I went to check out a venue last night where we are hoping to do our first public show. The promotor is very keen to have the lasers in for his night but the venue does not seem so keen. I spoke to the in house lighting tech who said the council do not let them use lasers at all and it was a no go. This has not come from the venue management directly and the tech seemed very reluctant to discuss it with me. It was as if he seemed threatened at the thought of someone else coming in and doing something a bit different. The promotor mentioned that when he bought some LED bars to put the stage the venue questioned he need for them because they already had all the lights that were needed.
We are not planning to do audience scanning. I have completed a laser safety course with LVR and we will have public liability insurance. A written risk assessment will be carried out and presented to the promotor and venue management. The laser equipment conforms to HSG95 guidelines. We naturally want to perform a safe and enjoyable show and it seems a shame that we are meeting such resistance.
I think I am going to approach the venue management directly in writing providing information on safety. I am also not aware of any legislation apart from the Artificial Optical Radiation Directive that would prohibit the use of lasers in the venue. Providing all the criteria in the directive is met am I correct in thinking the council could not prohibit the use of lasers?
Of course I appreciate ultimately it is the decision of the venue management whether they want to permit lasers to be used in their venue.