Canada - Corey Hart hung up his sunglasses for good at an emotional sold-out farewell concert for 13,500 hometown fans at Montreal's Bell Centre, supported by an SSL Live console at front of house. A 1980s star, Hart has had nine consecutive Top 40 hits, with Sunglasses at Night being his most recognizable. Outfitted with sound services by Solotech in Canada, it was another local Montreal hero, Denis Savage, who mixed the show and the week-long rehearsal.

For Hart's Farewell concert, the band consisted of two guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, percussion, saxophone and backing vocals, plus a few guests. Since Hart hadn't performed live in almost a decade, the group spent a week in rehearsals to guarantee he gave audiences the show of a lifetime.

"I recorded the rehears

UK - The 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe was another great success for Black Light, with the company supplying over 700 light fixtures, 16.5 miles of cables and one kilometer of fairy lights to the Pleasance Theatre.

During the Fringe, which ran for three weeks during August, Black Light not only supplied the Pleasance with lighting equipment and staging, it also provided all Dancebase venues with lighting and rigging and provided staging to C Venues.

"2014 has seen yet another successful year working with Black Light as our lighting and staging supplier," said Matt Britten, technical operations manager for Pleasance Theatre. "They fulfilled all of our requirements, some of which were very last minute, on time and in good humour. Supporting two sites and 23 temporary venues for the duration of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is no small feat, and Black Light proved

USA - Tom Kenny specified over 500 Robe moving lights for the popular 2014 iHeartRadio Music Festival, staged in the 15,000 capacity Ballroom of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for two consecutive days.

With a glittering line up of stars - Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Usher, Nicki Minaj, One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Calvin Harris, Bastille and many, many more including some show-stopping collaborations, the high profile spectacle was hosted by Ryan Seacrest and broadcast live on over 150 iHeartMedia radio stations across the country.

It was also video streamed live over the internet reaching an estimated 2.5 billion additional viewers ... with edited highlights aired as a special two night exclusive on the US's CW network a week later.

It was the first year that Kenny was available to create a production lighting design for the event, for which he also designed the set based on classic

UK - The Chroma-Q range of premium performance solutions is designed and built to exacting standards in North America, and has been adopted by many leading designers and specifiers for some of today's most demanding and prestigious lighting applications - including opera, theatre, TV, venues, touring, events, or other sectors. As a result of this, the brand has received awards from several industry associations.

Chroma-Q's PLASA London stand (P60) will feature models from their LED lighting ranges illuminating various surfaces to demonstrate the LED brand's premium performance and precise theatrical grade dimming.

Making its show debut is the new Chroma-Q Color One 100 LED Par, which features an innovative fully homogenised beam virtually eliminating the colour separation and shadows synonymous with LED lighting - delivering above Par performance from one source.

The Color O

USA - Audinate, inventor of the market leading digital media networking solution Dante, will be the talk of many at this year's 137th International AES Convention in Los Angeles, says the company.

Audinate is conducting multiple educational workshops on basic IT principles for audio networks. Landon Gentry, director of global support services for Audinate, will be kicking off the Networked Audio Track Thursday October 9, at 9:00 in room 404AB, with a Primer on Fundamental Concepts of Media Networking. This session will cover an overview of the OSI model and how data travels through network layers (a "networking stack"); Layers 1, 2, 3 and 4; Cables, MAC Addresses, IP Addresses, and networking protocols. Landon will also include an introduction to IP data networking as well as a brief discussion of IP networking standards and protocols that can be leveraged for m

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ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features. 

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UK / USA - With effect from 1 September, SGM has appointed Filippo Frigeri as senior area sales manager of the United Kingdom and the United States.

The many activities in both UK and US has called upon a further strengthening of the sales force to maintain the high level of service and support for SGM clients.

Frigeri has eight years of industry experience working with business development and international sales with a profound insight into, and understanding of exactly these markets, assisting him in expanding the company's product reach. His European roots, combined with a complete US college education, provide a cultural background that makes him the perfect link for the Danish company to reach out to its growing market.

