Los Angeles (June 6, 2007)
grandMA consoles are hitting the road for the long-awaited reunion tour of The Police. During the World Tour 2007, the first for the band in 24 years, two full grandMA systems will drive 5 NSPs and four grandMA media servers for lighting and video control. The grandMA is exclusively distributed in the US by A.C.T. Lighting.
The look of the tour follows the evolution of the band’s career, but overall “the simplicity of the show is striking,” says lighting director Danny Nolan. “There are three guys on the stage, and the design builds over time from simple to spectacular via effective lighting or cues, all keeping in the style of The Police. But despite some big, striking looks, we keep the focus on the artists. That’s what Patrick is famous for.”
The stage puts the band in a contemporary setting with unobstructed views all around them. Sting and Andy play to the left and the right of the stage, as they used to, while Stewart's drum kit center stage is supplemented with a full percussion rig, which rises up behind him. At the rear of the stage, seven automated lighting towers appear from under the stage at various times during the performance.
The simple oval shape of the stage is echoed by the lighting grid above it. During the two-hour show references to how the band was seen in performance 20 years ago are illustrated by lighting and lighting effects from that period. Contrasting with the retro look is the state-of-the-art technology and projection employed for the rest of the show.
The oval stage features oval moving trusses, moving lifts and six ribbon lifts. Two PA wings feature 48x40-foot custom low-resolution LED screens from Screenworks, which display strong and simple graphic content. Screenworks also furnished six high-resolution Toshiba 10mm LED screens which display IMAG and selected content. Upstaging, Inc.’s production support department fabricated structure, which enable VersaTubes to mount to the face of the custom 70x40-foot Tomcat oval truss.
One grandMA media server serves the low-res screens and VersaTubes while three other grandMA servers feed the high-res screens. All are controlled by the grandMA console. High res video first passes through video director Kevin Williams’s Grass Valley switcher which also sends live feeds and imagery from DoReMi servers to the high-res screens.
Among the automated lighting instruments controlled by the grandMA are Little Big Lites which produce big-beam effects; Coemar Infinity washes for other beam effects; Robe 2500 Profiles and Mac 250 washes to highlight the front of the stage; and Mac 700 Profiles in the towers.
Conventional lights controlled by the grandMA are Par ACLs, Par 64s, 2-light and 8-light Molefays, and Maxi 12s. Atomic Strobes are on hand to create additional effects.
A recent grandMA convert, Nolan “loves” working with the console. “It’s a great desk,” he reports. “The matrix control for conventional lighting is fantastic, and the server is coming together really well for the video aspect of the show.”
“The grandMA has a lot of features we’ve used on the show,” he notes, “like the matrix-mapping system -- we have all these Maxi 12 lights that we run through several chases. We use the grandMA video to feed the VersaTubes and LEDs. And the towers are triggered from the grandMA. grandMA’s network is fantastic -- we plug in the media servers wherever we want to. The system and its set up is very flexible. You can do a lot with the grandMA, and I’m impressed by it.”
In addition to triggering the entire show from the grandMA, “we’re thinking of putting MIDI on the desk as well since there are loads of intros and outros with big drum beats,” Nolan reports.
"Patrick seems to like the grandMA as well," continues Nolan. He likes thing to happen. And when they're happening and don't take a long time, he's happy."
William Francis is tour manager for The Police World Tour 2007 with Charlie Hernandez production manager and co-set designer, and Tim McWilliams world tour promoter rep for T.N.A. Touring.
"We always love working with Patrick. He has an artistic sense and cuing touch that makes a show sparkle," comments A.C.T Lighting's President and CEO, Bob Gordon. "Danny has learned that the grandMA has an unequalled wealth of tools to support Patrick’s artistic vision and sophisticated cuing structure. When coupled with the integrated grandMA video media servers, the control system has no equal. When you add Upstaging to the mix, we have a team of people and equipment to be truly proud of."
"Beside the passion for our products, the main part of the MA philosophy is taking care of the people using them," concludes MA Lighting's Ralph-Joerg Wezorke. "Thanks to Patrick’s and Danny’s open mind towards grandMA as a fully integrated system including video, we got the chance to accompany and support their programming process from the early beginning. From the 3D model and the network planning to pre-programming and again to the final show-programming, our system-specialist Daniel Ridano has dealt with the particular requirements towards the grandMA system onsite, while Danny gets deeper and deeper into the finer points of programming. Moreover the active participation of John Huddleston and his great team at Upstaging rounded up the professional team work. The result is marvelous and makes all of us at MA very proud."
CAT Entertainment Services of Los Angeles is providing power for the tour; Stageco U.S. is supplying structural staging equipment and supervisory personnel; and Tait Towers of Lititz, Pennsylvania fabricated the custom rolling stage and performance environment for the band and backline. Clair Bros/Showco, also in Lititz, is providing the sound systems for the tour; Mike Keating is the show’s sound engineer.
About A.C.T Lighting
A leading importer and distributor of lighting products, A.C.T Lighting, Inc. strives to identify future trends and cutting-edge products, and stock, sell and support their inventory. The company provides superior customer service and value for money to all of its clients. For more information call 818-707-0884 or visit www.actlighting.com.
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