Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - from 4 July 2025

General

Details
UK/Dubai - Unusual Rigging opens a new office in Dubai early in 2009. Offering a service to match the rigorous standards currently operating in the UK & Europe, Unusual will focus on specialised project rigging, the rental of high quality equipment and sales of rigging accessories.

Alan Thomson, a leading figure in the industry and formerly a director of PRG Europe, has joined Unusual to manage this new venture.

Alan brings over 30 years of experience in the provision of technical solutions within the entertainment industry and will be a valuable asset to Unusual.

Alan Jacobi, managing director of Unusual confirmed: "This is a major investment for the company. There is no doubt that the market in the Middle East continues to grow with an increasing demand for proven expertise in temporary and permanent rigging installation projects.

"Unusual Dubai will replicate

Details
EU Update - The governing board of a new European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has held its inaugural meeting in the Hungarian capital Budapest. The European Union is providing initial funding of more than 300m euros (£238m) for the institute, aimed at generating more European technological advances. The EIT hopes to pool the expertise of universities, research bodies and businesses in new partnerships. Renewable energy and new-generation IT projects are among the priority areas.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso described business involvement in the EIT as "crucial, because the lack of business-funded R&D [research and development] explains almost 85% of the gap between the EU and the USA, for example".

Internet News - Only Japan has the broadband quality to cope with next-generation internet applications, a new study has revealed. Swe

LSi 40 - Banner - July-Nov 2025

Details
UK - In 2003, Rosco introduced a new colour to its Supergel range to raise funds for the UK charity Light Relief. #313 Light Relief Yellow has proved a popular colour and at PLASA 2008 Light Relief trustee and PLASA managing director, Matthew Griffiths accepted a cheque for almost $3,700 (£2,100).

Making the presentation, Mark Engel, president of Rosco, said: "This is the fourth year we've been able to support Light Relief with a cheque at PLASA. Our contribution to date now exceeds $15,000 and has been funded by purchases of #313 Supergel. We envisioned this arrangement as 'a gift that keeps on giving' and we're delighted that it continues to fulfil that promise."

Developed with the help of Rick Fisher, co-founder (along with the late Tony Gottelier) of the industry charity which supports lighting designers in difficult times, Light Relief Yellow is the vibran

Details
UK - The PLASA Show in London last week was the setting for the landmark launch of the Mayor of London's Green Theatre: Taking Action on Climate Change initiative.

Matthew Griffiths, CEO of PLASA, who welcomed the guest speakers and audience members to the launch, told LSI: "We're very proud to be able to host the launch of the Mayor's Green Theatre Plan at PLASA08. Many of the manufacturers represented here on the show floor are already playing an active role in developing new equipment and technologies to help theatres achieve the goals set by the Mayor's Plan, and the lighting and sound industry still has a great contribution to make. PLASA and its members are very keen to work with theatres and other industry bodies, not only to help improve the power efficiency of lighting and sound systems themselves, but also to support and encourage the adoption of the many s

Details
UK - The PLASA08 exhibition (7-10 September, Earls Court, London) has bucked the general exhibition industry trend in spectacular style with an 11 per cent growth in visitor figures across the event's four days compared to 2007. The 13,000+ attendance figure (subject to ABC audit) reflects an exceptional level of visitor pre-registration as well as a growth in new and returning exhibitors to an expanded show floor, say organisers PLASA Events Ltd.

"The show's success was due to a combination of factors," said Director of Events Nicola Rowland, "in particular a targeted marketing campaign combined with special online registration offers; a growth in exhibitor numbers; even more new product launches than in 2007; a greatly expanded educational programme; and improved visitor and exhibitor facilities.

"Combined with the effort that so many exhibitors made to p

Details
UK - Point Source Productions were approached back in April of this year by the Communications Department at Guy's and St Thomas' Charity in London to supply a lighting, sound and AV solution for their charity's showcase event. This took the form of an awards ceremony to celebrate the charity's contribution to health service innovation and improvement.

The event took place in the historic Governor's Hall at St Thomas' Hospital - a room lined with Victorian wood panelling. The brief was to provide lighting which would accentuate the features of the room without damaging the valuable fabric of the building, and to provide entrance lighting to the event and sting lighting during the Award Ceremony itself.

Point Source Productions rose to the challenge providing a number of free-standing lighting fixtures to create maximum effect with no damage.

