Rigging / Staging

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14 March 2016

Two years ago, Litestructures Studios opened its doors to host production rehearsals for Coldplay's Twisted Logic tour. Since, the Studio has hosted rehearsals for Cirque de Soleil, Franz Ferdinand, Prodigy, Scissor Sisters, Pussycat Dolls, Muse, George Michael, Basement Jaxx, Robbie Williams, Kaiser Chiefs, Massive Attack, Beautiful South, Westlife, Journey, Australian Pink Floyd Show, Faithless, Meat Loaf and many others.

"The Litestructures Studio has exceeded our expectations during its first two years," said Brent Woods, Litestructures Studios' general manager. "The unbeatable combination of the studio's high specification, support services and Lite

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14 March 2016

Based on the model of the TEA conferences produced by Richard Brett in London in 2002 and 2006, NATEAC (www.NATEAC.org) will offer more than 50 panellists speaking at over 20 sessions on topics ranging from current rigging technology to the makeup of stage floors, as well as a discussion of where the proscenium will be by the year 2020.

The conference will take place on 20 and 21 July 2008 at the Michael Schimmel Centre for the Arts at Pace University in downtown Manhattan, NYC.

"The goal of the North American Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference is to promote communication between the architects, engineers, consultants and manufacturers responsible for designing and building new theatres and renovating existing facilities in North Ame

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14 March 2016

Hosted by Cuba Gooding Jr, the global sporting star studded event was held at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. In creating a fun and exciting atmosphere, Blackout worked with line producer, Amandine Reynolds and Pierre-Marie Quere at Monte-Carlo based production company CATS.

"We had to create a fabulous International event for 650 high-profile guests. Working with many suppliers from different countries, we were very impressed that the Blackout staff were multi-lingual. This helped us a great deal in co-ordinating the show and ensured that we could work to tight deadlines. I couldn't dream of working with a better team than Steve T

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14 March 2016

Audience member Tori Lowe was quoted by the BBC as saying: "The hobbits were on stage and had a group of dancers dressed as rangers with them. There was suddenly a lot of screaming, but at first we thought it might be part of the show. But a stagehand came runnning on, and when the music stopped we could hear someone shouting 'My leg! My leg!'."

In a statement, the producers said they were "looking at modifying the staging" so previews could resume. The &

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14 March 2016

Tomcat recently sold a custom fabricated 40ft wide x 20ft deep stage system to Rusk Elementary which is adjustable between 4ft and 6ft tall. The school approached Tomcat in 2006 about supplying a new stage system for the annual Veterans' Day show that the students perform at the Commemorative Air Force every year. Their old stage had become so worn out that safety had become a major concern.

For its part, Tomcat donated the stage decks required for stage set up they needed - some of the younger students would probably be very excited to know that the same deck was used on a Bob the Builder touring production. Rusk Elementary paid cost for t

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14 March 2016

The set comprised over 400sq.m of Barco LED modules which formed the stage floor, a catwalk out into the audience and left and right screens. The screens, and a total of 16 lighting trusses, were lifted and lowered by four ultrafast Cyberhoist CH250 (250kg load capacity / 0 to 40 meters per minute, variable speed) intelligent chainhoist motors and 34 Cyberhoist CH500 (500kg capacity / up to 20m per minute variable speed) motors.

The complete system, programmed by CyberHoist-operator Joeri Swagemakers, operated by Cyberhoist technician Chris Sabelleck and supplied by Flashlight from The Netherlands, was under the control of an InMo

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14 March 2016

The new site features an easy-to-use navigation system based on a mix of pictorial images for fast recognition combined with a simple, sectional menu for those who know exactly what they are looking for.

Doughty sales manager Julian Chiverton says, "The people we deal with have been asking for more on-line information for a while now, hence this six-month project to completely redesign out site, but nothing prepared us for the almost immediate and massive increase in traffic which we are experiencing. Judging by current response I guess we must have got it just about right."

Over 1000 products are featured along wit

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14 March 2016

The new AT Truss Series includes three different-sized cases for straight truss (designed to fit both square and triangular trussing), and two cases for holding union junction blocks. Featuring the same lightweight yet durable design and construction as the rest of the Arriba line, the new truss bags offer convenient and economical alternative to hard cases for protecting trussing in transit or when it's being stored, says the company.

Each bag features PVC plastic ridges on the bottom and ends to hold the trussing securely in place, while protecting the rugged fabric of the

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14 March 2016

Stage Technologies has also recently been joined by Robert Hopkins who will be working on permanent installation projects as a system integration engineer.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

The Mojo Barriers UK office supplied 617m additional barriers for the concert, installed by a team of nine staff on the Friday evening and removed immediately after the show. They also supplied promoter Marshall Arts a further 345m surrounding the mix position and delay towers.

Kevin Thorborn, Mojo Barriers UK manager said: "It was great to be involved with the first show at the new Wembley Stadium. There were a few areas we all learned from, but it is a great venue and we're looking forward to working at many more shows in the future."

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

On 11 May, tribute bands the Bootleg Beatles, Bjorn Again, Killer Queen and Led Astray performed, while the following evening opera singers Katherine Jenkins and Russell Watson were backed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra - an evening which also included the two singers performing together for the very first time.

The Vertech VT2015FPVL stage unusually being placed on a 'long' side of the stadium, rather than the traditional position at one end.

As Murrayfield is the home of Scottish international rugby, great care had to be taken of both the playing surface and the perimeter running tr

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14 March 2016

Although the entire system is made of medium duty and heavy duty trusses (approximately 65' deep and 100' wide at its widest point) the equipment is not the typical standard product. To achieve the desired look, no guide cables were used to secure the system. In light of this design consideration, Tomcat came up with a solution utilising eight 34ft medium duty spigoted towers with diagonals on all four faces of the

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14 March 2016

With access to the stadium at 5pm on the Saturday evening to start laying trackway, and soundchecks commencing at 8am, contractors were scheduled to work through the night. The stage drove onto site at 11pm and needed to be positioned and built by 3am. At the end of the event, the crews had just 12 hours before the pitch was in use again for football.

