Janet Jackson Tour, North America & Europe

The Opportunity

With more than 100 million records sold and a legacy that helped define the MTV era, Janet Jackson returned to the global stage in the highly anticipated “Together Again” Tour, her first in four years. Spanning multiple continents and concluding in late 2024, the tour featured a career-spanning setlist and a production design that needed to match Jackson’s dynamic sound and choreography. Lighting Designer Eric Wade required a flexible, efficient lighting rig capable of delivering impactful visuals while meeting fast-paced load-in and load-out schedules across major arenas and venues.

The Solution

To bring Wade’s vision to life, production teams from PRG and Crossfade integrated 138 Martin MAC One fixtures for the final U.S. and European legs of the tour. Compact yet powerful, the MAC One combines beam, wash, and eye-candy features in a single lightweight unit, making it a strong match for a show that demanded versatility, speed and visual intensity.

“The main goal of this job was to provide Janet with a very large system and an affordable rental, and the MAC One lights absolutely helped with that process,” said Wade. “We were going for something with a lot of sources and a small format to save truck space and time. The MAC One units are the primary fixture on the show; we utilized them in bars of 4 and mounted on custom pods that are on automation on top of video walls and on the floor. The outcome was nothing less than spectacular.”

The MAC One’s 120W RGBL LED engine, Fresnel lens, and 375,000 cd beam output allowed Wade to execute tight beams, expansive washes, and dynamic effects from a compact footprint. Its compatibility with Martin’s VDO Grid Mount System also streamlined deployment and reduced daily setup time for the crew.

“We needed to reduce focus time daily so that the large number of fixtures didn’t take hours on end to focus,” explained Wade. “The solution was to mount the MAC Ones all on square stock clamps, and that resulted in hardly any focus time at all as the light is extremely accurate in holding its pan and tilt. It also has a great zoom for getting tight beams or washing out, and I was extremely impressed at the powerful punch this fixture makes for such a small fixture. We also really enjoyed the eye candy features for camera shots and overall effect.”

The Result

Initially planning to use 100 MAC One fixtures, the Crossfade team expanded the count to 138 during rehearsals after seeing their visual impact and ease of use. The fixtures became the tour’s “workhorse,” earning a prominent role not just on the road, but in Janet Jackson’s Las Vegas residency at Resorts World Theatre, where 224 MAC Ones now light the stage.

“It has been a long time since I have put Martin fixtures on any of my tours or jobs, but that has changed now,” said Wade. “We are looking at what fixtures could benefit us in our inventory along with all these MAC One units we purchased. Martin worked with us in making this purchase as smooth as possible, and getting the fixtures delivered in a very fast manner. Now we are looking at what to add next!”