Frigeri says, "It is exciting to join one of the fastest growing companies in the entertainment lighting industry. SGM is investing highly in prod

USA - Located in Palm Beach County, the 19,000-capacity Cruzan Amphitheatre is South Florida's premier open-air concert venue. Managed by Live Nation, which presents approximately 30 productions annually at the venue, Cruzan recently installed 24 L-Acoustics KARAi loudspeaker enclosures to deliver improved audio coverage to its lawn, which seats 12,000 concertgoers.

"With modern long-throw line arrays, the nature of the delay system has changed," says Andre Serafini, owner of Miami Gardens-based Beachsound & Lighting, Inc., which designed and installed the new system. "Most touring engineers will use their own main production PA to cover at least a portion of the lawn area at an amphitheater like this, so the 'delay' system has become more of a 'relay' system, complementing and extending the performance of the main PA.

"This is why it was important that we

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Create new traditions – Cameo P6 - High Output Full-Spectrum Ellipsoidal

Cameo's P6 is a future-proof LED profiler with a powerful 600 W RGBACL engine and 16,000 lumens. It’s an energy-efficient replacement for 2.5 kW halogen profile lights in theatres and venues. With excellent light quality and natural colour rendering, it fits perfectly in theatres, musicals, TV studios, congresses, and live events.

With an LED life of 50,000 hours and low power use, the P6 cuts energy costs and supports the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ goals for climate neutrality by 2050. It also meets updated eco-design rules for lighting.

www.cameolight.com/p6profile

UK - Young lighting designer Elliot Griggs is named as the inaugural winner of the New Talent in Entertainment Lighting Design competition.

In May 2014 the Worshipful Company of Lightmongers, in conjunction with the Association of Lighting Designers, announced the creation of an annual award as part of their support for education and training in the field of entertainment lighting, for those Lighting Designers who are at the start of their career.

The first winner of the prize is Elliot Griggs who will be presented with his prize at PLASA London 2014. He will also be invited to attend one of the Lightmongers' dinners where award recipients are acknowledged.

The judging panel of professional theatre lighting designers was impressed by the overall quality of the work submitted by all of the entrants, but Elliot was chosen as the unanimous winner.

ALD Chairman Peter Mumford w

Worldwide - This year sees Philips Strand Lighting celebrate its 100th birthday with festivities at PLASA London this October, including a cocktail hour at the special Strand Lighting bar on the Philips Entertainment stand.

"All are welcome to enjoy exclusive celebratory cocktails and nibbles every day at 5pm, alongside some very special VIP guests. So make sure to join in raising a glass or two to a century of lighting innovation!"

It's undeniable that Philips Strand Lighting's 100-year milestone is a momentous occasion as since inception in 1914, Strand Lighting and its product family has continuously evolved, playing a significant role in shaping the century's entertainment lighting and lighting control technology landscape.

The company's founders, Arthur Earnshaw and Philip Sheridan, were two private electricians who unwittingly established themselves as the fo

UK - Yamaha Commercial Audio has launched MG Rec & Play, an iPhone and iPad app which allows high quality recording and playback for MG Series XU models, via an attractive, easy-to-use interface.

The MG Series is a comprehensive line-up of mixing consoles, ranging from compact models ideal for music production and sub-mixing applications, through to versions capable of handling medium scale live events. The third generation MG Series, released earlier this year, offers significant upgrades in sound quality, design, operability and durability, as well as several impressive new functions.

Available now at the Apple App Store for free download, MG Rec & Play enables high-quality recording, as well as fast and easy playback of songs and sound effects, by simply connecting your iPhone or iPad to any MG Series XU model. The intuitive app can be used for a wide range of purposes, inc

Spain - Las Arenas Hotel-Spa is the only five star luxury hotel located in Valencia and, in all probability, one of the most luxurious throughout Spain. This hotel began its construction in 2002 next to Las Arenas and La Malvarrosa beaches, in the seaside of Valencia.

