Business

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The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has worked with organisations across the music and events industry to update its guidance on health and safety at pop concerts and other similar events. The Event Safety Guide - A guide to health, safety and welfare at music and similar events (which replaces the Guide to Health, Safety and Welfare at Pop Concerts and similar events) is aimed at organisers of everything from major outdoor festivals with thousands of visitors to local concerts for just a few hundred people. The main changes cover more advice on the planning and management, and the guide also outlines how to carry out a risk assessment.

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Metallica will be performing in Berlin on the 18th/19th of November. Appearing with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the LD will be John Broderick. The Nine Inch Nails have just announced a five week tour - rehearsals commence late Oct for two weeks, then they're out from the 10th Nov. Roy Bennett designs, Gary Westcott operates. Despite reports in National newspapers that she's having trouble with her voice, Whitney Houston has extended her current tour of Europe until 11th Nov. LSD provide all bar moving lights. Simon Miles designs, Telson James operates. Bryan Adams has also extended due to overwhelming demand. The tour now runs until 10th December. The Pet Shop Boys will open their latest tour in the US at the start of November. Their first in over four years, they have once again employed an architect Zaha Hadid (a female with a reputation to rival Sir Richard Rogers) to design the. L

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Leicestershire-based Hawthorn Theatrical has supplied lighting, sound and projection equipment for a major production which marks the start of a Millennium celebration of 1,000 years of village life. The show, which involves 200 local villagers including a cast of 70, has been two years in the making and has been playing to packed audiences at St. Mary's Church, Goudhurst, Kent. Lighting designer Nick Gale used a mixture of MAC 500s and 600s for Gaudeamus!, along with StageScans, to complement the generic rig which included Selecon's pacific luminaires. One of Hawthorn's Avolites Pearl consoles was used to control the show's 200+ cues. Also supplied was a Martin Audio Wavefront sound system and Denon MiniDisc machines, overseen by an Allen & Heath mixer front-of-house.

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Following a record sales year for BSS Audio, the company is moving from their Linkside House premises in Potters Bar to the neigbouring Cranborne House. While the company's production facilities are already located at Cranborne House, the R&D sales, marketing and administration departments are relocating to the more spacious premises with immediate effect.The company's new address is Cranborne House, Cranborne Road, Cranborne Industrial Estate, Potters Bar, Herts EN6 3JN, UK.

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DJ equipment manufacturer Entertainment Technology, part of the Leaf Group, is moving to new premises. By 1st December the company's offices, warehousing and R&D will be situated under one roof at Unit 21, Warner Drive, Springwood Industrial Estate, Braintree, Essex, CM7 2YW, UK.

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The autumn season is proving busy for Stage Light Design, the exhibition and conference creative lighting design specialists. The company is providing equipment, crew and lighting design services for no less than four stands at the massive Geneva Telecom quadrennial at the PalExpo. All stands have creative lighting designed by a collaboration between John Rinaldi and Alastair Crooks. In Geneva, Stage Light Design lit two shows for Intel, one in Paris and the other in Milan. These were re-runs of their highly successful imaginative lighting for Intel stands at the Networks show in Birmingham earlier in the year.

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The APRS will act as a sponsor of the Joint Venture with British Trade International for the 108th AES Convention (19-22 February 2000) in Paris. UK exhibitors receive 60% of their space and construction expenses up to a ceiling of £2,300 and are eligible to exhibit with Government funding at AES Europe events twice within any given ten-year period, irrespective of where the exhibition is held. In addition to the Government funding, companies that have never exhibited previously on a UK delegation will receive a complimentary research package from British Trade International giving special pointers as to where to find export-related help, advice and information which should assist with their exporting efforts to the whole of Europe.

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Lighting director Victor Fable used a new Virtuoso lighting control console from Vari-Lite for September's MTV Video Music Awards, which took place in New York. Using a Virtuoso for just the second time, Fable worked closely with lighting designer Allen Branton and lighting directors Tom Beck and Michael Goodwin for the live broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera House. With a rig of moving lights including VL4, VL7, VL7B, VL5B, VL6 and VL6B luminaires, Fable found that the Virtuoso made his job easier. "It actually made doing a large show much easier than if I had used an Artisan console. I would have had to put the show on two separate Artisan desks and run them both, whereas Virtuoso handled 440 channels easily and managed it all quite well."He continued: "Virtuoso allowed me to load up many more chases and break up the show much more effectively and quickly. The ability

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Expansion has forced amplification specialist, C Audio, to vacate its Potters Bar premises at Linkside House in favour of larger capacity at Cranborne House situated opposite on the Cranborne Industrial Estate. While production has been taking place at the larger building for some time, C Audio will now streamline its R&D, sales, marketing and administration departments in the one building with immediate effect. The new address for C Audio is: Cranborne House, Cranborne Road, Cranborne Industrial Estate, Potters Bar, Herts EN6 3JN. Tel: (01707) 643643.