ChromaQ ColorBlock DB4 LED upligh

Details
Italy - The new offices of Italian entertainment technology trade association APIAS recently hosted the first meeting of the new APIAS board of directors elected for the 2008-2010 period.

The APIAS development project, which began just over a year ago with the launch of the ShowWay exhibition and the introduction of associate membership, has been completed with the relocation of the association's offices to a new furnished building just outside Milan, at 128 Viale Fulvio Testi, Cinisello Balsamo. The site is already home to the offices of UCIMU (Association of Italian Manufacturers of Machine Tools, Robots, Automation Systems and Ancillary Products) and other associations.

APIAS says the new location fully meets the association's requirements, providing conference rooms, meeting rooms, a parking area, a restaurant, a bar, an on-site canteen, a concierge and reception area, and

Details
UK - Cirrus Research will be holding a three-day Noise Measurement Workshop at Leamington Spa in November. The workshop is designed for Health & Safety professionals in the entertainment industry and anyone who needs to meet the legal requirements and HSE expectations of the new Control of Noise at Work regulations, which came into force in April this year.

The Noise Measurement Workshop is a practical course that will cover the skills and knowledge required to manage these regulations and provide a pragmatic guide to the current best practice. This will include analysis of case studies from across the entertainment and music sectors, as well as practical work measurement and assessment using both classic and contemporary examples.

James Tingay of Cirrus Research says, "Applying the Control of Noise at Work regulations within the entertainment and music industry can be a

Details
Unexpected News - The Spice Girls have beaten Led Zeppelin to an award for the best music reunion of the last 12 months. The girl group won best live return at the Vodafone Live Music Awards after getting back together for a world tour. It was judged to have been better than the one-off comeback by rock legends Led Zeppelin, with The Verve and James also nominated.

Emma Bunton was the only Spice Girl present, and said she was "a bit shocked" to beat such venerable rock acts as Led Zeppelin. The pop group's victory will raise eyebrows among rock fans, but Bunton told the BBC News website: "The thing is, when you go to a gig, you go for fun and entertainment and a night out. And that's exactly what we did and I think that's why people enjoyed it so much."

Theatre News - Up to 95 publicly-funded theatres across England are to offer free tickets to young adults as par

Details
UK - Fans were able to enjoy a successful Bestival Weekend in the Isle of Wight this September, in spite of consistently wet weather before and during the event, with the help of crowd management company Showsec. The company played a significant role in helping to keep the 40,000 capacity audience safe and warm, while at the same time ensuring that its own team was well equipped to operate in harsh conditions.

With over 450 personnel on site, Showsec's contingency plans included using cabins and vehicles as drying areas for uniforms, ensuring that every staff member had dry clothes for their next shift, as well as maintaining the infrastructure of the staff campsite to ensure off-duty teams were well rested.

Showsec area manager Steve Reynolds commented: "Our risk management procedures always allow for poor weather at festivals and Bestival put those plans to the toughest

Details
UK - The PSA Welfare & Benevolent Fund accepted a donation of £500 from Clay Paky's Knights of Illumination Awards at this year's PLASA Show. A cheque was handed over by Clay Paky president and managing director Pasquale Quadri and marketing manager Enrico Caironi to Britannia Row Productions' Mike Lowe, one of the Fund's Trustees.

The only awards exclusively dedicated to lighting designers, the Knight of Illumination Awards are the result of an idea launched by Clay Paky and organised by the Italian firm in collaboration with STLD and ALD. The four awards categories are for Theatre, TV, Rock and a Lifetime Recognition award.

Enrico Caironi said: "We are delighted to offer our support to this established industry charity that helps Production Services Association members and their families at times of crisis."

PSA Welfare & Benevolent Fund Chairman Mike Lowe

Details
The Netherlands - A selected group of rigging experts, manufacturers and consultants attended the Rigging Day in Utrecht organised by the VPT (Dutch organisation for Stage Technology) earlier this month.

During the programme, the CWA 25 regulation was presented by one of the workgroup members, Gert Jan Brouwer of Frontline Rigging. For more than two years, an international group of entertainment industry experts have worked on the European code of practice for stage machinery and load bearing structures, which is officially titled Lifting and load-bearing equipment for stages and other production areas within the entertainment industry.

The CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) will be the first stage in the process to build a Europe-wide consensus community. The initial objective of the workshop will be to make an inventory of standards and standard-like documents, as well as l

Details
UK White Light has continued its long-established collaboration with the Motley Design Course, once again supplying lighting equipment to the Course's annual exhibition of this year's students' work.