In the end of the 19th century, right in this same place, was built the historic Las Arenas Spa. Its classical style has been maintained and mixed with the elegance and comfort of the modern design of Las Arenas hotel. This hotel, which have a total of 253 rooms with all facilities divided into different types of rooms, counts also with thermal spa. The pool, from where it is possible to see the Mediterranean Sea, gets back the original project from 1933 with the kids' pool, the solarium and the famous Las Arenas springboard.

The installation was carried out by José García from Sistec Lite, who chose the

USA - Overnight success was slow in arriving for Ohio garage rock duo, The Black Keys (TBK). The band was active for over a decade in small clubs on the Midwest indie circuit before the big time finally caught up with them in 2010 with the release of their sixth album, Brothers, and its quirky hit single Tighten Up.

"We accidentally took off," remarked TBK's drummer, Patrick Carney. "We weren't expecting that." Nevertheless, they've had to get used to it as record sales and popularity have climbed steadily ever since, to the point where their eighth album, Turn Blue, released in May 2014, debuted at number one in Canada, the US and Australia, the band's first record to top the album charts anywhere. The band is currently in the midst of their Turn Blue worldwide tour complete with a full panoply of Sennheiser microphones specified by thei

UK - At PLASA London, uTRAC has revealed its top five feature developments to facilitate more efficient organising and tracking of labour for events

With the launch of uTRAC v2.0, the team has bolstered its drive to become the go-to workforce management application for events. The significantly re-designed interface has been tailored to improve the user experience and make its mobile app more touch friendly for people wanting to do their scheduling on the go with their tablets.

The new notification centre showing outstanding tasks includes notifications for unpaid invoices, unfilled shifts, and overdue payments among many other updates that will help all team members stay on top of their tasks.

The certificate management feature means workers will be able to record details of their relevant qualifications. An expiry date linked with uTRAC's notification centre allows both wo

UK - At PLASA London 2014, A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) has confirmed a number of senior appointments.

Laurie Giraudeau joins AC-ET in the new role of marketing manager, with immediate effect. Laurie will use her proven track record within digital marketing & brand communications to develop and oversee the marketing strategies for AC-ET's specialist lighting, audio, rigging and video sales divisions, and sister installations company, A.C. Special Projects Ltd.

AC-ET Director, Peter Butler, comments, "The Board of Directors are delighted that Laurie is joining us to spearhead the marketing team. We feel certain that with Laurie's knowledge and experience of the markets we operate in, she will bring a lot to the table - helping us to focus our efforts and create a greater synergy working alongside the sales divisions."

Jack Moorhouse is appointed product m

UK - It was confirmed at PLASA London 2014 that White Light has appointed Lee Dennison as Head of Audio, further expanding the company's audio expertise. The move signals more growth for White Light as the company continues its strong market presence throughout the entertainment and events industries.

Dennison brings more than 20 years of audio experience to the position. He has previously worked with Autograph Sound Recording and most recently spent seven years working with Delta Sound/Sound by Design in a projects director position. In his new role at White Light, Dennison will work with Events, Sales, and Installation teams on audio elements for a variety of projects using his experience, knowledge and relationships with key manufacturers, suppliers and end clients.

Managing Director Bryan Raven explains the new addition, "We have always grown by listening to the needs

UK - After several years of investment in R&D resources, more than doubling the department's engineering staff, and following on from research projects into loudspeaker protection and adaptive protection, the APA Series makes its PLASA debut this year.

The completely new power and DSP platforms have been designed to interact intelligently and adapt to prevailing conditions, protecting drivers, and significantly enhancing performance from all speaker systems.

Waring Hayes, XTA's technical brand manager explains why this is at the centre of the design ethos for APA. "It's not so difficult to add a DSP module to an existing amplifier design in the form of a plug-in card, but to provide the level of monitoring and feedback within the amplifier that we wanted - that took a little longer!"