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A trio of popular Welsh theatres have all completed new lighting installations, courtesy of Cardiff-based Theatre Vision, who specified a wide range of Strand products in each case. Theatr y Werin in Aberystwyth were happy to replace their old Strand kit with a new stateof the art system. Their entire complement of lanterns now comprises a combination of both fixed and zoom Strand SL luminaires and 34 Cantata Fresnels, alongside a new 530i desk loaded with Tracker, Networker and CommuniquePro and driven from 108 channels of Strand EC90 dimmer packs. Presently Theatre Vision are on site at Theatr Elli in Llanelli in a contract worth around £64,000, which is being supported by an Arts Council National Lottery grant. Again the company is providing an assortment of lanterns including 12 Alto Profile 14/32s, as well as a 520i control console and five LD90s. Further recent sales of Strand con

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PLASA (the Professional Lighting and Sound Association) has introduced two valuable new Membership Services. The first new service, a Business Support Helpline, offers PLASA's UK members useful and relevant advice on a range of topics (including tax and PAYE, VAT, Employment Law, Company and Contract Law, Copyright and Patents, Debt and Debt Recovery) by advisors who are all widely experienced in their respective fields. This helpline will initially be completely free to members of the association, who will have unlimited access to the service.Also new is PLASA's Business Reporting Service: PLASA has negotiated an extremely competitive rate for business risk evaluation reports through Dun & Bradstreet, a company with 150 years of experience in analysing and assessing credit risks. This service is available to all PLASA members.

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The Hammersmith Palais has undergone a major refurbishment - the 2,300-capacity venue has reopened after two years of disuse, thanks to a £1 million refurbishment which has given the famous 80-year old dancehall a new lease of life. Part of the upgrade includes a new sound system spec, the contract for which fell to Tarsin Ltd who in turn worked with Marquee Audio to supply the complete order. The new-look Palais boasts six bars and a VIP area. The main club system is based around a Nexo Alpha E loudspeaker system, driven by Crown MA amplification, and mixed through an Allen & Heath GL-3300. The outboard rack is plugged with industry standard Yamaha SPX-1000s and Roland SDE-330s. The front-end club and other source equipment also meets a high specification, and includes Tascam DA30 DAT player, Tascam 202 cassette player, Sony MDS-E55 and DRE1 minidisc recorders, three Technics SL1210 tu

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Canford has successfully tendered for the supply of event communications to London's Millennium Dome. In co-operation with Telex UK, Telex's RTS TW intercom equipment will be provided to meet a demanding specification requiring modification for operation over a fibre optic network. The Dome is divided into several zones, each dealing with specific aspects of modern life and utilising 'state of the art' audio visual systems to deliver a wide variety of presentations. Providing the platform upon which all this is based and linking the zones is an extensive AV framework using a fibre backbone at its core. The communications specification was outlined by the Dome's head of sound Roland Hemming. Working in conjunction with a development team from Telex, Canford (exclusive UK distributors for the RTS TW intercom range) has overseen the customisation of the RTS equipment. The modification has

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Nashville's new Outer Limit club is something of a hybrid venue. Within the complex, situated on the outskirts of Music City, are four different club venues: Coconuts has a South Pacific feel complete with Adirondack chairs, palm trees, tiki huts and a waterfall on stage, Hysteria has a Kiss-style multi-level stage with a large lighting rig, outfitted in diamond plating with a neon dance floor, Lava Lair has a gothic feel to it, including cast iron gates and a 30-foot long plaster dragon and erupting volcano, whilst Neptunes, as one might expect, comes complete with pirate ship and open seas. The one thing these venues have in common is that each of their unique sounds are heard thanks to Electro-Voice speaker systems. Dan (Tracey) Castonguay, the Outer Limit's sound designer spec'd the system which includes 22 Electro-Voice Sx80 compact fill speakers. Coconuts has two T55 top boxes, two

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Liverpool-based sales and hire company Adlib Audio has purchased nearly 40 Crown MA Series amplifiers from Crown's UK distributor, Fuzion plc, more than doubling their Crown rental stock. Adlib's Andy Dockerty commented: "We had to replace some units which we'd sold recently, but really the crux of the matter was that we needed to significantly increase our stock to cope with the amount of work we've got coming up on the hire side between now and Christmas. We looked at various alternatives in the marketplace but came to the conclusion that our original investment in Crown was still the right decision for us." The purchase comprised mainly MA-3600VZs, but also includes amps from across the MA range, from MA-1200s through to the heavyweight MA-5000VZs. Tours contributing to Adlib's busy autumn season include Texas, Gomez and the Longpigs, plus work for the Radio One Sound City g

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The Athlone Stadium in South Africa's Western Cape province has been chosen to be the regional home of soccer, and will receive a 49m Rand (£4.85m) upgrade. The first phase of the project (12m Rand - £1.18m) will see the replacement of the stadium's floodlighting system. The second phase will involve the upgrading of the existing west stand and the construction of an open east stand. The new west stand will have 14 private boxes, VIP seating, adjoining recreational space and players' facilities to meet FIFA standards. Construction of the first phase is due to be completed by April or May 2000.

