Ok, we all know you can put on one heck of a killer light show with techno gizmos like programmable controllers and automated lighting fixtures. But what about the average DJ or musician who likes the convenience of being able to plug a light into a socket, flick a switch and forget about it? Or the beginner who wants to add visual effects to his/her act, but doesn’t know DMX from LED?

It’s these light-programming challenged souls (who comprise the vast majority of the mobile lighting market) that American DJ’s new On-The-Go Series is aimed at. Designed for extremely simple operation, the series consists of seven plug-n-play units, each simulating a popular club effect like a gobo projector or flame image. Besides being easy to use, the On-The-Go fixtures are inexpensive and very mobile -- most units cost under $100, and all weigh between 4- 4.5 lbs. In fact, you could pack up all seven and your load would be well under 30 lbs.

But what really caught our attention was the buzz that these fixtures go beyond your typical plug-n-play effect. “Pluggers” can look a bit pallid and outdated in this day of DMX lighting and discharge lamps. The On-The-Go Series is said to represent the next generation in mobile lighting, with greatly improved optics and brightness.

We also took notice of the interesting assortment of effects that ADJ has included in the series. These aren’t your basic moving-beam mobile lights, but units that produce a variety of different textures and stylish environmental-type effects like water and flames.

So we took an up-close look at three of the On-The-Go fixtures, one being the Hydro, which as its name suggests, is a flowing water-type effect. The other two were the Prismatic and Color Expander, a kaleidoscope and colored-beveled-glass effect respectively.

As expected, they were no-brainers to set up. But what we didn’t expect was the brightness and clarity with which the effects projected on the wall, even without use of a fog machine. All are equipped with economical 100-watt halogen lamps, but the optics are so excellent that you don’t need a smokescreen to make the effects pop out at you. This makes the On-The-Go Series ideal for projection lighting applications where fog or haze can’t be used.

The Color Expander produced a spectrum of rich jewel-like colors with a wavy, beveled texture. The Prismatic’s psychedelic kaleidoscopic images were crisp and powerful even from a distance, while the Hydro’s soothing ripples were as realistically “liquid” as any water effect we’ve seen.

We liked the way these three very different effects worked together. For even more variety, you can add the four other On-The-Go units, which include: the Icon gobo projector; the Gobo Splash multi gobo effect, the Fire Fox flame effect, and the Krystal simulated glass gobo effect.

Another nice thing is that all the fixtures can be run all night with no duty cycles -- so you can really plug them in and forget about them! They also come with manual focus and an attractive high-tech case design.

With its variety, performance and affordability, the On-The-Go Series provides a great way for working pros to update their lighting system without spending big bucks. These easy-to-use fixtures are also ideal for beginners, who can start out with one or two units and gradually add on until they have a complete toolchest of lighting effects. The On-The-Go Series lets you do a lot visually with very little effort or expense -- it truly takes the basic mobile plug-n-play light into the next generation.