SRS uses Ron StageMaster on Swedish Idol
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Scandinavian Rigging Service (SRS) has worked on each Swedish Idol Final for the last 10 years, and this year was responsible for the complete rigging from drawings and weight calculations to top rigging supply and rigging personnel. New this year however was the use of Eilon Engineering’s Ron StageMaster load cells to monitor the rig’s weight and distribution.
“There are no requirements to use load cells with large rigs in Sweden,” says Sören Durango, who has owned Scandinavian Rigging Service since 2014. “Not yet, anyway.” Sören does say though that there has been more awareness to use load cells on larger shows in venues like the Globe, an arena that seats 16,000 people. “I have a good relationship with the client as I’ve worked with them many times over the years,” he said. “So I approached them about using Eilon Ron StageMaster load cells on this show, stressing the safety factor involved. They said yes and thought it was a good idea.”
With rigs becoming heavier as shows get bigger each year, venue load limits have become a greater concern. “Rigs are getting closer and closer to the limit of what venues can bare,” Sören says. “On the Idol Final, we had a large PA system with built-in amps plus big video walls and a huge lighting system in the house rig. All together it means a heavier system above people’s heads.”
There were multiple layers to the Idol rig, which was concentrated above the stage rather than spread out in the venue. Consequently, that made it hard to always see what was happening. “I wanted to know 100% what was going on with the rig,” Sören said. "I wanted to know that the rig was okay. It gave me peace of mind to use the Ron StageMaster load monitoring so that when I left the arena at night I could sleep well. It was a real stress reliever.”
(Jim Evans)