Founded in 1966 by Stephen Arlen, then managing director of Sadler's Wells Opera, and Margaret 'Percy' Harris, then the company's resident designer, the course was first known as the Sadler's Well Design Course. The course subsequently became the Theatre Design Course of the English National Opera until 1981, and after some time at the Riverside Studios, the Almeida Theatre and the Royal National Theatre Studio, the course acquired the name Motley and took up residence at its present home, the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

Every year the course selects up to 12 postgraduate-level students who wish to specialise in theatre design. The one-year course is project based, featuring five or

Details
No Laughing matter - Clowns appearing at a circus in Birmingham were silenced by licensing regulators who banned them from playing their trumpets. Zippo's Circus said Birmingham City Council officials told them the show could not go on unless the clowns dropped the musical part of their act.

The circus, performing in Calthorpe Park, Edgbaston, fell foul of the Licensing Act 2003. The act forbids the playing of live music without a licence. Circus owner Martin Burton said that applying for a licence was time-consuming and expensive and called for circuses to be exempt from the legislation. He said: "I'm a big fan of silent comedy, but this is nonsense."

Old Rocker News (1) - Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant has scotched rumours that he is to tour with the band, describing speculation as "frustrating and ridiculous". Last week, The Sun newspaper reported th

Details
UK - Hire Association Europe (HAE) will launch its new trade association for the event hire sector at the Showman's Show this month. Event Hire Association (EHA) will cater especially for companies in the event hire industry, and will run alongside HAE.

Working specifically for the event hire sector, the board of the new association will provide help and support for event hire companies across the UK and Ireland.

Graham Arundell, managing director of HAE and board member of EHA, said, "The new association has been created to better support those companies in the event hire market. Although we offer a range of benefits as part of HAE's membership, we decided that we could offer a much more tailored service to event hire companies if they had a dedicated association of their own."

(Jim Evans)

Details
Europe - Queen, fronted by Paul Rodgers, have called on Power Logistics to ensure the electrical supply on their current world tour is entirely reliable and smoothly delivered. The tour opened recently at a large charity concert in Kharkov, Ukraine and will have passed through Riga, Berlin, Antwerp, Paris, Rome and Zurich before arriving in the UK on 10 October.

Power Logistics' managing director Pete Wills remains with the band as tour electrician for the duration of the 2008 tour.

"We are delighted to be able to help Queen on their current European Tour," says Wills. "We have a long standing relationship with Queen's production team built on our reputation for making doubly certain the show must go on."

(Jim Evans)

Details
Festival News - Half the tickets for 2009's Glastonbury festival have been sold already, eight months before the Somerset festival is due to take place. Tickets went on sale on Sunday morning and by early evening more than half the 137,500 places were snapped up. Spokesman John Shearlaw said he was "chuffed" so many tickets had gone for the event at Worthy Farm, Pilton. The early ticket sale comes after last year's event failed to sell out on the first day. Despite that, Shearlaw said he had not expected the tickets to sell out so far in advance. "That would have been extraordinary, without a line-up and eight months before the event," he said. "You can look at it from both sides because if they had all sold out, there would have been eight months of turning people away.

Church News - Guitarist Carlos Santana has said he wants to become a church minister when h

Details
UK - Sustainable events came a step closer to reality with the announcement of the UK's single largest self-funded programme on implementing the new British Standard, BS 8901 Sustainable Event Management.

The programme, which commenced earlier this year, involves every part of the industry sector, from event clients to organisers, and venues to suppliers and features large corporate companies through to small and medium-sized enterprises.

This programme is managed by the Sustainable Events Group (SEG) and is due to run through until the planned review of the new standard early in 2009. Experiences from the programme will feed directly into the BS 8901 revision process undertaken by the British Standards Institution.

"The programme gives the UK event industry a real chance to lead the world in the application of sustainability principles to their activities and events,&q

Details
UK - PLASA has launched a major new initiative on behalf of companies who work in, or supply to, the production and events sectors. In partnership with the Sustainable Events Group, PLASA has put together a programme of workshops designed to take companies through the development and implementation of BS 8901 - the major new event management standard that will influence how all events are delivered in the future.

Attaining compliance with BS 8901 will give businesses a significant market advantage as the new standard is already being specified by major organisations such as London2012 and is a core commitment of the recently-issued DCMS Sustainable Development Action Plan.

