Back on Song - The Liverpool Philharmonic Hall has reopened to visitors and live music performances after completion of part of a £14m refurbishment. Originally designed by Liverpool architect Herbert Rowse, the Grade II-listed building first welcomed audiences in 1939 but was closed in May for a revamp of the main concert hall and auditorium. Changes to the concert hall are the first part of the overhaul of the interior, due for completion next summer.

Wembley Bound - Ed Sheeran has announced plans for his biggest solo concert to date at Wembley Stadium on 10 July 2015. He said: "I've made no secret recently of my ambition to play Wembley Stadium on my own in front of 80,000 people. I am absolutely over the moon to be able to announce it's going to happen next summer. It's going to be amazing, I just can't wait." The show will be part of his Multiply

UK - Pulsar moved into its present Cambridgeshire premises in the latter part of 2002. It was also at this point they installed LED lighting on the front of the building, confident in its reliability, longevity, and durability. Twelve ChromaPanels were installed on the South-facing front of the factory building in May 2003 and have been running 24/7 ever since, with an additional 21m of ChromaStrip 2 installed the following year.

Fast forward to today and the original ChromaPanels printed with the Pulsar name have clocked an impressive 11 years 5 months of continuous activity - actually surpassing 100,000 hours! This real-world industry first is proof of LED's amazing longevity and also of Pulsar's dedication to making the highest quality LED lighting fixtures on the market, says the company.

Braving all that the Great British weather has to throw at them, the fixtures have en

USA - City Theatrical will be launching a number of new products at LDI 2014 in Las Vegas this month.

A new feature to the multi award-winning SHoW DMX Neo product line is the addition of Maximum Bandwidth Technology which allows SHoW DMX to change from Frequency Hopping to Wide Band Digital Modulation, which allows it to narrow its output to smaller areas of the 2.4GHz spectrum, such as Wi-Fi channels 13-14, where in the United States, no Wi-Fi broadcast takes place.

This allows SHoW DMX to avoid all Wi-Fi interference in an otherwise saturated spectrum. This is accomplished simply by selecting a SHoW ID on the user interface or via RDM. This feature will be available as an upgrade for all present SHoW DMX Neo users and will be a standard feature of all new SHoW DMX Neo sales.

CTI is expanding their line of professional QolorFLEX brand LED tapes with the addition of 23 new

UK - UK wireless LED lighting manufacturer CORE Lighting is exhibiting at the 2014 LDI expo in Las Vegas for the second consecutive year ... reflecting increased business and a strong interest across its product range in the US and central America.

Two new products are presented in the US for the first time - the PinPoint and the ColourPoint Mk2.

CORE's Phil Ion comments, "Following a great reception for the new products at PLASA, we are hoping for further positive feedback at LDI. We will also be making some important announcements after the show as we focus attention on developing our markets in Canada and the Americas."

As for the new products, the PinPoint - launched at PLASA in London - is a new highly dynamic product - fully designed and made in the UK as with all CORE's technology. Already in production, the tiny IP65 rated wireless pin-spot / birdie weighs

USA - Martin Professional has announced the immediate availability of the Rush MH 5 Profile.

The Rush MH 5 Profile is a compact and bright LED profile moving head with efficient optics to punch out a variety of effects and colours. With two colour wheels, two gobo wheels and rotating prism the MH 5 Profile offers full effects in a super compact housing, making it perfect for DJs, bands, clubs, bars, cruise ships and installations where small footprint and low weight is critical.

"This highly anticipated fixture is fully CE and ETL compliant, which is a strong differentiator to non-certified products," said Mark Buss, product manager for Rush by Martin. "The Rush MH 5 Profile has suffered a slight delay in reaching the market, as we wanted to ensure that all the necessary third party certifications were in place before shipping."

(Jim Evans)

Switzerland - The new Diode Series laser systems from Laserworld has only been on the market a few weeks, but is already experiencing massive demand.

"Many of the big sound & light retailers in Europe listed the products quickly after the product release and the demand from the customers was great," says Norbert Stangl, sales & marketing director at Laserworld. "We set this product line to provide a semi-professional laser show system at significantly low pricing, but with professional features like the latest diode-only technology and analogue modulation."

The Diode Series RGB white light products are available in three different power levels with up to 800mW, 1,800mW and 3,300mW: The DS-900RGB, the DS-1800RGB and the DS-3300RGB. All Diode Series units have automatic mode, sound-to-light mode, DMX512 capability and an ILDA (computer control) interface. The

UK - UK-based event safety consultancy Stagesafe reports the Health and Safety Executive's announcement that CDM Regulations will be enforced on the events and entertainment industry from April 2015.

