly successful UK and European tour. Adlib's George Puttock designed the audio system, which was specified by Joe Harling and tour manager Peter Abbott. Puttock and Adlib's Sam Proctor rigged and oversaw all the equipment on the road, with Adlib's Simon Lawson as PA tech ensuring that Del Rey's FOH and monitor engineers Joe Harling and Matt Kanaris could achieve the best ... More >>

Renegade designs Eddie Izzard tour

UK - Nick Gray of London-based creative visual design practice Renegade worked his lighting magic on the latest Eddie Izzard Force Majeure arena tour which has just finished an intensive three-month tour around the UK and Europe. It's the first time that Gray - well known for his work in the fashion world and as LD for rockers Kasabian - has designed lighting for the 'surrealist' funny-man, a task on which he collaborated closely with Izzard's artistic director, Sarah Townsend. The stylistic theme for the tour included flourishes ... More >>

White Light solutions for Journey & Whitesnake

UK - White Light was recently chosen to supply lighting equipment and solutions for the Journey and Whitesnake 2013 UK Arena Tour. The widely popular bill featured the two superstar bands, along with musical guest Thunder, together in concert for the first time in the UK. For the tour, which opened in Belfast and finished in London, White Light worked closely with production manager Rob Kern and lighting designer Kevin 'Deuce' Christopher, supplying a full production service including lighting fixtures, cabling, rigging, and power ... More >>

Maltbury Staging will be at ShowTech

UK / Germany - Due to the challenge of exhibiting at two trade shows within just a few days of other Maltbury had to put ABTT on hold for the first time in order to exhibit at ShowTech in Berlin next week. "It was a difficult decision, we love exhibiting at ABTT" explains Philip Sparkes, MD of Maltbury Staging Ltd, "However after a successful year with our work for LOCOG and the development of our new seating and staging systems, we were enticed to ShowTech for the European launch of our new range to the international market." ShowTech ... More >>

King Kong backstage at ENTECH 2013

Australia - The team at ENTECH has confirmed a special presentation on the seminar programme this year: An Automation Case Study - King Kong. Opening in Melbourne this month, King Kong has been over five years in the making. Stage Technologies, automation specialists contracted by Production Resource Group (PRG), have been working closely with animatronic experts at Global Creature Technology to breathe life into the six metre tall silverback for the production. Sonny Tilders, creative director at Global Creature ... More >>

Entec lights Paloma Faith at O2 Arena

UK - West London-based rental company Entec Sound & Light supplied lighting, rigging and crew for Paloma Faith's recent high profile one-off show at London's O2 Arena, preceded by warm ups at Liverpool Empire and Bournemouth BIC, once again working with lighting designer Tony Austin and the production team led by tour manager Neil Brighouse. Entec's Noreen O'Riordan and Adam Stevenson project managed the massive one-off, which followed Faith's spring 2013 theatre tour, this time with an enlarged stage set and a more substantial lighting ... More >>

Avolites Sapphire Touch for Blur at Coachella

USA - Leading UK lighting designer Dave Byars has put his new Avolites Sapphire Touch to work on Brit-pop band Blur's heavily atmospheric 2013 tour, which has smouldered under the stars in venues and at festivals, including Coachella, California. Dave Byars - who has been in charge of lighting Blur since the band first formed - had quite a challenge on his hands. Maintaining his high design values, while coping with the varying set ups of festivals, and arenas around the world is no mean feat. This is especially true in Byars' case as ... More >>

trackingThis adds new features to TAP system

UK - trackingThis, the specialist in dynamic data and collaborative asset management systems, launched new functionalities for the Technical Access Passport (TAP) system, including a Trainer Module, at ABTT show in London last week. trackingThis is offering "an unmissable deal for training companies". They can sign up for a single user license for just 10% of the standard commercial license price, as long as they sign up before October. Besides demonstrating TAP and the trackingThis asset management system, Chris Paul, trackingThis ... More >>

Line 6 extends digital wireless lineup

USA - Line 6 has announced the new Relay V75-SC 14-channel digital wireless handheld microphone/transmitter with super-cardioid dynamic capsule. Designed for use with the XD-V75 digital wireless system, Relay V75-SC isolates vocals while rejecting stage noise, resulting in supreme vocal clarity and articulation, says the company. V75-SC is the first Line 6 vocal wireless solution to be released under the Relay brand. XD-V75, XD-V55 and XD-V35 vocal wireless systems will also join G-series instrument wireless solutions as part of the ... More >>

CAST offers sneak peak at wysiwyg R31

Canada - CAST Group has released the first few details of forthcoming new release of wysiwyg R31, which is due to launch within the next few weeks. R31 is set to deliver "an array of stunning new features, enhancements and library additions, many of which were directly requested by accomplished wysiwyg professionals". These improvements will save huge amounts time and money by solving problems and delivering brand new functionality, consistent with CAST's mantra and its steadfast determination to dramatically improve the workflow and ... More >>

Lab.gruppen introduces LUCIA range

USA - At InfoComm, Lab.gruppen launched its new install dedicated amplifier range, LUCIA. Addressing the specific needs of the AV contractor market for high quality, localized audio systems, the two-channel LUCIA (Localized Utility Compact Intelligent Amplification) is a compact and versatile Energy Star compliant Class D amplifier platform. For small-scale AV applications where high quality audio is required, without the complication and additional cost of a distributed system with centralized rack-mounted amplification, matrixing and ... More >>

Behringer ships Eurocom CL loudspeaker series

USA - Behringer has checked off another milestone on their expansion into installed sound with the announcement that the CL Series of loudspeakers are now shipping to all markets, globally. The CL Series combines acoustically-inert cabinets, custom-designed transducers and a subtle designer aesthetic into a package that should prove as flexible as it is affordable, says the company. Spanning 19 models from the bookshelf-sized CL106 up to the three-way CL3564 and with three distinct subwoofers, the series gives integrators the tools they ... More >>