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Rigging / Staging

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UK - Overlooked by a dominating Nelson’s Column and The National Gallery, U2 premiered material from new album Songs Of Experience amongst a set of their greatest hits, at a free show for 7,000 fans in London’s Trafalgar Square on Saturday 11 November.
Introduced by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, MTV Presents Trafalgar Square was the curtain-raiser to the following evening’s 24th annual MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) at The SSE Arena, Wembley, where the Irish four-piece were honoured with the Global Icon award.
Both events were graced by Stageco’s dedication as staging provider with Wim DeWolf and Mario Dockx handling the R&D, while Dirk De Decker managed both projects. For the U2 event, the Stageco crew of seven [plus local crew], headed by Stefaan Vandenbosch, negotiated one of the busiest tourist areas of the city to erect the company’s

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South Africa - The country’s first strictly dry hire company, Guquko Technical Rider, has been established by a young entrepreneur, Phumzile Sibanyoni. Guquko is the Zulu word meaning ‘to turn around’ or ‘to reform’, a pertinent name for a company that hopes to bring a fresh wind of change to the industry.
Making an investment of 12 Robe Spiiders, 24 Longman 4 Ups and Prolyte stage decks purchased from DWR Distribution, the objective of the company is to rent out high ticket line items that are specified by lighting designers on a daily basis.
“Because we were just starting out, we looked at gear that would be beneficial to the growth of Guquko,” said Phumzile. ”The company has started trading and with the Robe Spiiders currently high in demand on shows, their units are out already creating revenue.”
Duncan Riley of DWR says, “Phumzile was wi
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USA - Automation and motion control manufacturer Kinesys will exhibit at LDI for the first time on its own booth - 843 - where they will be creating a strong presence with an international team and an eye-catching design showing a selection of key products which will be moving and working in situ.
Having focussed on building brand presence in the U.S. in recent years, which has included attending the last few LDIs and walking the floor, the next phase in that strategy explained founder and CEO Dave Weatherhead, “is to put ourselves right in front of potential customers, for which LDI - attracting a wide cross-section of high quality decision makers and influencers - is a perfect opportunity”.
Kinesys will be showing their new Apex system which incorporates the best of Kinesys’ extensive experience working with variable speed chain hoists. Apex offers a range of s

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USA - ESTA and USITT has announced the session line-up for the New World Rigging Symposium taking place 13-14 March 2018 in conjunction with the USITT Conference and Stage Expo 2018 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
In these 10 sessions, participants will be given the opportunity to further their technical knowledge, keep up to date with codes and standards, and learn what it’s like to work as a rigger in other segments of the entertainment industry. Attendees will also hear from experts in related fields. Full session descriptions can be found at www.esta.org/nwrs_sessions.
The keynote address will be delivered by Scott Fisher, with the programme including: Show Rigging on Cruise Ships. Big ideas. Tiny venues; Ground Support Concert Rigs; ANSI Standards and ICOPER. Paperwork that’s actually useful; OSHA, Risk Assessments and Rigging Emergency Action P

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USA - Tomcat USA has appointed Carmen Savarese as a sales & marketing director.
Carmen has served as global business developer and chief operating officer during her 11 years in the entertainment industry and will use this experience to grow and expand the Tomcat and James Thomas Engineering truss brands in the Americas and internationally.
She will add “a new, dynamic element to the already well established and successful Tomcat and JTE teams”, says the company.
(Jim Evans)

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USA - Little Ceasars Arena in Detroit opened in September, with nearly 1,700 custom LED strip lights from Elation Professional mounted to the venue’s vast wire grid.
Designed by HOK architects, the $863m, 20,000-seat arena is part of District Detroit, a major new development in the city centre.
Lighting and multi-media design firm, Illuminating Concepts (IC), was the lighting designer on the project, responsible for lighting the public spaces through to the theatrical lighting in the bowl. The dynamic ceiling is just one part of the arena’s large integrated lighting network in which all lighting is interconnected – indoors and out – to act as one themed environment.
Illuminating Concept’s design for the arena uses lighting to create a space that engages, guides visitors, creates moods and disseminates advertiser information. IC brought in production d