The news was confirmed at last week's meeting of the Joint Advisory Committee on Entertainment (JACE) at the HSE in Westminster. The following report was produced by Michael Anderson and Lee Holloway, members of SAGE (Safety Advisors Group in Entertainment):

"This was an unexpected turn of events as it had appeared earlier this year that a "BEA" (Business Engagement Assessment) industry impact assessment process engaging with the event industry trade associations may have led to a decision not to enforce. But HSE stated that they had since received legal advice that not enforcing would breach European law and expose the government to international prosecution.

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USA - Over 1,000 students gathered 9-11 October at the Willamette Christian Centre in Eugene, Oregon, for the Oregon Ministry Network Youth Convention. Apropos for a youth event, lighting direction and design was handled by one of the youngest lighting designers around, 16-year-old Caleb Franke of Illuminate Production Services. Caleb, who already has a number of lighting designs under his belt, had a large variety of Elation lighting gear at his disposal from discharge-based Platinum Series moving heads to LED-based moving heads, strip lights, Pars, blinders and video panels.

This was Illuminate Production Services seventh year handling lighting for the event, an annual gathering of local youth that features guest speakers, performances and special parties. "When I was designing the rig we needed to transform the room from its church look to a special event conference styl

USA - After being launched to great acclaim at the recent PLASA London international tradeshow, Chroma-Q will be showcasing PLASA Members Choice Awards Finalist, the new Color One 100 LED Par, at LDI 2014 in Las Vegas.

The Color One 100 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 unit's optical design provides a smooth, uniform and defined 20° beam. This makes it suitable for use as a front and backlight with clean shadows, and an uplighter with a smooth, even beam.

An extensive RGBA colour-mixing palette delivers outstanding colour blend across the spectrum - including deep-cold blues, red-hot lava looks and super-soft pastels, as well as a complete range of whites. In addition, the high CRI of 93 ensures extremely accurate colo

USA - Robe Lighting Inc. will once again exhibit at LDI on 21-23 November at the Las Vegas Convention Centre. With an elegant booth design and exciting new products including the recently-launched BMFL Spot, the LDI exhibition is the grand finale of Robe's 20th anniversary celebrations.

The Czech Republic-based manufacturer is also sponsoring the recharge lounge. Recharge stations and seating will be available for all LDI guests. The area will highlight the BMFL Spot, a new mega-bright long-throw signature fixture that needs a large environment in order to be shown most effectively.

Numerous products will be introduced by Robe at LDI, including the miniPointe together with all the current product range luminaires on this spectacular booth, which will also feature one of Robe's dazzling lightshows.

Anolis, the architectural division of Robe, will be integrated into the lounge

USA - The Sheraton Waikiki in Honolulu launched its Helumoa Playground Superpool series this autumn, comprising two distinct 3D pool mapping light show stories presented twice every evening to entertain hotel guests and the general public. Billed as the world's first permanent installation of its kind, the 3D pool mapping shows are projected across a 7,503sq.ft pool canvas, demonstrating lively displays of volcanic eruptions in Helumoa - the birth of Hawaii and the rise of historical Hawaiian resorts and water sports in Helumoa - the legendary story of Waikiki.

The Sheraton Waikiki hired PointCloud Media, a full-service production company specializing in 3D projections, to develop innovative, energized shows featuring graphic figures and images projected onto the nearly 200,000 gallon superpool. The PointCloud solution integrates its core Raylight4D mapping system

UK - Australian dance-theatre piece Intimacy by Michelle Ryan and Torque Show recently traversed the globe to take up residence at the Southbank Centre in London. Part of the Unlimited disability arts festival, the piece was lit with eight Philips Selecon LED PLprofile1 luminaires, chosen for their crucial colourising flexibility by lighting designer John Ford.

Ford, of lighting design consultancy Relume, specified the Selecon luminaires when it came to lighting the piece during its previous run at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne.

"I chose the PLprofile1 luminaires as I knew I needed something flexible to get as many lighting options as possible into a small space, and a conventional rig can be limiting in that sense," says Ford. "I used the PLprofile1 luminaires in dance booms, because I wanted a wide range of colour, and they gave me the varie

Europe - The new Philips ArenaVision LED is a lighting fixture dedicated for sports and multifunctional lighting applications. The unit brings a maximum design flexibility and high level of light quality, with no flicker effect in television application. Philips and Luminex worked together to bring an exclusive way to control and monitor these fixtures, offering maximum flexibility in switching between different types of events.

