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Los Angeles, September
15,
2006
On the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Stadium Arcadium Tour a pair of
grandMAs has a key role in a show acclaimed as “a constantly
mutating technological wonder” and “the grandest
dazzler” by The Orange County Register. A.C.T. Lighting is
the
exclusive North American distributor for the grandMA.
Playing to packed houses from coast to coast, the Stadium Arcadium Tour
follows the number-one debut of the Chili Peppers’ eponymous
album and a sold-out European tour. The band’s on-fire
performance is made all the spicier by innovative video and lighting
design controlled by a pair of grandMAs.
Chili Peppers’ drummer Chad Smith, bassist Flea, guitarist
John
Frusciante and singer Anthony Kiedis are backed by four Barco D7
screens on trolleys and an 80-foot wide VersaTube wall which extends to
the venue’s roof then out over the floor via fingers
stretching
to the front of house. The 760 VersaTubes provided by XL Video display
a changing palette of lighting treatments and an array of video
content, including animation, flickering CG imagery, IMAG and colorful
band footage crafted to enhance the energy and vibrancy of the
band’s performance.
“With the grandMA, we can adjust IMAG on the fly with the
buttons
on the desk,” notes Scott Holthaus, who, along with Grier
Govorko, was the show’s designer (Govorko and Holthaus are
also
partners or 40wattlabs). “We can distort images for an effect
or
go black and white from a rescan camera or supplement the performance
with odd video clips.” By taking content from the media
servers
through the grandMA and out onto the D7 screens and VersaTubes Holthaus
is able to craft an effect “like a big broken TV”
where
random channel surfing ultimately resolves to images of perfect
clarity.
The grandMA also controls a Vista Systems Spyder, which
“makes
switching more precise and frees the director to cut cameras and not
cut Spyder so the content on the D7 screens change in perfect
synchronization with their movements,” Holthaus explains. The
D7
screens are often in motion behind the band, configuring and
reconfiguring in 4x4 or letterbox arrangements as their content
conforms to the trolley moves.
All of the show’s lighting is also controlled through the
grandMA. The extensive lighting inventory, from Nashville-based Premier
Global Production Company, includes 80 Mac 2K washes, 13 5K
Syncrolites, 50 3K Atomic Strobes, 50 3K Atomic Color Changers, 8
Robert Julliat 2.5K Ivanhoe spots with CXI changers, and 4 2K Bambinos.
“This is my first tour with the grandMA, and I’m
incredibly
pleased with it,” notes Holthaus. “I think
I’m a
convert!”
The tour’s production manager is Bill Rahmy, production
coordinator Natalie Drillings, visual designer Grier Govorko, video
server engineer Leif Dixon, lighting crew chief James Vollhoffer and
VersaTube crew chief Kenny Ackerman.
MA Lighting is
exclusively distributed by 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.
Copyright © ACT Lighting 2009. All rights reserved.
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