UK - Blackout Ltd designed and supplied all production rigging infrastructure for the 12th MTV Europe Music Awardsheld in the Pavilhao Atlantico in Lisbon, Portugal, on 3 November 2005. A variety of Blackout truss and track systems were supplied for individual artists. For Madonna's new hit single 'Hung Up', Blackout arranged for a rigged 2m mirror ball to be smoothly flown on to stage using a Liftket motor and Kinesys control system.

Framing the stage for the Gorillaz performance, Blackout supplied 4 track systems fitted with red velour to represent a secondary proscenium arch. Two 12m x 9m white filled cloth and red velour Kabukis drops added a projection surface. A "Peppers Ghost" effect was created using two translucent panels and a projector truss and projector beams bounced images back on screen where they were combined with life size silhouettes of band m

UK - 5 Star Cases is supplying Unusual Rigging with 100 new flight cases for one tonne Liftket motors, the first of which are rolling off the production line at the company's Wisbech-based manufacturing plant. Unusual have had to increase their hoist stock to facilitate an incredibly busy touring season, bringing their total motor count to over 1000! Once again, they came to 5 Star to build rugged road cases for the new hoists, which have been specially customised both inside and out. The light blue exteriors feature the Unusual Rigging logo and full contact details. On the inside, the Tour Grade cases are fitted out with a specially designed framework to accommodate the hoist.

The trunks are a brand new design based on a familiar 5 Star hoist case shell, with further enhancements including a refined CNC machined cradle support. This cradle system comprises 24mm birch ply which

UK - The Mojo Barriers team installed a new barrier design for Oasis, the headliners of December's Noise & Confusion concert at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Promotors SJM presented a seven-band line-up topped by Oasis, but including The Foo Fighters and Razorlight, for what was the fastest selling concert ever held at the Millennium Stadium.

Between the audience and the production personnel, security and the artists were 240m of Mojo Aluminium Barrier incorporating 120m of back stands. Mojo Barriers director Jim Gaffney has supplied crowd barriers to Oasis for many years and while Oasis fans have always been exuberant audiences, there have never been any problems. So no-one expected the surge that swept through the crowd in Manchester Stadium in July 2nd during the band's summer tour, causing the front of stage barrier to move as the show was about to start.

There were no inj

UK - Out Board recently supplied Elstree Light & Power (ELP) with a selection of their CM-Series chain-hoist motor control products and a pair of Ibex PHC+ Programmable Hoist Controllers, as part of a fully automated rigging control system for the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's South Bank.

The upgrade was essentially a second phase of initial refurbishment carried out by ELP in the summer of 2004, providing two further CM12 motor controllers, eight more Socapex/C-Form splitter boxes, remote control handsets and multi-point linked Emergency Stop system, in addition to automating the whole system.

ELP project manager Toby Dare's brief was to provide a series of rigging presets for the venue's various show modes, so an Ibex automation system was specified to drive the Out Board motor control distros. To ensure absolute repeatability, all 32 CM Lodestar hoists were fitted with O

UK - This year's BBC's Sports Personality of the Year 2005 awards had a new engaging environmental set created for them by design and communication company Imagination. The large-scale set and graphics were created for the programme, which took place at BBC's Television Center on the evening of 11 December 2005.

Working closely with the BBC executive producer Paul Davies, Imagination created the awards environment, which was not only used for the live television programme but also played host to a pre and post transmission party for over 650 VIP guests.

This year's environmental set included a varied colour palette including vivid greens, blues and an eye-catching purple. The set was developed around several live filming requirements including multiple interview staging areas, graphic treatments for the stage and floor as well as lighting and projection design. The inte

USA - Following in a tradition that has spanned over a century, Macy's has again created breathtaking display windows at their Herald Square location. This year's Christmas windows feature giant pop-up books that come alive, thanks to PRG Scenic Technologies, a division of Production Resource Group (PRG).

PRG Scenic Technologies provided automation, control systems, scenery and lighting for the six automated display windows, each themed around 'It's Christmas in the City'. The holiday windows recently earned the platinum award (first place) in the 2005 DDI winning windows contest, given out by Design and Display Ideas magazine. "Winning the DDI Award is like winning the Oscar for best picture in our industry," remarks Paul Olszewski, Macy's director of windows, who hired PRG Scenic Technologies for the project. "It's the first time Macy's has won the award, and to

UK - "We've gone back to our roots," said Stage One's Simon Wood, when commenting on the work the company has just completed for the Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield and their impressive brand new Christmas production, 'The Magic Tree'.

Stage One built several different sets for the show, which was specially written for the theatre. The complicated set designs had a massive visual impact and Stage One faced the challenge of capturing the designer's 'magic' whilst creating the sets: a recycling yard; the magic tree itself; a circus and a complete proscenium and floor. Simon Wood, added, "We enjoy getting involved in theatrical productions - especially a show like this as it really gets our team in the festive spirit."

