Rigging / Staging

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14 March 2016

"For 24 years Tomcat has provided innovative solutions to the touring and the live events industry" stated Don Dimitroff, sales & marketing director, Tomcat USA. "Being part of a cutting edge trade show that brings stakeholders together is a wonderful opportunity for Tomcat to share a different perspective with industry pros from all aspects of live entertainment."

Tomcat exhibited standard truss products including Bax, Edge, Core, Light Duty and heavy Duty truss. In addition Keith Bohn, custom projects director, presented daily case studies on product and pr

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14 March 2016

The adjustable roller banners allow the Apex's technical staff to alter the venue's acoustics to complement any performance. The acoustic panels consist of cognac wool serge (WS011) bonded to black premier wool serge (WS090) and are ideal for reducing sound reverberation in the performance hall.

The acoustic roller banner units fitted by J&C Joel's installation team are of differing lengths and widths depending on their positioning within the hall. The majority of the banners were made with a single drop of bonded wool serge, but a number of dual sided banners were installed which are operated by a single motor within the unit's housing.

The acoustic roller banner system is controlled through a multi channel hand held unit which enables the bann

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14 March 2016

After the success of IDEX 2011, the show sentiment has led to a new collaboration talk between JM Rental and Showtec Group. Showtec Group decided to spend their investment budget on R7-ER from JM Rental which creates market expansion and a stronger bond between two companies.

"The image quality of R7-ER is more than just outstanding. There's no way to select any other outdoor panels besides R7-ER." Henry Ang, managing director and the founder of Showtech Group, explained. "We actually didn't just invest 70sq.m. to keep in our stock. Together with JM Rental, we have approximately 700sq.m R7-ER available which is actual

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14 March 2016

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14 March 2016

This year's WiSE sponsors include: Lee Filters, Charcoalblue Theatre Consultants, White Light, Rosco and Avolites, which between them are gorgeously, fabulously and wonderfully generous. (WiSE is not being sycophantic here, these words describe the various sponsorship levels. This means, for a relatively small donation, you too could be labelled gorgeous, fabulous or wonderful! If this is something you aspire to and you would like more information about how WiSE will spend your money please see WiSE fundraising co-ordinator Caz Williamson on stand.)

Accompanying Williamson will be co-founder of WiSE, Sarah Rushton-Read. Both will be on hand - at stand RA-C7, just to the left of the PLASA informa

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14 March 2016

Rigging Services has opened its third location in the UK just over two years ago in Manchester and has great aspirations for business growth regionally.

Paul Fulcher, director of Rigging Services comments, "A multi-location business such as ours depends upon the local team to act with independence, strength and speed. Whilst at the same time recognising that they are part of a bigger entity with a need for adherence to the company's quality an

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14 March 2016

Working for the show's producers and designers M-IS, Al Laith was commissioned to engineer and develop the superstructures and movement systems for the three heads. Each measured 20m high, 19m long and were 3m wide.

Al Laith had to ensure that they could safely be 'ridden' by up to 26 performers and driven for at least 1000m - in potentially seasonal windy conditions - for the celebrations following the conclusion of the 2011 Dubai World Cup.

The heads represented the three legendary equestrian bloodlines - the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian, and the By

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14 March 2016

Arena supplied all of the mile and kilometre marker towers along the 26.2mile route, which the 36,000 runners passed by from Blackheath to the finish line in St James Park. Arena Group built the markers that signified distance achieved, from the first mile to '800m To Go' on the main and Red Route, totalling approximately 60 individual constructions.

Owing to the busy location, only six of these towers were built on the Friday prior to the race, with the remaining markers being constructed the Saturday before, complete with sponsors' branding.

Arena's project manager, Martin Clark comments,"As the marathon route runs straight through the

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14 March 2016

Litecom took delivery of Supertruss amounting to 265m in length - more than two and a half football pitches - and it has been in constant use since. The truss has been on many major televised shows in Denmark including X Factor, and the Zulu Awards.

