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14 March 2016

The introduction of black non-reflective coating on the surface of the Black Steel Gobo cuts down on internal reflection to produce a crisper image when projected and eliminating unwanted halo effects, says the company.

The black coating will not burn or peel off under extreme heat and reduces the risk of image distortion caused by heat damage. The full range of Goboland Steel Collection is available in black steel, plus all custom steel gobos are manufactured from Black Steel with immediate effect.

Goboland Black Steel Gobos can be seen on the Goboland Stand F 31.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Tour News - With a canon of classic songs, unbowed enthusiasm and his musical faculties still sharp, Stevie Wonder has opened his first European tour for a decade. The US star took fans at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena on a two-hour journey through almost 50 years of songs that helped shape soul and pop. A sold-out crowd of 13,500 saw him play with a 10-strong band and four backing singers, including his daughter Aisha. Wonder, 58, now visits Manchester and London before other European cities.Festival News - Amy Winehouse has played her last scheduled show of the year

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14 March 2016

Presented during the PLASA Awards for Innovation on the second night of PLASA08, and named in honour of the late designer, developer and commentator Tony Gottelier, this award aims to recognise innovative developers who have made a significant contribution to the advancement of the equipment and tools that enable entertainment technology practitioners to continually push the boundaries of event production, presentation and installation.

Voted for by the industry, the Award was presented to John Stadius by Tony's wife Susie.

Stadius is a distinguished audio designer: in 1978, he joined Soundtracs PLC, designing disco consoles, mixers, power amplifiers and speakers. As technical director between 1980-1994, he continued to design a wide range of ana

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14 March 2016

Crisp, who has left by mutual consent, joined the major German electronic suppliers from Numark Alesis Europe late last year and made an immediate impact.

Commented Marco Willroth, managing director of Monacor International: "We would like to thank Damon for his input and commitment, and wish him every success in his future endeavours."

Taking over as managing director, Monacor UK, is Scott Davis, a veteran of the company for the past 13 years. "This is a great opportunity for me to step up from purely an operational and sales role," said Davis.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Simon Cox, PRG Greenford's deputy warehouse manager, has long been the crew chief and organiser for the company's extensive PLASA stands. However, after three years on a waiting list for a kidney transplant, Simon was given "the call" just seven days before PLASA and rushed into hospital. The rest of the PRG team rallied to the fore and were delighted and amazed to see Simon well enough to visit the show to see how they were getting on.

Everyone at PRG is delighted to see Simon doing so well and look forward to having him back to work after the great work by the transplant team at Hammersmith Hospital.

Pictured from left to right are Chris Henry (freelance), Phil Sharp (grubby lampy), Simon Cox (complete with new

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14 March 2016

Almost 30 miles of cable, 600sq.m of staging and over 2000 generic lanterns from Stage Electrics' rental stock were employed to transform a variety of spaces including churches, student unions, masonic lodges and assembly halls into professional theatre venues.

Stage Electrics' long association with the various Edinburgh festivals, was strengthened this year with Underbelly and Universal

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14 March 2016

Alan Thomson, a leading figure in the industry and formerly a director of PRG Europe, has joined Unusual to manage this new venture.

Alan brings over 30 years of experience in the provision of technical solutions within the entertainment industry and will be a valuable asset to Unusual.

Alan Jacobi, managing director of Unusual confirmed: "This is a major investment for the company. There is no doubt that the market in the Middle East continues to grow with an increasing demand for proven expertise in temporary and permanent rigging installation projects.

"Unusual Dubai will replicate

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14 March 2016

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso described business involvement in the EIT as "crucial, because the lack of business-funded R&D [research and development] explains almost 85% of the gap between the EU and the USA, for example".

Internet News - Only Japan has the broadband quality to cope with next-generation internet applications, a new study has revealed. Swe

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14 March 2016

Making the presentation, Mark Engel, president of Rosco, said: "This is the fourth year we've been able to support Light Relief with a cheque at PLASA. Our contribution to date now exceeds $15,000 and has been funded by purchases of #313 Supergel. We envisioned this arrangement as 'a gift that keeps on giving' and we're delighted that it continues to fulfil that promise."

Developed with the help of Rick Fisher, co-founder (along with the late Tony Gottelier) of the industry charity which supports lighting designers in difficult times, Light Relief Yellow is the vibran

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14 March 2016

Matthew Griffiths, CEO of PLASA, who welcomed the guest speakers and audience members to the launch, told LSI: "We're very proud to be able to host the launch of the Mayor's Green Theatre Plan at PLASA08. Many of the manufacturers represented here on the show floor are already playing an active role in developing new equipment and technologies to help theatres achieve the goals set by the Mayor's Plan, and the lighting and sound industry still has a great contribution to make. PLASA and its members are very keen to work with theatres and other industry bodies, not only to help improve the power efficiency of lighting and sound systems themselves, but also to support and encourage the adoption of the many s

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14 March 2016

"The show's success was due to a combination of factors," said Director of Events Nicola Rowland, "in particular a targeted marketing campaign combined with special online registration offers; a growth in exhibitor numbers; even more new product launches than in 2007; a greatly expanded educational programme; and improved visitor and exhibitor facilities.

"Combined with the effort that so many exhibitors made to p

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14 March 2016

The event took place in the historic Governor's Hall at St Thomas' Hospital - a room lined with Victorian wood panelling. The brief was to provide lighting which would accentuate the features of the room without damaging the valuable fabric of the building, and to provide entrance lighting to the event and sting lighting during the Award Ceremony itself.

