UK - Wireless Lighting is a new company and online portal dedicated to the dry and cross hire of battery powered wireless lighting technologies for the show and event industry in and around London.

Founder Justin Hammond, who has been at the sharp end of the professional lighting, video and AV rental industry for eight years, spotted a gap in the market for quick, simple, reliable and no-nonsense service providing wireless lighting kit.

He states, "There's been a massive surge in popularity and use of wireless LED lighting over the last two years - there's no messing around with cabling, and the lighting fixtures can instantly transform any environment. Wireless Lighting is designed to provide a fast, efficient and straightforward service to all those wanting to make use of this technology on their events."

Clients can log in to the website, place their order, sele

UK - The PLASA 2014 exhibition sees the culmination of Robe's 20th anniversary celebrations, with the Czech Republic based manufacturer making a big impact in the 1,000sq.m Robe Arena at London's ExCeL Centre.

The Robe Arena is the company's largest exhibition area to date, and will highlight Robe's just launched BMFL Spot, a new mega-bright long-throw signature fixture which needs a large environment in which to be demonstrated most effectively.

Additionally, there are another 12 new innovations launched by Robe at PLASA 2014, together with all the current product range luminaires on this spectacular booth, which will also feature one of Robe's dazzling exhibition lightshows.

CEO Josef Valchar states, "We attend many exhibitions around the globe, but it's always good to be back in London, and this has always felt like THE lighting show for us. We wanted to do something

UK - MDG Fog Ltd has appointed two new distributors for its range of fog and haze generators.

From 1 October 2014, MDGfog UK, a trading division of Robe UK Ltd, will take responsibility for the exclusive distribution of the full MDG product range in the UK & Eire. This new division will be headed by Matt Wiseman, a well-known face in the UK entertainment industry who brings 20 years of experience to the role.

"I am looking forward to the new avenues and responsibilities this arrangement brings," says Wiseman. "It will allow MDGfog UK to focus wholeheartedly on promoting and servicing the MDG brand across the UK and Eire, with the added confidence of solid backing from Robe UK's established administrative, service and warehouse facilities in Northampton."

Mick Hannaford, Managing Director of Robe UK, adds, "We believe the quality and performance of th

UK - Two TV rental specialists - one operating in London and one in Glasgow - pooled their respective SGM inventories to great effect recently during the recent Scottish Independence Referendum.

With most of the broadcast activity centred on Glasgow, Tony Kennedy's Teknique Systems, having purchased 12 SGM P-5 Washlights from SGM UK, joined forces with Richard Martin Lighting (RML) to provide lighting infrastructure in two very different venues.

The live televised debate between Alistair Darling (leading the 'No' campaign) and Alex Salmond (Scotland's First Minister, heading the drive for Independence) - held at the historic Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum - was followed by the action through the night as the votes were counted. This took place in 'The Street', the central atrium area of the ultra-modern £72m BBC Pacific Quay, which only opened seven years ago.

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UK - When lighting designer Amarasri Songcharoen (aka Marci Song) of Seam Design was looking for the best lighting fixtures to light the 500 year old Raphael Cartoons - a series of large artworks by Rafael on display in London's Victoria & Albert Museum - she knew she needed something special. It had to be something which would output minimal or no ultraviolet light, as well as provide a perfectly lit atmosphere for a giant mirrored sculpture which was to be installed as part of the London Design Festival.

As part of the month long Precision & Poetry in Motion exhibition, design agency Barber Osgerby developed a system of two giant mirrored aeronautical 'wings,' which were suspended in the room and would slowly rotate on motors, altering the reflections of the Raphael Cartoons as they did. To light the artworks, she used 16 ETC Source Four LED Series 2 Lustr fixtures, con

UK - Black Light has played a key part in the 50th birthday celebrations for one of Scotland's most iconic pieces of engineering. The Edinburgh-based company provided all of the lighting for the concert that was a highlight of the festivities surrounding the Forth Road Bridge's anniversary.

"We designed, supplied and operated all the equipment for the main Bridge Party concert stage and performance arena," explains Russell Cobden, who was Black Light's project manager for the job. "It was an exciting thing to be involved with as it was a high-profile event that attracted a lot of media attention."