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UAE - World Class Events supported DXB Live and WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 in the safe and successful delivery of WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 held at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) from 15-18 October.
Project director John Adkins, senior project manager Brian Gowen and six project managers planned and oversaw the event build, which welcomed 1,300 competitors, 10,000 international visitors and 100,000 visitors from the UAE.
John Adkins, managing director of World Class said: “Make no mistake, the de-rig for World Skills Abu Dhabi 2017 was a mammoth undertaking! The scale of the event, size of the venue and large quantities of kit, equipment and exhibits and the timeframe we working to meant that nothing less than a precise and efficient plan would ensure a successful outcome. The way that Showforce switched on all of its departments to mobilise the numbe

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UK - Ayrton fixtures were used in the lighting design of the 2017 Slam Dunk Festival.
The alternative music event was headlined by rock band Enter Shikari and held in Leeds, Birmingham and Hatfield, with warm up shows at The Dublin Academy and Belfast Limelight and a further headline date in Barrowlands.
LD Steve Bewley used Ayrton’s MagicBurst LED graphic strobe fixtures and MagicPanel-602 units to achieve the dramatic visual effects needed for the event.
Bewley said: “For this show we designed four rotating towers which we wrapped in haphazardly-arranged LED strips, and used these to flank the drummer by deploying two towers either side of him. We then rigged three MagicBurst units vertically inside each tower towards the rear which, concealed within the towers, we use to shoot huge blasts of light out between the LED strips – much to the surprise and del

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World - ESTA and PLASA have announced the release of an International Code of Practice for Entertainment Rigging (ICOPER) which is available as a free download at www.esta.org/icoper or www.plasa.org/icoper.
In response to calls from the international entertainment rigging community, rigging professionals from around the globe came together to create ICOPER to promote awareness and safety worldwide by providing a model code of practice with a focus on arena rigging. However, this Code of Practice is applicable to all event production rigging disciplines.
The practices described in the Code are intended to provide a universal foundation for those engaged in planning, managing and executing entertainment rigging. ICOPER also provides guidelines for those who wish to develop policy, design training content or help establish certification criteria.
Key areas covered

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USA - Prolyte Group has appointed Hawai-based ProVision Staging as a distribution partner for North America.
The company will be serving the Hawaii region.
Andy Boujikian, general manager of ProVision Staging comments: ”There’s a growing demand to raise the level of knowledge and creating awareness on safety issues within the local event industry here. With Prolyte as a partner we have the perfect package. We can offer a combination of high quality products and training events, like the Prolyte Campus. In my own work practise I have experienced how raising the level of knowledge can enhance workfloor safety.”
Distribution manager Matthijs Meijer adds: “Finding a partner whose intention matches our company’s philosophy so seamlessly is really rewarding. With this addition we have created better access to our product range, so more US based customers can b

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Middle East - Protec has signed a MOU with German turntables and revolves manufacturer Bumat Motion Systems. The deal is expected to improve Protec's rental offering in the region.
Protec’s Founder and CEO – Stephen Lakin says: “Over the last year we have had more and more requests for revolves, particularly in the motor industry. We felt that working together with a world leader like Bumat would be the ideal solution to beef up our stocks with a quality product that we could offer our clients."
Bumat’s managing director Timo Burgmeier adds: "We are very excited and we are sure that our agreement with Protec will be a positive step - both for us as well as the Middle East region”, Burgmeier added.
Bumat’s modular system can supply turntables of any size and carrying capacity, made of aluminium or steel, in diameters ranging from 0.1 m to 5

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UK - Technology with Heart was the theme of Jaguar and Land Rover's inaugural Tech Fest which took place at Central Saint Martins in London in September.
Organised by London-based creative agency Imagination, the event explored how technology contributes to the auto industry and was packed full of innovative displays which demonstrated how technology is being used to make a positive difference.
Jay Plomer, senior production manager, Imagination commented: "The venue for this event is a fantastic space but it is a listed building and right from the start we were told that it would not be possible to install any fixing points in to the walls and ceiling. This posed the challenge of how to light all exhibits in a big area within the space – and so we brought Unusual Rigging on board to help us solve that problem."
Paul Rhodes, senior rigging supervisor, Un

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UK - Cardiff-based events specialists 11th Hour were stage and lighting suppliers for the 2017 Steelhouse Festival, held in July near Ebbw Vale, South Wales.
11th Hour, who had previously worked at Steelhouse in a limited capacity, saw their responsibilities expanded and enjoyed a highly productive if rather damp week.
Max Rhead, promoter and co-organiser of Steelhouse Festival takes up the story: "We teamed up with 11th Hour to provide the power solutions for the Steelhouse Festival back in 2016. We were incredibly impressed with their knowledge and professionalism as well as the quality of the equipment that they supplied. So, when the requirement for a new stage and lighting supplier presented itself for 2017, we immediately contacted director Andy Hopkins and the boys to expand t