The programme, which is open to both members and non-members, is based on a series of five one-day workshops held at 4-5 week intervals, and has been specifically designed to provide a low-cost route to achi

Details
UK - At the 2008 PLASA Show, the White Light family welcomed two new members - truss manufacturer Tomcat, and JB Lighting, manufacturer of LED moving lights.

For Tomcat, White Light will be the exclusive UK distributor for the Tomcat One range of truss products. The One range includes both ladder, rectangular box, triangular and stacking truss designs with either 48mm or 50mm diameter tubes.

JB Lighting is an innovative new manufacturer of LED and more traditional automated lighting fixtures, including the VaryLED A7 Zoom adjustable-beam moving LED washlight. The fixture won a Silver PLASA Award for Innovation this year.

The VaryLED A7 will be available from mid-November, with it and the rest of the JB Lighting range available in the UK exclusively from White Light.

(Jim Evans)

Details
Canada - CAST Software has introduced its joint innovators for BlackBox, which made its world debut at PLASA08 in London.

CAST's BlackBox is built with special hardware and proprietary software to be an integrated, bi-directional high speed communication solution which enables all control devices connected to it to send or receive instructions from each other. Live, realtime input is received in all forms by the BlackBox which acts as the brains - running on an ultra high-speed hybrid version of WYSIWYG.

CAST is working with key industry leaders - each a respected innovator in its own field -- to ensure BlackBox meets its technical objectives. In exchange, each will get a 12-month exclusive leadtime to enhance their own products to capitalize on the power and speed of BlackBox. Representatives of these companies were on hand during PLASA for the Beta launch phase to announce t

Details
Competition News - The ESTA Foundation has announced the Behind the Scenes 2008 raffle prizes for LDI. The lucky winner of the Grand Prize will receive a $10,000 gift certificate with a premier travel agent that can be used to travel anywhere in the world. Second Prize is a $2,500 Amazon Gift Card and Third Prize is a $1,000 Amazon Gift Card.

"Often our industry is creating "a vacation look" for everyone else, so we are very excited to offer this great opportunity to get away on your own vacation," said Rick Rudolph, chair of the Behind the Scenes committee.

Tickets are $25 each or 5 for $100 and will be available throughout the LDI show at the Behind the Scenes booth #2810. A maximum of 2000 tickets will be available. Tickets will also be available at the ESTA Annual Dinner on Thursday evening and the Rose Brand party on Friday evening. LDI 2008 takes place from

Details
USA - City Theatrical has been granted US Patent number 7,432,803 for its wireless technology. City Theatrical's wireless DMX is similar in concept to a home or business WiFi system, but uses a much more robust and powerful radio transport method to ensure reliability of mission critical systems, says the company.

CTI's patent covers the transmission of DMX, RDM, and ACN via the means of FHSS (frequency hopping spread spectrum) radios as well as DHSS (direct sequence spread spectrum) radios, in the 2.4 GHz range. Also covered are the bi-directional broadcast of data, and the concept of a remote monitor for RDM and ACN.

City Theatrical's president, Gary Fails commented: "This patent is the result of over seven years of product development effort by Larry Dunn and Paul Kleissler, beginning when they were both independent engineers consulting with CTI, and leading to them jo

Details
USA - Founded last year by producer Hank Neuberger, Springboard Productions was enlisted by promoters C3 Presents and Giant Pictures as supervising producer at this year's Austin City Limits Festival.

"Festivals like this differ vastly compared to working with a single band or in theatre assignments," Neuberger says. "First of all, you're doing at least five bands at each stage per day with almost no sound checks, and you can consider yourself lucky if you get a complete line check. On top of all this you're subject to the whims of the great outdoors and whatever weather comes your way, you're not always able to work in the most ideal of locations, and there are a lot of inputs. It's perfectly common to deal with 50 at a time from a single stage."

Working with headlining acts the Foo Fighters, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Beck, Manu Chao, John Fogerty, D

  1. The Week in Lighting & Sound
  2. Pod Bluman goes solo
  3. Visimation joins D-Tools programme
  4. The Week in Lighting & Sound
  5. Essential Lighting joins Production Resource Group
  6. NSCA Excellence Awards nominations
Page 129 of 243
LSi 40th sponsors - Large MPU - July-Aug

Latest Issue. . .