Litecom MD, Kristian Dreier, comments, "We wanted to start up our own rigging department to make everything easier, more flexible and to be able to rig our own projects, with black truss, instead of the normal aluminium look we could rent."

"No one in the television industry likes to look at aluminium trusses, so we've always had to cover

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14 March 2016

ChainMaster Bühnentechnik GmbH from the German region of Saxony hired more than 100sq.m of exhibition space to display its latest products. They included a wireless load measuring system with a category 'd' performance level which enables the continuous, real-time measurement of loads on chain hoists or suspension points for professional users.

Trade visitors from Germany and abroad were especially interested in the new XYZ touch panel announced beforehand. This additional controller for the BGV-C1/SIL3 stage control system is available in both cable and wireless vers

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14 March 2016

VGC, one of Poland's leading rental and staging companies, decided to explore Kinesys after initially seeing a system in action during the Depeche Mode Tour of the Universe world tour and were hugely impressed.

Sales director, Grzegorz Niemczyk and chief production manager, Piotr Lukasik were accompanied by lighting designer, Artur Szyman on their visit to Kinesys in the UK to further investigate the motion control system and fully discuss all available options. Following this visit, they decided to purchase a system and chose the powerful K2 software control solution over the more basic Vector control, with future system expansion in mind.

The powerful K2 3D software was also chosen du

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14 March 2016

Le Mark PAL Road Case label. As with most inventions, the demand came first when the question was put by west London-based SPS to Le Mark's MD Stuart Gibbons: "Can you build be a road case label that I can write on over & over again and will stick like . . . a limpet to a blanket and never fall off?"

Along with screen printing colleague Kevin Isaac, Stuart Gibbons created the first ever Plastic Adhesive Laminate (PAL) Road Case label under the then (but now forgotten) Roadie Label name.

Le Mark has chosen to produce a 21st anniversary celebration version of their original Roadie Label - this time, however, with a glowing photo luminious background bearing the slogan: "Light in a Dark Place".

Le Mark have agreed to support Stage Hand as their 2011/12 season charity and wil

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14 March 2016

Utilising Stage Technologies control interfaces, delegates will be given an opportunity to get hands on with eChameleon and learn some of the current techniques and principles used to plot and run some of the biggest shows in the world. eChameleon is the common software platform across all Stage Technologies control consoles, offering unrivalled ease of use, power and flexibility.

The three-day course will cover the funda

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14 March 2016

Since the 15th Asian Games, Doha 2006, AVtech has been providing all broadcast, AV solutions for sports venues and games. So when it came to the AFC Asian cup, AVtech was the obvious choice.

AVtech is a leading supplier of high-end audio, video, broadcast and lighting equipment from the some of the most reputable manufacturers in the world. The company is well known for designing leading-edge live performance systems and projects with superb performance-ready systems in the field of sound, lighting, video and multimedia applications.

For ACF, AVtech, along w

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14 March 2016

The newly redeveloped theatre, which can accommodate up to 8,000 in its largest format, was opened by The Queen in May 2010 and held its first season between June and August 2010 with capacity audiences to see shows such as a Gala Evening with Jose Carreras, Dame Kiri te Kanawa and '80s rewind.

For 2011, the arena seating has been extended from 6,500 to 8,000 using temporary decking to bridge the lake that sits in front of the stage and the season opens on 5th June with Sir Elton John in concert.

Pete Allison, MD of Event & Management Services said: "This is a great piece of work for us, we're well used to consulting on and managing the production and site issues around large

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14 March 2016

The two-day launch event received a massive response, with over 600 people visiting the new structure - a six-bay version of the 20m wide Combi Dome. The theme of the event was Your Vision Your View, emphasizing the real portability of the Combi Dome and its ability to be set up anywhere that suitable ground conditions apply. Gearhouse South Africa provided all technical elements to enhance the setup.

Designed as a 'compact' venue, Combi Dome still has a serious load capacity of 1500 Kgs per arch - which will facilitate a good amount of production equipment, and the structure is certified to withstand wind speeds of up to 120 kmh.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Showsec's first season has seen 60 SIA Licensed security professionals and stewards successfully ensure the safety of visitors and sports stars across five games in Yorkshire. Led by Showsec area manager Julian Kumah the team covers all aspects of security, from control room and car park operators to stewards on the stands and entrance gates.

