Click on image to enlarge
One of the most successful alt-rock bands of the past decade, England’s Coldplay, is currently touring Australia with a Martin rig, supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems, that includes the new extra bright MAC 2000 Wash XB™ luminaire.
Touring in support of their new album, “Viva La Vida,” the show uses no LED screens or crowd IMAG at the band’s request. Lighting, set, and production designer Paul Normandale makes sure of that, opting for visual impact from video projection and the Martin MACs. The rig includes 24 x MAC2000 washes, 10 x MAC2000 XBs washes, 32 x MAC700 spots, 20 x MAC250 washes and 27 x Atomic 3000 strobes, ten of which have colour changers. Also in the rig are Unique Hazers and a couple of MA grandMA lites.
“Coldplay are a high impact band that requires dynamic looks with lots of cues,” Paul comments. “The MAC2000 Wash XB is used primarily as a rear wash light and is so bright it means I can use less than I would with other fixtures. Plus we trim at 48ft so I needed a wash that would reach with cover to spare.”
The MAC2000 Wash XB is a new 1500W fresnel that takes the proven optical and effect qualities of Martin’s MAC2000 Wash and adds even greater brightness (over 60,000 lumens of power), new efficient fans, ballast, starter and more.
Specific features of the XB that Paul likes include its “sheer punch. They are very, very bright and compact,” he says. “And reliability has been really good.” Paul has them spread across the top sub-grid for washes and as a rear floor light.
“All the fixtures have been excellent,” he continues. “The MAC250s as cross wash and air shot lights add a scale to the stage. Its 80 ft wide and has two 40 ft plus walkways so I needed a physically small but bright unit.”
The tour has been on the road for nearly ten months and lighting operator Fraser Elisha reports that all of the Martin MACs have proven to be extremely reliable.
“The MACs just do what they’re supposed to do and I’m very happy with them,” he remarked at the band’s Sydney show. “The MAC2000 Wash XB’s are just as reliable as the normal MAC2000 Wash but it’s a lot punchier, you really notice the difference between the two.”
Photos: Steve Jennings
www.showtech.com.au
You must be logged in to post a comment Login