Contact: Mr Saleem Mowzer, Cape Town City Council, Exco Committee Chairperson, PO Box 298, Cape Town, South Africa 8000. T: +27 21 400 1111 F: +27 21 418 6036

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St. George's, Brandon Hill, is a well-established Chamber Concert hall, created in the shell of a disused church. In recent months it has undergone substantial renovation in a phased programme, of which Phase I is now complete, and has involved primarily the securing of the external fabric. Stagetec were awarded the sub-contract to design, supply and install new stage lighting, sound and communications systems in association with theatre consultants Carr & Angier. The luminaires utilised to fulfil the specification were the Selecon Pacific cool beam profile spots (Acclaim PCs and Profiles) and the ETC Source Four MCM PAR. The Pacifics and Acclaims provided the front light and the Source Fours the down light over the stage area. The Source Fours were controlled from individual CCT Freedom dimmers and the remaining luminaires from Light Processor Paradime hardwired dimmer packs. A Compuli

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Vari-Lite International is embarking on what it describes as "an inventory consolidation strategy". According to a recent statement issued by the company, the Dallas and Atlanta offices are to close and product and personnel from these is to be relocated to other offices within the VLPS regional network. The statement doesn't give any indication of timing, but it is anticipated that the offices will close shortly.

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Cardiff-based Theatre Vision are busy supplying equipment to a number of key projects surrounding the Rugby World Cup in October and November. The largest of these has been the World Cup supporters Village in Bute Park, a 2,500 capacity venue with a large Megascreen LED screen, a music stage and a 100ft bar. Theatre Vision supplied all mains distribution to the massive site for catering, show, site LX, heating and many other elements. The main stage lighting, designed by Tim Routledge, is suspended on a Slick ground support tower system comprising three large goal posts wrapped in drapes, with the screen providing the focus on the event. The rig consists mainly of Martin's Mac 600 and 500 luminaires, with some generics. As a special feature, a number of Mac 'chandeliers' were constructed, with Mac 250 and 300 moving lights mounted on Trilite truss shapes.

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AV and multi-media specialist, Blitz Communications, has launched Suite P - its new broadcast quality presentation system. Two-and-a-half years in development, the Suite P integrates PowerPoint business graphics software and state-of-the-art digital video hardware, producing images which combine graphics, text and digital or live video footage. Images can be projected onto 1, 2 or 3 screens which are linked seamlessly together giving the appearance of one continuous screen.Suite P is now available for hire from Blitz at both its London and Manchester offices.

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Autograph Sales has recently supplied over 50 Lab Gruppen amplifiers to hire company Orbital, via the London Branch of LMC Audio Systems. The sale includes 46 LAB1200C and 10 LAB1300C models, and brings Orbital's total stock of Lab Gruppen amplifiers to 109.Recent Orbital projects for the Lab units include West End musicals such as Spend, Spend, Spend and Chicago, and a series of high-profile European motorshow projects for Aston Martin, Ford, Jaguar and Volvo.Orbital: www.orbitalsound.co.ukLMC Audio: www.lmcaudio.co.uk

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Organised by the National Aids Trust for those directly affected by HIV and Aids, the Celebration of Life concert takes place on Wednesday December 1 (World Aids Day) at Covent Garden Market on the West Piazza. The Trust have contacted PLASA in the hope that companies within our industry might support the event by providing technical equipment. If you would like to help, contact the National Aids Trust in London on 0171-814 6748.

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It's barely a month since the announcement, yet LSD's acquisition of Midnight Design and Spotco is already bearing fruit. While Midnight has been busy with the launch show for Sega's eagerly awaited Dream Cast games package, Spotco has been gearing up for the World premiere of Sir Paul McCartney's latest Opus, Working Classics. As part of an ongoing programme of restructuring, a design department has been established at Spotco's warehouse in Northfields, bringing in some of the talent from Midnight in Croydon.

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In association with CAST Lighting of Canada, AC Lighting have begun establishing a network of WYSIWYG service providers around the world. Each is equipped with the full range of WYSIWYG products and accessories and offers a dedicated facility with fully trained personnel available for hire. A full list can be found on the WYSIWYG product section of AC's website.
  1. Pacific Tidalwave Hits Russia
  2. PCM Increases Motor School Training for 2000
  3. BBC Work Experience for LIPA Students
  4. Day to Night at Rick's Place
  5. Lite Alternative Increases Stock
  6. The High End of Intellabeam
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