Clotheshow Live
NEC Birmingham, December 2006
Click image to view GalleryFor the 7th successive year CBD designed, built and managed stages at the Clothes Show Live at the NEC. This year we created two stages – the Hair & Beauty stage and the Live Music Stage.
The Hair & Beauty Stage
The Hair & Beauty Stage provided a location to showcase a whole range of activities, from simple make-up demonstrations to a full-on dance piece promoting Rimmel London.
We created a design for the stage set based on the simplicity of circles. The centrepiece was a circular entrance, with the theme echoed with two circular video projection screens, each finished with circular aluminium truss.
The stage itself thrust out from the set and measured 8m wide by 10m.
Congo Blue supplied the entire package to service this feature stage, including the design and build of backstage changing rooms, organising power and rigging points, supplying sound, lighting, video and set dressing – including styling chairs for the hairdressers, which we supplied from our ever-growing stock of fashion-related items.
Music & Dance Stage
To say the live music stage had a full line up is very much an understatement. Five live bands, five full-on fashion shows and constant DJ-ing each and every day of the six-day show really kept the Congo Blue boys busy!
A large performance area was created with a stage height of 4ft, giving audiences of some 2,000 people great sightlines.
This also dictated a large sound system, provided from our stocks of GAE. Six top boxes were flown from the grid to give extremely high sound pressure levels around the stage, but also ensured that the sound level dropped off remarkably as you left the performance area, helping to avoid those all too common complaints from nearby exhibitors.
The sound was mixed with a 40 channel desk and almost 20 channels of outboard, which meant Andy, our front of house engineer, was able to deal with the long line of band specs thrown at him. Even the 10-piece Ska band was easily accommodated.
To speed up changeovers between bands, we added a 4 metre revolve to the back line of the stage, this housed the drum kit on one side, whilst the dancers mustered on the other. When the big red button was pushed, the music stage was transformed into a dance stage!
Another of our innovations was to fly the DJ set-up. Two small chain motors were out-rigged from the main grid to support a length of truss containing Technics Turntables, Numark CD Players and the DJ Mixer. As soon as the DJ put his last track on, he stood back and his equipment ascended skyward!
Lighting was provided through a full complement of moving lights included a dozen Robe 250AT Spots and a further dozen Coemar moving head wash lights all controlled from an Avolites Pearl. 24. Source Four pars, many fitted with scrollers, provided front lighting, whilst a pair of Haze Machines helped to highlight the whole lighting effect.
Video projection, using two of Congo Blue’s smaller Sanyo LCD units, was used to promote the various brands who contributed to the fashion show.
As ever this was a complete Congo Blue Production, with every page of our risk assessments and method statements scrutinised by the ever vigilant Health & Safety people!
Rigging, power, dressing rooms and even pit barriers were all supplied by Congo Blue Design!
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