"We're passionate about offering progressive security solutions that are tailored to the range of events and venues that we work with," says Kumah. " We are seeing an increase in contracts from sporting organisat

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14 March 2016

Among a lengthy list of new products receiving their UK launch were the Chroma-Q Studio Force and Jands Vista V2, both launched by AC Entertainment Technologies; a new generation of moving heads from Robe; Avolites' Sapphire Touch and a preview of its Titan V5 software; the Wave 28 all-in-one modular PA from Adam Hall; Christie's new Nitro Solutions range of motorised moving yokes; the new Showtec luminaire

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14 March 2016

With more dates, less rest, tighter install deadlines and even more demanding choreography the Flawless team requested Le Mark's Manero Portable SubFloor to be used at every venue possible.

Artistic director Marlon Wallen comments, "We have used the Manero floor throughout our 60 date UK tour and we really feel that it has made a significant difference to the quality of our performance. The give in the floor has protected our bodies during flips and multiple somersaults and we have noticed its superior quality when compared to other professional dance floors we have performed on in the past."

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

It's just a year since members of PLASA voted overwhelmingly to merge with leading North American trade association ESTA, and on the 1 January this year, the two formally came together under the PLASA name, creating one of the largest membership organizations in the industry with over 1100 members worldwide.

Though still in its early stages, the merger has already greatly strengthened PLASA and given it a new profile in the industry, reinforced by a new PLASA logo and brand identity. The first phase of a new PLASA website has gone live and the first meetings of the new Regional Boards and over-arching Governing Body have also taken place. New services and research projects have been introduced, and the teams are currently

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14 March 2016

"Due to increasing demand for high quality entertainment based products and services, Gerriets decided to form Gerriets Stage Equipment (FZE)," says the manufacturer. "With the formation of this company, we will be able to fulfil the regional needs of our clients much more efficiently, directly from our UAE facility.

"We are pleased to announce that Mr. Axel Beisenwenger will be the managing director of Gerriets Stage Equipment (FZE). Mr. Beisenwenger offers years of experience, knowledge and contacts in the theatre and event markets within the UAE."

Gerriets has a number of new products scheduled and has also published

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14 March 2016

Rachel will be co-ordinating all aspects of PR and marketing for the company, based at the South Kirkby headquarters initially and then working remotely from London. She commented: "I'm very sad to leave TPi but equally excited to be taking on a new challenge at LS-Live. It's a new role and there will be lots to get my teeth into considering it has undergone a dramatic transformation with new on-site bedrooms, dressing rooms, studios and green room.

"There's also the new industry-led training facility Backstage Academy and its short courses and foundation degree in Live Events Production to promote, along with the boost to LS-Live's hire stock of a new range of outdoor stag

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14 March 2016

The SD11 is DiGiCo's smallest sized sound desk to date. It is two consoles in one - a rack-mountable and a table top mixer with smart end cheeks and an arm rest - and an easy one-person lift from truck to table top, ready for action.

5 Star's design team was commissioned just before Christmas 2010 to create a special case for the SD11's planned launch at the recent Prolight+Sound 2011 exhibition in Frankfurt. "Once we saw the prototype SD11 at the end of last year, the first thing that was obvious to us was its neat and compact size," says 5 Star's MD Keith Sykes.

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14 March 2016

Rockness, the recently announced winner of the 2011 NME Awards for Best Small Festival, is committed to achieving the highest levels of customer service for the 30,000 festival goers expected across the weekend of the 10-12 June. 2011.

Showsec area manager Scott Anderson says, "We are excited to be working with Rockness for the fifth year and we believe the decision to extend our services across the entire site demonstrates our continual progression across all areas of our service. This contract reflects our expansion in the Scottish market, with an ever-increasing local staff capability underpinning our growth."

Jim King, festival director at Rockness, sta