The set for the recycling yard, where the shows central family live, has proved to be a feast for the eyes as it truly draws in the audie

Qatar - Summit Steel, working for show producers The Bank, co-ordinated all production rigging for the massive opening ceremony of Aspire, the Academy for Sports Excellence in Doha.

Working with show technical director Adam Wildi, creative director Simon Garrett, and executive producer Moira Hunter-Ross, the Summit team of 12 riggers was led by Jon Bray and Chris Walker.

They arrived on site three weeks before the event, and began creating a rigging infrastructure in the enormous 290,000sq.m Aspire Dome. This houses a wide range of sports facilities including a 200m running track where the opening ceremony was staged.

The Aspire Dome was completely bare in terms of rigging facilities, apart from the structural roof trusses, which Summit took as their starting point. Over 1100m of trussing and 130 Lodestar hoists later, they had a flexible grid system to enable lighting, soun

UK - Stage One, a leading player in the field of set construction and interpretation, was recently brought on board by production agency TRO to help Saab Great Britain with the imaginative promotion of the new flagship Saab 9-5 car.

Taking the form of a Day One Teaser followed by a Day Two Reveal, Stage One transformed a sea container for a series of events (detailed below) by painting it matt black, manufacturing four small stainless steel barred windows of varying size and providing a timed sound and light programme from within the container, triggered by sensors. The company also produced a number of graphics to be placed on the side of the container.

On the Day One 'teaser' the only graphic on display on the sides and doors said, 'www.95unleashed.co.uk' - and from a distance, passers-by could see flashing orange and red lights and strobe welding-effect lights. They could a

UK - Star Events Group reports that Phil Broad, winner of several Rigger of the Year awards, is to relinquish his shares in Star Events Group and revert to self-employed status with immediate effect.

Broad was one of the founding partners of Star Rigging, which subsequently merged with Star Hire to form Star Events Group Ltd in 2003. Since then, he has been trying to balance the constant demand for his services at gigs with the increasing responsibility that came from running a division of the expanding Star Events Group. As there are not enough hours in the day to do both, he has opted to go back to working independently on his own projects, the company says.

Maddy Sheals, HR director for Star Events Group, told us: "It is clearly easier to find someone to manage a division of the company than to find another Phil Broad, and we'll be looking for a suitable manager in due

UK - For the first time, a Stage Technologies' Illusionist control desk, designed specifically to make automation accessible for plays and small venues, has been used to automate a West End production. The new stage adaptation of Agatha Christie's legendary bestseller And Then There Were None used the new product to provide simple and cost-effective control for the Art Deco sets designed by Mark Thompson.

The show opened in the West End's Gielgud Theatre in October last year and runs into the middle of January. The tale of crime is told against changing scenes with lounge sofas, coffee tables, dining room and patio furniture moving on automated trucks, sliding quickly and smoothly into position to completely changing the setting for the drama.

Stage Technologies' Illusionist control desk has been installed in many fixed venues in the UK and America but this is the first

Spain - Barcelona was the destination in November, for the team from scenic contractor Stage One, when production company, Crown Business Communications, brought them on board to build the set for Renault's Annual Dealer Conference 05.

Stage One's work included; building the core set for the main presentation area, masking flatage for the dining area and stage backing for a smaller presentation area.

Nick Murtagh designed the main set with a core emphasis on smooth, flowing lines, and Stage One was thus firstly tasked with constructing four juxtapositioned oval stages of varying heights, each carpeted in a different colour and with a painted facia. The company then built a series of white filled cloth flats, providing a backing for two rear projection screens, and a central logo panel.

The seamless nature of the set was emphasised as the central logo panel curved down

UK - Arena Seating closed a successful year with over 100,000 people sitting on their seats at events through December. The milestone was crossed amidst an incredibly busy December with 100,003 people sitting on Arena Seating at events during the final month of the year. The range of events highlighted the diversity of Arena's products and logistical expertise.

In December, Arena Seating's well known red tip-up seats accommodated music audiences at the last of the shows at the temporary Wembley Arena Pavilion whilst fans also enjoyed Rod Stewart, The Foo Fighters, Coldplay and Duran Duran at the series of sold-out concerts at Earls Court.

Nearly 20,000 seats were supplied to a festival of Islam at and several school Christmas concerts and Christian celebrations of Christmas also employed Arena Seating. On the sporting front, boxing was the order of the day at ExCeL where 13,50

UK - Appointed by Jack Morton Worldwide, Summit Steel supplied eight of their 10m high SmarTmasts for London's "Heroes" New Year's Eve event staged along the Thames.

