I think that is a VERY loaded question. That type of attitude is what contributes to these types of accidents to begin with. Obviously lots of grey area, but I think we as an industry need to revisit that whole idea.
~Dave
Not only does the industry need to revisit it, audiences and the general public should, too. When you've got people complaining about icebergs not showing up at their vacation destinations on schedule, they certainly aren't going to stand for their favourite band's concert getting cancelled due to some measly wind or a few drops of rain.
I generally look to Europe and Austrailia as a beacon of doing things right and **** the costs.
Have they not seen this thread:Closer to home, driving through the neighborhood today and the high school is still using a scissor lift to observe marching band practice.
Have they not seen this thread:
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/news/22087-college-student-dies-scissor-lift-accident.html ?
And that was the point. On our end, sitting in a solid building, it makes a lot of sense to say call the show off. However, when your the guy deciding "do I need to go on stage with a mic and say to 50,000 people hey your band wont be on, the wind is picking up", the situation is very different, at least in perception. And maybe it is a loaded question, but its a very real question. No one wants to be the bearer of bad news because the messenger getting shot is a pretty real occurrence (metaphorically here, I doubt literally).
After working with the group from STC last year I can Guaranttee you guys are MUCH stricter when it comes to safety enforcement . I for one, appreciate it.People in Oz are definitely watching all these things happening all over the world. I don't think we're immune to any of the issues.
It's certainly not a case of being better/stricter than anyone else.
Hopefully this is going to ensure everyone is that much more careful in all that we do, I know I will be.
Not to get sidelined into a pissing match but, yeah if it means saving the lives of 5,2 or even one person. If it means an 8 year old won't lose his arm cause it's crushed under a truss that just fell 40 feet, you bet you ***** I'd be happy to walk out and close a concert down.
Have they not seen this thread:
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/news/22087-college-student-dies-scissor-lift-accident.html ?
'What has happened is very exceptional and could not have been predicted. We are deeply moved by all the spontaneous support the festival goers and the organisation have received.'
Most of the roofs are not spigoted truss like you descibe, most is plates and bolts. It doesn't change your point, just wanted to note the difference.I've just been thinking about all these accidents and the nature of truss. Truss is designed with a male and female that slide together and a pin to lock it all in place. The vertical uprights rely on Gravity to some extent to hold the whole tower firmly in place. The whole thing is designed to keep things from falling down. But what happens when you take gravity away and instead apply a significant amount of upward lift and horizontal pressure on the roof and walls? That's not a force in a direction that typical truss is really designed to handle. Yes you secure it and stabilize the stage with wires, but that's a secondary line of defense. Perhaps we need to look at adding some significant steel diagonal bracing to the truss design?
I'm definitely not an expert with truss, I've only worked with it a half a dozen times, so don't quote me on this. However, the physics to me seems fairly straight forward. If you apply enough wind the basic design is suddenly rendered flawed. I would love to hear more from you riggers and road warriors who have worked a lot with truss over the years.
And that was the point. On our end, sitting in a solid building, it makes a lot of sense to say call the show off. However, when your the guy deciding "do I need to go on stage with a mic and say to 50,000 people hey your band wont be on, the wind is picking up", the situation is very different, at least in perception. And maybe it is a loaded question, but its a very real question. No one wants to be the bearer of bad news because the messenger getting shot is a pretty real occurrence (metaphorically here, I doubt literally).
No, but it can and has been done, even at very large festivals.
[video]http://youtu.be/lEuE786z3ZY[/video]
Something that I did like about the set-up in Belgium was that the line arrays were separated from the rest of the structure. I think that large objects that will become pendulums in the wind (line arrays and video walls in particular) must be on their own structures. This would allow for better stabilization of the structure over the stage and could potentially be better reinforced from collapse as smaller individual structures. As a side bonus, the entire rig could go up and down during install and strike more efficiently since one department (lighting) wouldn't be waiting on others (audio and video).
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