Black Light worked on the project with the organisers Unique Events. The two companies have a long-standing working relationship having collaborated for many years on world-class events such as Edinburgh's Hogmanay. Feedback was extremely positive, with Rab Randal

Directors' Cut - Leading theatre figures including Marianne Elliott, Matthew Warchus, Vicky Featherstone and Jeremy Herrin have launched the industry's first body aimed at representing stage directors. Increasing fees in the sector is one of Stage Directors UK's first priorities. It will also represent directors on issues such as royalties, contracts, digital rights and copyright, as well as leading on training initiatives. Directors can become members of Equity, but SDUK says the lack of an organisation dedicated to the needs of opera and theatre directors has "led to an increasing sense of anger and frustration" in the sector.

Who's Next - The Who have unveiled their first song in eight years as they mark their 50th anniversary. Be Lucky includes lyrical references to Australian rockers AC/DC and French electro band Daft Punk and will be included in a d

UK - French LED lighting innovator, Ayrton, loves to spring last minute surprises on its clients with the introduction of a stream of new products.

Having already released the Radical Series at Prolight+Sound earlier this year, and due to launch the new NandoBeam S9 at PLASA London, Ayrton has just announced a new addition to its Radical Series which will also receive its world premiere at PLASA London: MagicRing-R1.

MagicRing-R1 is the latest to receive the Radical treatment. Identical in size and form to WildBeam-R, MagicRing-R1 possesses all the features of the former but with the Magical speciality of Ayrton's continuous pan and tilt features.

One of the smallest of the Radical range alongside its brother WildBeam-R, MagicRing-R1 offers seven 15W LED RGBW sources with 67mm optics to produce 3200 lumens with a centre beam intensity of 380,000 candela from a mere 130W of p

UK - LSC Lighting Systems returns to PLASA for its 25th year and will be found on stand H70, with no less than three new products making their UK debut including the following:

The new GenVI Advanced Dimming System allows any of its channels to be configured as an 8 bit or 16 bit dimmer or alternatively as a direct power relay channel. This TruPower technology, introduced to the market by LSC over 5 years ago, enables the user to set some channels on the GenVI to dim traditional lamps and others to direct power for moving lights, LED fixtures, strobes, fans, video screens and even audio power amplifiers.

Another first for the company is the new LDT Dimmer - a new technology dimmer that allows control of dimmable retrofit style LED fixtures. With the global move to LED technology, many users simply replace existing fixtures with their LED equivalent only to find that they can't

UK - For the first time anywhere, SGM will showcase the new P-2, Q-2 and Q-2W LED fixtures at this year's PLASA Show. These are respectively based on the groundbreaking technology behind the P-5 wash light and the multifunction Q-7/Q7W (wash, blind, strobe) which have all helped to raised industry standards.

Providing an even smaller physical footprint, these compact units will provide easy and quick set-up, while at the same time maintaining the IP65 rating which is one of the characteristics of the SGM portfolio.

Taking it a step further, the 18 lenses in the P-2 are divided into three individually controllable segments with RGBW colours. Containing 18 high power 10W RGBW LEDs, P-2 has a light output of 11,500 lumens - 1,885 lumens per kilo - and an efficacy of 58 lm/W, offering a variation of beam angles, with 15°, 21° and 43° interchangeable lenses.

Q-2's 864

UK - Artistic Licence will launch nanoScope, its much anticipated pocket-sized tester for DMX512 and RDM at PLASA London 2014. Following a tantalising preview at last year's show, the market-ready version of nanoScope will be available for viewing and purchase at Stand L50.

Lightweight and battery powered with a translucent plastic casing, nanoScope features a built-in 5-pin XLR connector that enables it to be attached directly to the DMX512 cable. The device lights up in different colours to indicate its findings - this provides rapid, intuitive feedback that is hands-free and visible at a distance (handy for awkward positions such as plenum spaces or hanging off a truss).

Two modes of operation exist, selected by a recessed slide switch that also controls power on/off.

In 'Pixel Mode', nanoScope displays the first three DMX512 channels as an RGB mix, to provide confidence

UK - This year saw the Philips Selecon RAMA LED Fresnel, which features full warm white output, make its Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut. The luminaires took up residence over the festival period in one of the Fringe's most exciting venues, C south, part of leading Edinbugh Fringe venue producer C venues, where a range of theatre companies put on up to 12 productions a day.

Another new addition to this year's rig was the Vari-Lite VLX Wash. Together the luminaires blended seamlessly with the numerous Tungsten fixtures, providing the various productions with a plethora of LED associated advantages.