The SmarTmasts were used to hang seven V-DOSC and two dv-dosc cabinet line arrays supplied by Delta Sound. These were strategically placed along the Victoria Embankment in a sound scheme, designed for Jack Morton by Jim Lambert of Delta Sound, and used to amplify the chimes of Big Ben above the excited hubbub of the crowd as the 60 second pre-midnight countdown began. The PA was also used to amplify pre-show music and announcements before the spectacular fireworks, lighting, and projection kicked off on the stroke of midnight.

Summit's SmarTmasts are one of the most popularly used event PA mast structures in the UK. Delta specified SmarTmasts because they offer the most versatile solution to meet the log

UK - When the prestigious Radley College embarked upon a major project to develop a new theatre, they planned a blend of the traditional and modern; a proscenium arch stage and orchestra pit, with the added versatility of a demountable stage extension/pit infill. After seeing Maltbury's work at nearby Abingdon School, Radley's bursar, Richard Beauchamp, invited Maltbury to propose a solution.

The result was an orchestra pit that could be used to house extra seating tiers, or be filled out with decks and used as a stage extension. Early consultation between Maltbury, the school and the contractors, allowed vital decisions to be made and acted upon, say Maltbury, who advised that a series of bespoke Metrodeck units were the ideal solution to the theatre's needs. Sets of legs allowed the decks to be taken to different levels, giving the traditional theatre greater versatility. A be

Sweden - Slingco has installed a CABLEnet tensioned wire grid system into the main auditorium at Helsingborg Theatre in Sweden - giving safe and flexible access to the overstage/above auditorium roof space. It's the first tensioned wire grid in Sweden.

Helsingborg was also the first town in Sweden to open a municipal theatre in 1921. Originally housed in a theatre built in 1877, its current building opened in 1976. Helsingborg Theatre is one of the leading producing and receiving houses in the country.

Rochdale-based Slingco - developers of CABLEnet, the leading product in its genre - was visited by architects Peder Lindbom and Torsten Nobling of Stockholm-based AIX Architects at the PLASA Show in 2004. The pair were leading a major refurbishment programme for the theatre, and were very interested in utilising the CABLEnet technology.

Discussions started in early 2005. Sling

Tomcat went "a little bit country" with the announcement of its new Nashville office, due to open in 2006, headed up by Max Wilson. Combined with the company's depot at United Staging in Connecticut, the Nashville office will enable the company to get closer to its customers, says president Mitch Clark.

Total Structures' CFO Peter Johns was on good form at LDI. Following a tough time for the company, business is on the up again, and at the time of the show, the company was undertaking a major motor show build for Ford at the Cobo Hall in Detroit which, incredibly, is the single biggest job TS has ever done. Johns also reported that Kleege Industries has bought its fourth roof system from the company, which it will be using for the Coachella Festival in California. Other big projects for the company recently have included the provision of towers and a massive 8" steel cable spanning 210ft - all to suspend a small speaker cluster above an amphitheatre - at the Getty Villa in Malibu . . .

Staging Dimensions showed its Pixel Panels, modular interlocking deck pieces with programmable LED technology. The company now also handles the Soft-LED curtain from Main Light Industries.

As we reported in the news last month, Stage Technologies' main announcement at LDI was the opening of a permanent US office in Las Vegas, to be headed by Kevin Taylor. Having contributed extensive stage automation expertise to the major Cirque du Soleil show KA at the MGM Grand (see L&SI May 2005), and with other major projects ongoing, the US office is a timely move for the company. John Hastie commented that the US office is also involved in some film work (the UK office has too - the latest Harry Potter movie being an example). As to LDI, 'pretty quiet' was the verdict.

XLNT gave the official US debut of its Cyberhoist/InMotion 3D motion control system, winning LDI's Rigging Product of the Year Award in the process to add to its PLASA Award for Innovation, won in 2004. The system's two main elements are the InMotion 3D programming and control software and an unlimited number of CyberHoist intelligent motors. The dedicated DataMotion Ethernet network and PowerMotion power distribution system complete the package.

Show Distribution revealed that it has supplied to Tait Towers the biggest Chainmaster Variolift system in the world, for the current Jon Bon Jovi tour. The company also has gear out with the Foo Fighters (due to be covered in depth in L&SI, February 2006) and other music acts.

Columbus McKinnon had its new manual inverted chain hoist, the Hurricane. Available in one-ton capacities, the Hurricane's hand wheel cover rotates 360° for hoist operation in any direction. Also new from CM was the ProCommander Control System, which offers motion control of electric chain hoists, with up to 96 motors, which can be controlled singularly or simultaneously.

On the Rose Brand stand, UK manufacturer Triple E showed 3Way, aimed at venues with lower budgets but with the requirement for a robust, medium-duty track, fulfilling the need for an easy-to-install, simple-to-operate system. Rose Brand also showed Crystal fabric sculptures, and Glassless Mirror, made of a super-reflective film stretched over a sturdy, lightweight aluminum frame.

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