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France - Technical provider Visuel once again took charge of the stage set up and audio requirements for world music festival moZ’aïques held in Le Havre, France.
For this eighth edition, 40 concerts were planned, with 100 musicians performing across two stages. Visuel decided to deploy APG’s loudspeakers at the festival over the brand they had previously used, with the goal of handling a complex acoustic challenge: two main stages facing each other only 200 metres apart, with musicians performing in front of an audience of up to 4,000 people.
“When you are lucky enough to host incredibly talented musicians and singers, it is absolutely critical to offer a sound quality that is capable of giving back the energy and the warmth drawn by the artists,” explains Jérôme Le Bay, director of moZ’aïques festival and a knowledgeable audiophile.

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South Africa - DWR Distribution has announced the 2018 Prolyte Rigging Course, in conjunction with Prolyte and Rhino Rigs, to be held in Johannesburg from 29 January to 3 February 2018.
The internationally recognised five-day course will once again be presented by Rinus Bakker. On the sixth day, delegates will enjoy a practical hands-on session presented by DWR’s Robert Izzett. Interested delegates must be competent in mathematics.
Delegates who pass the course will receive certification and 48 SACIA CPD Points. The cost is R9 500, and a 50% non-refundable deposit will secure your booking as seats are limited. The course will be held at DWR Distribution, Block C, Unit 1, Kimbult Industrial Park, 9 Zeiss Road, Laserpark Honeydew. Bookings can be made on-line. Visit: http://dwrdistribution.co.za/register/prolyterigging2018/
(Jim Evans)

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Denmark - A Kinesys automation system with Vector control is a key player in the production of Green Day’s American Idiot staged in Copenhagen at Den Grå Hal (The Grey Hall).
Benjamin La Cour’s acclaimed raw, stark scenography features three large scenic ‘slabs’ of concrete which lift, tilt and elevate to change the shape and architecture of the stage throughout the performance. They form a floor, a ceiling and several other shapes and spaces as the punky attitudinal sung-through action unfolds.
In terms of visuality, these three set pieces fundamentally define the look and feel of the piece directed and choreographed by Tim Zimmerman.
The three slabs each measure 8 x 4m and are suspended by four half-tonne Liftket vari-speed hoists fitted with Kinesys Elevation 1+ drives - capable of running up to 24 metres-a-minute. Each piece weighs around 900

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UK - Cardiff-based event and project management specialist 11th Hour has recruited three new full-time team members to help meet growing demand for its services.
Project manager Kirstie Evans joins from Cardiff Council's events team where she gained a wide variety of production experience. A graduate of The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Kirstie also has experience in TV and film production management.
She is joined by assistant project manager, Pete Morgan who studied Live Event Technology at The University of Glamorgan before gaining experience working as a senior technician in television technology supply, as well as freelancing in the wider events industry.
In an increasingly busy warehouse, Sarah Everson takes on the role of assistant warehouse manager. With a degree in Music Technology, Sarah was apprenticed at The Wales Millennium Centre where she

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USA - OneRepublic headlined this summer’s 34-date Honda Civic Tour of North America, with support from Fitz and the Tantrums, and James Arthur.
Core to the strikingly impressive lighting design by Mark Butts, production and lighting designer at LA-based Preset Productions, are 103 Ayrton MagicPanel-602 fixtures, supplied by global rental company VER.
For Butts and co-production designer and show director Raj Kapoor, it was the first time of touring with OneRepublic. “We have worked with the band before, but never on a big tour, and we were keen to start developing a visual style and brand for them which really captures their personality and image,” explains Butts. “We wanted this tour to be the first step in defining the OneRepublic style and to make them known for their live shows in a similar way to iconic bands like Muse, Rammstein, U2 or Nine Inch Nails.