While the RAMA LED Fresnel luminaires took care of the warm and cool Front of House wash light two VLX Wash luminaires were installed as key light FOH with two additional luminaires providing back key light.

"Both the Selecon RAMA LED Fresnel and the Vari-Lite VLX Wash luminai

UK - ETC is getting ready to show its latest products at PLASA London 2014 tradeshow in London's ExCeL centre, 5-8 October. ETC will be taking advantage of two separate but adjacent stands (K60 and L60) with an entirely new design in the centre of PLASA's main exhibition hall, so as to highlight both entertainment and building-control products, and to provide a comfortable space for extended demonstrations and in-depth discussions.

On the larger of the company's two stands, number K60, ETC fixtures product manager Jim Uphoff and his colleagues will be demonstrating the new Source Four LED Series 2 luminaires. Launched at Frankfurt's Prolight + Sound show earlier this year, Source Four LED Series 2 improves on the previous generation of ETC's LED fixtures by updating the seven-colour mixing system, making white lights even more accurate, and producing tints up to three times brig

UK - Award-winning design and documentation software specialist, Stardraw.com, has announced some important enhancements to its Product Requests service, (historically known as Symbols Requests) to improve responsiveness and transparency. Product requests are a way for users to tailor the Product Libraries contained in Stardraw Design 7.1 to their own specific requirements.

The service already has an excellent track record: of the nearly 13,000 requests received since the service was inaugurated in 2002, over 95% have been published, with 40% of requests being published within a week and 50% published within two weeks. The tiny percentage that is not published is due to factors beyond Stardraw's control, such as manufacturers being unable or unwilling to provide the necessary product information (despite the service being entirely free for manufacturers). In addition to their Pr

UK - Among the highlights on Chauvet Professional's stand at PLASA London 2014 will be the Next NXT-1 moving head LED display, a new addition to the ÉPIX Series, the ÉPIX Tile 2.0, and a new series of IP65-rated fixtures, Colorist, from Iluminarc.

A pixel-mapping panel with 25 Quad-Colour RGBW LEDs, the Next NXT-1 combines fast pan/tilt movement with a tight 6° beam angle to create brilliant in-motion displays that will mesmerise audiences at concerts, festivals and live productions of all types. The Next NXT-1's ultra-bright output allows its sharp pixel-mapped images to cut through haze and washes on stage and deliver maximum punch at long throws, when used as an LED wash.

Although capable of wowing crowds with stunning, professional pixel-mapped displays, the Next NXT-1 was engineered to make the programming process fast and easy for users of all technical

UK - Industry veteran Peter Maddison has announced the launch of a brand new company, PCM Distribution Ltd, at the PLASA Show next week (5-8 October, Excel, London). The company, a UK distributor of professional lighting, sound and accessories, has already been appointed UK sales agent for Amp-Pack Cases and for the Italian lighting brand, Studio Due, as well as UK sales agent for Mach Audio - and the company will be displaying a selection of the latest Mach speakers on the Amp-Pack Cases stand from Sunday 5 October.

(Lee Baldock)

Denmark - Martin Professional reports that the Rush Wizard "full-house" effect light for nightclubs, bars and other leisure environments is now shipping. As the latest member of the Rush by Martin line of affordable lighting solutions, the Rush Wizard is an extremely bright yet energy-efficient light providing high-quality mid-air effects.

The Rush Wizard is music-triggered and DMX-controllable with two independent color/gobo wheels offering seven colors (plus two whites) and 13 different gobos with an additional two open patterns. An advanced shutter system allows the Wizard to create fast strobe and pulse effects as well as blackouts and a unique instant open. The Wizard also delivers more than 80 agile light beams with each beam chasing the other while continuously changing colour and gobo pattern.

"Finding reliable effect lighting that is compact and bright

Sweden - LumenRadio has appointed Lars Fabian Paape as a part of their R&D team, where he will be working as senior research engineer.

Lars Fabian Paape comments, "I'm delighted to join LumenRadio. They have built such a strong reputation in the industry, not only for their excellent products, but also for their quality, reliability and also being really awesome people."

