U.K. Rigging Companies Say New Apprenticeship Program Shows Promise

MANCHESTER, U.K. – Before resigning in mid-July, former U.K. prime minister David Cameron championed a plan to create three million new apprentice positions by the year 2020. Announced last summer, the plan is designed to encourage the development of a better-skilled work force, which could help the U.K. compete in the global economy. As part of that larger effort, the U.K.’s National Rigging Advisory Group (NRAG) announced a trial program called the Live Event Rigging Apprenticeship. It provides formal training to new recruits, supporting them beyond the National Rigging Certificate Level 2. Key rigging leaders from Blackout, UK Rigging, RTM Rigging, PSI Production Ireland and NEC Group attended the trial run of the newly-created LERA program to test the assessment format and marking system before it is formally launched to the industry in September.

INTERLAKEN, Switzerland – For the annual Greenfield rock festival, LD Nico Müller of technical supplier Go Audio used more than 150 Clay Paky fixtures. The Main Stage was equipped with 39 Alpha Wash 1200 fixtures, 36 Mythos and 18 Stormy CC strobes. Müller’s rig design for Greenfield’s smaller stages included 18 A.leda B-EYE K10, 18 Mythos, 16 Alpha Spot 800 QWO and eight Stormy CCs. The festival, which ran from June 8-11, welcomed more than 40 international rock, punk and metalcore bands including Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Prodigy, Dropkick Murphys and Bullet For My Valentine (BFMV). More than 100,000 people from across Europe attended the four -day event.

DURBAN, South Africa  – A massive fire destroyed the Durban Christian Centre’s 5,500-capacity Jesus Dome auditorium in the city’s Mayville neighborhood on the night of June 8. No one was injured in the blaze, but the structure, first dedicated in 1999, was a total loss. Three days later, the sky above the destroyed church’s parking lot lit up with beams from 12 Clay Paky Mythos fixtures, all pointed towards a star, as the congregation met together for a service. LD Michael Broderick and Brandon Bunyan of Black Coffee donated the idea and the use of the gear.  Going forward, the megachurch will hold services using a large tent until the Jesus Dome can be rebuilt.

PERTH, Australia – The APIA Good Times Tour, featuring Daryl Braithwaite, Kate Ceberano, Jon Stevens and John Paul Young, has recently completed its 16-date tour of duty, including a stop in the Perth Concert Hall. With Perth being one of the three ‘orphaned’ shows without toured production, tour lighting designer Rohan Thornton was on the phone to local rental house Concert and Corporate Productions to source a rig for the show to supplement the Concert Halls’ simple house system.