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Europe - Stageco continued its long-term association with The Rolling Stones on the band’s current tour No Filter.
The staging company created the two steel tower and roof systems that have been leapfrogging around Europe since the start of September when the tour opened at Hamburg’s Stadtpark Festwiese.
The Rolling Stones production manager Dale ‘Opie’ Skjerseth engaged in what he referred to as “my A team”, featuring creative director Patrick Woodroffe and set designer Ray Winkler from Stufish Entertainment Architects, with Jeremy Lloyd of Wonder Works co-ordinating the technical design elements and working with Stageco’s project manager Hedwig De Meyer and R&D engineers Tom Frederickx, Patrick Martens and Kai Eppinger, to create two complete steel, tower and roof systems that have been leapfrogging around Europe since the start of September

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UK/Ireland - Unusual Rigging are no novices when it comes to the technical ins and outs of Miss Saigon. The company worked on the original show when it opened in the West End nearly three decades ago and again in 2014 when the show re-opened to rave reviews at the Prince Edward Theatre in London. Cameron Mackintosh's production of Boubil and Schonberg's Miss Saigon began touring this summer – and once again Unusual Rigging have been brought on board to ensure the success of the musical as it tours the UK and Ireland.
The show is currently running at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin until the end of November when it moves to the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. Helen Guest, production manager explained: "The tour itself is based on the version of the show which ran at the Prince Edward Theatre but with some additions that were introduced in the Broadw

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UK - Creative technical event production company Hawthorn constructed a 4,830sq.m set for eSports company ESL Gaming at the UK’s biggest games trade fair, EGX, held at NEC Birmingham in September.
Hawthorn delivered the vast custom-made set and supplied lighting, sound, rigging and staging, with five artic lorries needed to transport their kit - three of which were used just for the mammoth set.
The company created two large gaming stages, the ESL Premiership stage and the Twitch stage, both of which designed by ESL. Hawthorn custom built each set to ESL’s specifications, including the creation of custom gaming desks for the high-octane competition over the four days.
“With the ESL Arena covering nearly 5,000sq.m of space, this was a demanding job for us in terms of scenic creation” says Hawthorn senior project manager Ryan Grant who led the project.

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UK - PRG has appointed Caroline Hill and Mark Davies to its UK TV & Film account management team.
Caroline joins from Panalux Broadcast and Events where, for five years, she oversaw the delivery of a diverse range of events including fashion shows, television series, rigging for feature films, and, most recently, the lighting and rigging elements of the factual show World War One Remembered: Passchendaele for the BBC. She is now based in PRG’s Covent Garden, London office.
Caroline is an addition to the already bolstered TV & Film account management team that welcomed Mark Davies earlier this year. Since joining PRG as a lighting project manager over 10 years ago, Mark went on to head up his department before moving into this current account management role.
TV & Film market leader Kelly Cornfield commented: “Caroline and Mark are great ad

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Belgium - Manufacturer of flame retardant fabrics, drapery and stage engineering solutions, J&C Joel has appointed of Luxillag as its new bronze dealer in Belgium.
Luxillag was established in 1986 and supplies lighting equipment and tailor-made installation solutions to stage, cinema, television, photography and architainment professionals.
Over the last 20 years, the company’s primary focus has been in theatre and broadcast with an expansion into architainment and entertainment. The business has been involved in major projects including lighting design and full installations for the theatre and photographical and broadcast Industry as well as stage and studio scenery.
Luxillag’s owner and managing director, Gianfranco Galli, said: “We are very pleased with this new partnership. J&C Joel’s extensive range of products and impressive achievements

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Europe - Cate Carter needs little introduction as one of busiest and most successful LDs over the last decade, with a long and illustrious portfolio featuring the likes of Editors and Ellie Goulding currently out on tour. Carter’s company, Bryte Design is a design production house run in conjunction with her business partner, lighting designer Mike Smith and visual producer Pablo Beckett. Even before the company’s inception, Carter had been employing the talents of Specialz to realise her design concepts.
“The ethos at the heart of Specialz is the company’s completely open nature to a designer’s ideas and concepts. Backed up by a breadth of experience, skill and, what could be best described as industry savvy, Dave and his team offer a unique service to us as a client.”
“I think it was back in 2011 when we needed to adapt a piece that we rented
  1. MLA rocks in Rio with Gabisom
  2. JBL VTX A12 makes debut in New Zealand
  3. Unusual reflects on successful PLASA Rigging Conference
  4. Broadweigh monitors Adele's stadium tour
  5. Drones swarm on Metallica’s WorldWired tour
  6. PRG XL Video supplies Creamfields 2017
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