Having a Masters degree in Mathematics, Paape founded his own consulting company in 1998 and has ever since worked in the scientific field of mass spectrometry developing data evaluation algorithms for Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Paape brings with him extensive experience and has been working in the lighting industry since 2001, by that time working for Spectrosoft GmbH. During this time Paape was highly involved in the algorithmic development of the first grandMA 3D application. Paape has been worki

USA / Canada - Clay Paky Sharpys illuminated the Journey and the Steve Miller Band along for the ride that took them to 30 cities across the U.S. and Canada.

The tour united two of the groups that helped define The San Francisco Sound. In careers spanning 40 years, Journey has sold 80m albums worldwide and the Steve Miller Band more than 30m records.

Tour Tech East Ltd. in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia provided lighting support for the tour supplying 34 Sharpys and 20 Sharpy Washes. Senior account executive Tracey Ploss has worked with Journey and the band's lighting designer Kevin "Deuce" Christopher for eight years.

"Last year Deuce used a couple of Sharpys, but this year he specifically wanted Sharpy Washes for the tour so we added them to our inventory," says Ploss. "We've made a significant investment in the Clay Paky fixtures." Sharpys are very p

World - Lady Gaga is on her tour, ArtRave: The Artpop Ball, and Clay Paky's A.leda B-EYE K20 innovative, LED-based moving lights and Clay Paky Sharpys are along for the wild ride.

ArtRave marks Lady Gaga's fourth concert tour. It is in support of her third studio album, Artpop and kicked off in Fort Lauderdale with 78 dates scheduled in North America, Europe, Oceania and Asia.

PRG has provided 120 B-EYEs for the tour as well as a large complement of Clay Paky Sharpys. Lighting control is performed with three full-size grandMA2s and 10 NPUs.

"Production and lighting designer Roy Bennett's approach to the show was to make it an immersive rave that reflected Gaga's non-stop party aesthetic," says programmer Jason Baeri. "That means active, alive, vibrant and high energy -- it requires us to be just as active on stage as in the crowd. The audi

Tunisia - At age 71, George Benson is still winning over the audiences with his signature soft jazzy touch. GB played a beautiful concert in the historic context of the Roman Theatre of Carthage, Tunisia, last 16 July.

The music performed was excellent, with energetic renditions of timeless hits such as On Broadway and Give Me The Night, in front of an audience that would have liked to hear even more songs.

Everything was perfect, including the expressive light show. The lighting system - including Raptor and NRG 1201 moving heads from D.T.S. - was installed by Sybel Light & Sound.

(Jim Evans)

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) will showcase a selection of the very latest lighting, audio, rigging and video solutions available from their vast portfolio of premium brands - on stand P40 at PLASA London 2014.

Salesteams from AC-ET's four specialist product divisions will be on hand to demonstrate and discuss the latest technologies from leading marques which AC-ET are the exclusive UK reseller for, as well as over 200 leading brands available for immediate despatch from the company's multi-million pound inventory.

From AC-ET's Lighting division, the stand will showcase product highlights from the many UK-exclusive LED lighting brands available. Chroma-Q will unveil their new 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 perfo

UK - Le Maitre's newly launched range of Coloured Ice Gerbs includes a spectacular and unique colour change effect. A deeply coloured flame enveloping the base of the gerb and a column of silver sparks shoot up to heights of 6-8ft. The effect which last for some 20 seconds has been achieved by Le Maitre's R&D team and is available in aqua, blue, green, orange, purple, red, yellow and pink or as a colour change version.

The Ice Gerbs are the latest in a number of great effects from Le Maitre and produced using their completely new production process which is greatly increasing factory production capabilities.

Other new products also just released by Le Maitre include:

New Large Intense Flames in blue, white, pink, yellow, red and green, which as the name implies produce an vibrant and intense effect in terms of both colour and heat with flames 10-12ft high and lasting 20 seco

USA - It was a sight those in attendance would never forget: more than 50 soldiers, some who served in World War II, marched their way through sabre arches into a room where a thousand people gathered to honour their acts of bravery and courage for which they had been awarded the Medal of Honour.

Michael T. Strickland, Bandit's chair and founder, found himself deeply touched. "I was moved in a way I will never be moved again," he said. "To be in a room with that much greatness... simply defies explaining."

As a sponsor of the event, Bandit Lites donated more than a year's worth of labour, equipment and funds to ensure these Medal of Honour recipients received the star treatment they so richly deserved.

"It's a labour of love," said Strickland of the work chairman Joe Thompson and his committee did to bring the event to Knoxville. "It's a hu

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