In charge of production for the event was project manager Andy Barr from London-based Pure Solutions. He explains the logistics of the day: &q

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14 March 2016

A high-profile promotional tour like these BritBus events, needs to travel with an easy-to-assemble, lightweight, modular, transportable staging and decking system. Litestructures' LiteDeck was the choice. Having designed and supplied the ideal rig tour, Litestructures has also become a BritBus sponsor, joining the BBC, Virgin, Gibson Guitars and other world brands.

Litestructures' managing director, Adrian Brooks comments, "When it comes to combining engineering with entertainment, Britain in general, and LiteDeck in par

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14 March 2016

Beat the Baton attracted over 800 participants, who ran the course around the Park to the accompaniment of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, to raise money for people suffering from multiple sclerosis, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke and cancer.

Logistics for the event were taken care of by London-based Absolute Events, working closely with Wandsworth Council's events manager for Battersea Park, Alison Smith.

Formed in 1998 by Jonathan Price, Absolute Events' experience stood them in good stead to handle this occasion. "Not only was this the first Beat the Baton Sue Ryder Care has held, but it was the first time the Royal Philharmonic

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14 March 2016

The Carbon Cub is a compact, portable, 'plug-and-play' mini hoist system. It is suitable for a variety of lifting applications and is perfect for theatres, broadcast studios, museums, sporting productions and worship and retail venues, says the company.

It features a matt black finish with black lifting cables and weighs only 41Kg. It has a travel speed of 4.3m a minute and can lift loads up to 136Kg to a height of 7.5m.

The Kinolift PHC 1000 (made by Alplift in Germany) is billed as a cost-effective telescope type person-lift and a quick, safe and easy way of reaching and working roofs and ceiling spaces. It makes changing lamps and other equipm

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14 March 2016

Pro Color from Guadalajara is the production contractor for the tour, providing sound, lighting, and rigging. Included in the equipment specified for the tour are four ProPower RPD power distribution racks, over 400ft of ProSpan truss, and over 20,000ft of ProPlex data and ProCable power cables.

Says Javier Barba, the principal of Pro Color: "The ProPower distro racks are the best. They look great, have many useful features and we have found them to be completely reliable. On the Mana Tour, we use two on each side

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14 March 2016

The account was handled by HSL's Mike Oates, who says: "It was great to be working with Abbiss again. As always, he came up with a really inventive design and a flexible rig offering lots of options for the different sized venues."

Abbiss's initial brief expanded as the tour sold more tickets and some dates moved up to bigger venues, resulting in the final itinerary ranging from the 16,000 capacity Manchester Evening News Arena at the larger end of the scale to Norwich UEA and Ipswich Regent Theatre at the cosier end. "This was the real challenge," says Abbiss, "Designing something that looked equally good in different spaces and that

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14 March 2016

The system consists of four 2,500 kg VarioLifts with two chain-falls each and a computerised control system for installation work. The ChainMaster controller not only synchronises the drives but also supervises the loads. The Porsche Arena is capable of accommodating up to 7,500 people at a time for corporate events, sporting functions and concerts.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Designed to reflect excellence in new products in lighting, sound, engineering, AV and staging - the PLASA Awards for Innovation were first established in 1992 and have since been presented annually during the PLASA Show, which this year runs from 9-12 September at Earls Court in London. The Awards have a justly deserved reputation for identifying high quality, innovative new products early in their life and many previous winners are now firmly established in their fields.

Judged by a panel of respected industry professionals, products nominated for the Awards compete for one of eight Innovation Awards, plus an additional troph

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14 March 2016

HSL was working for Neil MacDonald's Clockwork Productions who were appointed by promoters Live Nation to co-ordinate all the Leeds site's technical production requirements. On site, HSL's crew of 11 was led by project manager Mike Oates assisted by Debbie Owens. They collaborated closely with main stage production manager Mick Brown.

Taking Saturday night main stage headliners' Kaiser Chiefs as the starting point in terms of building lighting rig, HSL brought in designer Andy Liddle to liaise with all the headliner LDs - Susan Sasic for the White Stripes (Friday), the Kaiser Chiefs' Richard Larkum (Saturday) and Sunday headliners Daft Punk's Martin Phillips - Three top bands

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14 March 2016

"This is a range of really high quality lifting gear, that suits exactly what entertainment professionals are looking for," said DarkSide's MD, Martin Green. "Tractel Black chain blocks are lightweight but incredibly strong - the 1t unit only weighs 12kgs. That weight advantage is really important, especially in touring situations."

The range also includes beam clamps in 1t, 2,t, 3t and 5t sizes.

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14 March 2016

Although Fineline's Multiax 5 axis router could have made it in one piece, the Chevy had to be designed to split into elements small enough to be fitted into 747 air freighting containers - and it also had to be completed in just two weeks to make the deadline.

Fineline's Darren Wring comments, "Making the prop itself was a relatively straightforward request and that's exactly what we're geared up to do. It was the seriously short timescale and the fact that it had to be designed to be broken down for freighting that were the challenges."

Made from

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14 March 2016

J&C Joel sales director James Wheelwright said: "We were thrilled to receive the award. The stand was designed specifically to showcase the new binder and it's terrific to receive public recognition for the months of hard work. This is the second time we've won the best stand award, and it's testament to our great staff and business partners that the judges saw fit to give us a second beautifully polished presentation Hook Clamp."

(Jim Evans)