Point Source Productions rose to the challenge providing a number of free-standing lighting fixtures to create maximum effect with no damage.

ChromaQ ColorBlock DB4 LED upligh

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14 March 2016

The APIAS development project, which began just over a year ago with the launch of the ShowWay exhibition and the introduction of associate membership, has been completed with the relocation of the association's offices to a new furnished building just outside Milan, at 128 Viale Fulvio Testi, Cinisello Balsamo. The site is already home to the offices of UCIMU (Association of Italian Manufacturers of Machine Tools, Robots, Automation Systems and Ancillary Products) and other associations.

APIAS says the new location fully meets the association's requirements, providing conference rooms, meeting rooms, a parking area, a restaurant, a bar, an on-site canteen, a concierge and reception area, and

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14 March 2016

The Noise Measurement Workshop is a practical course that will cover the skills and knowledge required to manage these regulations and provide a pragmatic guide to the current best practice. This will include analysis of case studies from across the entertainment and music sectors, as well as practical work measurement and assessment using both classic and contemporary examples.

James Tingay of Cirrus Research says, "Applying the Control of Noise at Work regulations within the entertainment and music industry can be a

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14 March 2016

Emma Bunton was the only Spice Girl present, and said she was "a bit shocked" to beat such venerable rock acts as Led Zeppelin. The pop group's victory will raise eyebrows among rock fans, but Bunton told the BBC News website: "The thing is, when you go to a gig, you go for fun and entertainment and a night out. And that's exactly what we did and I think that's why people enjoyed it so much."

Theatre News - Up to 95 publicly-funded theatres across England are to offer free tickets to young adults as par

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14 March 2016

With over 450 personnel on site, Showsec's contingency plans included using cabins and vehicles as drying areas for uniforms, ensuring that every staff member had dry clothes for their next shift, as well as maintaining the infrastructure of the staff campsite to ensure off-duty teams were well rested.

Showsec area manager Steve Reynolds commented: "Our risk management procedures always allow for poor weather at festivals and Bestival put those plans to the toughest

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14 March 2016

The only awards exclusively dedicated to lighting designers, the Knight of Illumination Awards are the result of an idea launched by Clay Paky and organised by the Italian firm in collaboration with STLD and ALD. The four awards categories are for Theatre, TV, Rock and a Lifetime Recognition award.

Enrico Caironi said: "We are delighted to offer our support to this established industry charity that helps Production Services Association members and their families at times of crisis."

PSA Welfare & Benevolent Fund Chairman Mike Lowe

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14 March 2016

During the programme, the CWA 25 regulation was presented by one of the workgroup members, Gert Jan Brouwer of Frontline Rigging. For more than two years, an international group of entertainment industry experts have worked on the European code of practice for stage machinery and load bearing structures, which is officially titled Lifting and load-bearing equipment for stages and other production areas within the entertainment industry.

The CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) will be the first stage in the process to build a Europe-wide consensus community. The initial objective of the workshop will be to make an inventory of standards and standard-like documents, as well as l

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14 March 2016

Founded in 1966 by Stephen Arlen, then managing director of Sadler's Wells Opera, and Margaret 'Percy' Harris, then the company's resident designer, the course was first known as the Sadler's Well Design Course. The course subsequently became the Theatre Design Course of the English National Opera until 1981, and after some time at the Riverside Studios, the Almeida Theatre and the Royal National Theatre Studio, the course acquired the name Motley and took up residence at its present home, the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

Every year the course selects up to 12 postgraduate-level students who wish to specialise in theatre design. The one-year course is project based, featuring five or

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14 March 2016

The circus, performing in Calthorpe Park, Edgbaston, fell foul of the Licensing Act 2003. The act forbids the playing of live music without a licence. Circus owner Martin Burton said that applying for a licence was time-consuming and expensive and called for circuses to be exempt from the legislation. He said: "I'm a big fan of silent comedy, but this is nonsense."

Old Rocker News (1) - Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant has scotched rumours that he is to tour with the band, describing speculation as "frustrating and ridiculous". Last week, The Sun newspaper reported th

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14 March 2016

Working specifically for the event hire sector, the board of the new association will provide help and support for event hire companies across the UK and Ireland.

Graham Arundell, managing director of HAE and board member of EHA, said, "The new association has been created to better support those companies in the event hire market. Although we offer a range of benefits as part of HAE's membership, we decided that we could offer a much more tailored service to event hire companies if they had a dedicated association of their own."

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Power Logistics' managing director Pete Wills remains with the band as tour electrician for the duration of the 2008 tour.

"We are delighted to be able to help Queen on their current European Tour," says Wills. "We have a long standing relationship with Queen's production team built on our reputation for making doubly certain the show must go on."

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Church News - Guitarist Carlos Santana has said he wants to become a church minister when h

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14 March 2016

The programme, which commenced earlier this year, involves every part of the industry sector, from event clients to organisers, and venues to suppliers and features large corporate companies through to small and medium-sized enterprises.

This programme is managed by the Sustainable Events Group (SEG) and is due to run through until the planned review of the new standard early in 2009. Experiences from the programme will feed directly into the BS 8901 revision process undertaken by the British Standards Institution.

"The programme gives the UK event industry a real chance to lead the world in the application of sustainability principles to their activities and events,&q