The partnership between the two companies started at RDM plug fest two years ago, and resulted in an agreement between both companies to share ideas and know-how. Luminex could bring its expertise in the entertainment market, and network based lighting control solutions.

A bespoke solution based on its Ethernet-DinMX4 and LumiNet Monitor V2 software was developed to provide advanced RDM monitoring, and easy to use merged control for the on tour lightin

USA - Jands' flagship Vista L5 console is controlling a large rig on popular American country music duo Thompson Square's Just Feels Good tour, which features over 80 moving lights and a large configuration of HD video screens.

Thompson Square consists of husband and wife, Keifer and Shawna Thompson. The group have received three fan-voted American Country Awards, a CMT Music Award, and were crowned the 2012 Academy of Country Music's Vocal Duo of the Year - the first new duo to win the award in 20 years. They are now one of America's biggest country acts, selling more than 2m copies of their Grammy-nominated hit single, Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not.

Jeff Lavallee from Nashville-based lighting, rentals and production company, 44 Designs - which holds a large fleet of Jands Vista consoles - supplied the Vista L5 to lighting designer Larry Foote for the tour.

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Denmark - Martin Professional has announced the immediate pre-order availability of their new M-DMX interface hardware for connecting lighting software and DMX universes as well as several new controller solution bundles, including the M-PC 2U bundle and the LightJockey 2 and M-PC+ Controller kit.

The Martin M-DMX is a rugged aluminium extruded device and is built with two XLR 5-pin DMX ports, a USB 2.0 connection and a K-lock slot for securing the device. The interface also features a new stackable design, LED indicators and isolated dual output. The M-DMX is compatible with Martin's LightJockey and M-PC software, M-Series Consoles, Fixture Upload software, and is backwards compatible with Martin's Duo-DMX interface.

Martin's M-PC 2U is a professional two-DMX universe package, bundling Martin's M-PC software and the newly designed M-DMX two-port DMX interface. As the latest e

UK - Lighting / visuals designer Jvan Morandi is enjoying his first tour with the UK indie rockers The Kooks, who have just kicked off a UK and European tour, with lighting, LED screens and several custom elements supplied by west London rental specialist, Colour Sound Experiment.

Jvan is not afraid of taking a creative risk or two, and the design involves a provocative synergy of lighting and video delivered with Jvan's trademark thought and intelligence. The set embraces a whole range of styles characterized by The Kooks own distinctive style, and for every number, Jvan's imagineering brings an individual look, theme or ambience.

It's also Jvan's first full tour with Colour Sound as a supplier, on which he comments, "I like working with this company. It's a very well-organized operation with excellent kit, everyone is friendly and highly knowledgeable - and generally th

UK - The latest in the successful series of PLASA Focus events will take place at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow on 2-3 December 2014.

Aimed at bringing together audio and lighting experts working in the live events sector at a regional level, the show is a chance to meet representatives from industry leading companies to seek out the latest products and services - as well as a premier networking opportunity.

Event Director, James Ashwood, comments: "There's a strong selection of lighting and audio companies at the Glasgow show including Robe, Avolites, Ambersphere, White Light, Black Light, Chauvet and Sennheiser, along with key dealers such as TMB, LMC, Warehouse Sound, Apex acoustics, HDPro, FBT and Polar Audio and rigging, trussing and special effects companies. Add to that the free to attend two-day seminar program and the rigging conference -

UK - Using more lights than ever before STL created a light show with a punch at this year's Leeds Castle Fireworks display. Dubbed one of the South East's largest fireworks displays outside London, the Leeds Castle event in Kent, with synchronised lighting and fireworks to music, has become a draw for thousands of spectators each year and 2014 was better than ever.

Based on the outskirts of Maidstone in Kent, STL has designed and installed lighting at the Leeds Castle Fireworks display for five consecutive years. The company's ability to create a dramatic light show to music that compliments fireworks has become widely recognised, hence STL regularly works with pyrotechnic experts, Alchemy, who develop the theme for the annual Leeds Castle event.

Despite the essential maintenance work taking place on the exterior of the ancient building, which requires a permanent scaffold an

USA - Lightwave International has announced a laser­based lighting fixture called Phenom to be released at LDI 2014 in Las Vegas this week.