The tight coupling of the power supply's behaviour through real time monitoring of

UK - PLASA London opened its doors at 10am this morning and welcomed a surge of visitors in the first few hours of the show. Hundreds of people skipped their typical Sunday activities in favour of a vibrant exhibition floor and an education programme packed with the world's biggest names in entertainment technology.

Here are some of the highlights from today's show:

World Class Exhibitors

Every year, PLASA London brings together the most important audio, lighting, video and staging companies, filling the show floor with a feast of exhibitors. This year is certainly no different, with more than 250 companies exhibiting. Looking around ExCeL London's first class exhibition space, we see companies like Robe, Clay Paky, Shure, Polar Audio, Autograph, SSE Audio, FBT, Philips Entertainment, White Light, Highlite, Chauvet, MA Lighting, SGM, Prolyte, A.C Entertainment Technol

Europe - As summer 2014 draws to a close, the UK source-oriented reinforcement (SOR) specialists Out Board have seen their TiMax delay-matrix and performer-tracking systems deployed for a broad and varied season of outdoor shows across Europe.

Thunersee, Switzerland - The perennial TiMax sojurn in the stunning Swiss lakeside setting featured the visual spectacle that is AIDA the Musical. Contemporised by Elton John and Tim Rice originally for a Broadway outing in 2001, the Thunersee production accessed a new dimension with sound design by the award-winning Tom Strebel and audiopool.

As in previous years, Strebel deployed the TiMax SoundHub and TiMax Tracker combination to bring vocal clarity and authenticity to the mammoth amphitheatre's audiences.

Strebel explains, "We simply cannot put on these Thun productions each year without TiMax SoundHub and Tracker. The audienc

UK - Visitors to PLASA London 2014 are invited to twice daily light shows on the Philips Entertainment stand L80, where they will be able to see Philips Selecon's latest innovation in LED technology, the RAMA LED Fresnel, in action.

Designed for 230v operation, the RAMA LED Fresnel combines the superior control and light quality of a Philips Selecon Fresnel but with added LED advantages. It provides an adjustable cone of light, has a soft edge and is easily blended with adjacent beams to provide even illumination.

A key benefit of the exciting new luminaire is that it is no longer necessary to change lamps and as a 3000K LED source, designers can use colour filters, in a similar way to a tungsten unit. It is also the ideal tool for general stage lighting as it has a smooth dimming curve and offers significant reductions in power consumption over traditional 1/1.2kW Tungsten Ha

UK - Faster rigging of stage and sets combined with improved safety are just two of the benefits offered by Doughty Engineering's Modular Rigging System, shown at PLASA for the first time.

A strong, safe alternative to 'home made' drop arms, which until now have been the only option for riggers, the system uses tried and tested connectors to give a SWL of 100kg and enables the safe and speedy rigging of luminaires from truss or fixed tubes or barrels. It also provides for a range of configurations to open up the possibility for highly innovative lighting design.

The Modular Rigging System uses 48mm diameter aluminium barrels in conjunction with a truss style conical coupling and is designed as two parts - Modular Drop Arms, which are single arms designed to be suspended with a coupler, and H-Frames, which can be suspended or floor-standing with tank traps.

Mark Chorley, desi

UK - Milos Group, one of the largest manufacturers of trussing and support structures in the world, welcomes James Thomas Engineering to its growing number of professional and trusted brands. James Thomas Engineering has been one of the leading manufacturers of aluminium trussing, rigging and ground support to North American and international clients since 1977. Its General Purpose, Supertruss and HD truss systems are known throughout the industry as benchmarks for professional outdoor concert, theatre and corporate venue productions.

As part of the Milos Group, and falling under the TOMCAT banner, JTE will continue to manufacture the same high quality "Made in the USA" products that industry professionals have relied upon for more than 35 years. Innovation will remain its first priority, and its mission statement "Innovation through Design and Engineering Excelle

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