The Phenom combines traditional lighting features with lasers' crisply­defined effects and vivid colours. The Phenom also boasts intrinsic audience­scanning safety, DMX control, an integrated media server, full­colour laser output, and a speedy moving head.

Intrinsic audience scanning safeguards are permanently calibrated by Lightwave International to ensure Phenoms are always audience safe at a minimum distance of 9.1m. No operator, hardware, or software error can defeat the intrinsic safety design once rigged. Any Phenom rigged 9.1m or more from the audience will always perform under the FDA CDRH regulated maximum permissible exposure.

The Phenom is the first moving head laser to implement intrinsic audience scanning safety, making

USA - Life Nightclub at the SLS Hotel and Casino on the north end of the Strip is Las Vegas's newest chic night spot and the latest nightclub to feature an Elation lighting package following this year's opening of Drai's Beach Club & Nightclub and the lighting upgrade at Marquee Nightclub.

SLS opened in August as the Strip's first major hotel-casino unveiling in four years. Located on the site of the legendary Rat-Pack era Sahara Hotel, Life is a multi-tiered club with a stadium style theatre design and 60ft-high ceiling. There is a good reason for that as the club occupies what used to be the Sahara Theatre and retains some of its original structure. Transformation from the legendary Sahara means the space includes special features like a catwalk system and theatrical rigging points for aerialists to perform.

Steve Lieberman and SJ Lighting have again delivered a first-class

UK - Taking its first steps into building a lighting inventory alongside its extensive stocks of sound and video equipment, Manchester-based Keyteq - which has over 24 years of experience in the live events industry - has made its first investment into lighting count, opting for a selection of intelligent moving heads from Chauvet Professional.

The company selected eight Chauvet Professional Rogue R2 Spot lights, eight Chauvet Professional Legend 412Z heads, COLORado 2-Quad Zoom Tour fixtures, and six each of Rogue R1 Beam units and Q-Wash 560Z-LED light heads.

Keyteq also chose to invest in TRUSST, backed by Chauvet, taking over 60m in various sizes with accessories and corners to enable a multitude of combinations - ensuring creativity and greater design freedom to offer to all clients.

Ian Chandler, director at Keyteq, explains, "We've steered away from lighting inve

Richard Martin Lighting (RML) continued its support for Children In Need by providing lights for the Glasgow show, filmed in the BBC Studios at Pacific Quays.

Says RML, With all of the changes to studios in London, over the past few years we have done more and more work in Manchester and Glasgow and now our brand is a recognisable one there, which is a great achievement!

"To ensure that we at RML can provide the type of service that our customers can and should expect, we work with local company Teknique Systems Ltd (TSL), who oversee our projects in Scotland. Tony Kennedy and his team have a great rapport with customers and know the crew and studios like the back of their hand, making them an obvious choice to work with."

Roger Williams designed the lighting show, which was formed of Robin LED 600 Wash, MAC 500, MAC Auras, Sunstrips, a Followspot and 50 LC2140 panels.

Denmark - Celebrating its 10th season anniversary, The Royal Danish Opera House has decided to add an extra dimension to the beauty of the modern building designed by architect Henning Larsen.

Lighting designer and technical manager from the Royal Danish Theatre, Tommy Larsen, is responsible for lighting, sound and video. "We wanted to create a hype around the Opera House and put focus on this amazing building, which is visible throughout central Copenhagen and the Dockland," he explains.

But this vision was far from straightforward. Immediate challenges encompass the front of the structure, which is a glass façade with steel bars; then there is the great distance, the task of illuminating the water in front of the building through the light output (or its reflection) ... all the while ensuring the minimum of inconvenience for the audience seated in the foyer area.

Australia - In order to entice tenants to the Melbourne's new Eastland Shopping Centre, a cocktail party was held with a Yarra Valley produce theme. Three truck-loads of trees were shipped in to construct a lush forest.

"It seemed that every time we put some lights up, half an hour later they were encased in branches so it wasn't so much a matter of focusing more a matter of pruning," commented lighting designer for the event Richard Grenfell.

Richard wanted a look of dappled light coming through the trees but how to rig a fixture that delivers a fat and wide-angle beam with only a four metre trim in the venue, was a problem. The only fixture that could do this was the Clay Paky B-EYE which Richard used in a static mode.

"If you take the B-EYEs out of their disco / kaleidoscope mode into a nice fat breakup beam and then use the inbuilt effects to very slowly p

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