Extreme Bullriding with Martin MACs

In recent years we’ve seen sporting events such as wrestling given the glamour treatment with elaborate staging and lighting. So it wasn’t such a surprise to see rodeo taken from the humble outback and given a high tech touch.

Sydney SuperDome was home to ‘Extreme Bullriding’, an event that attracted over 8000 people. The riders are meticulously profiled in an attempt to build up a loyal fan base and even the bulls, with names such as Earthquake, Evil Dead and Tough Times, get star billing.

SuperDome transformed into rodeo arena

Production Manager Jamie Schmidt’s job was to turn the SuperDome into a dirt arena for the night’s entertainment.

“The biggest challenge for us, as we are Queensland based, was communicating with the SuperDome,” he said. “Also, laying the dirt and then getting the production in was a big job. We did the rigging first and then for a whole week we brought the dirt in and built the pens and shoots. Our main problem was the dirt and dust getting into fixtures and control desks. There’s quite a bit of cleaning to do after the event and we have to pull all the fixtures completely apart to blow them out.”

MACs provide special show lighting

Lighting production was by Lots Of Watts who supplied six Martin MAC 600 and five MAC 500 moving heads. Lighting was distributed through Martin’s Australian partner ShowTechnology.

“The Martin MACs were not there to provide general lighting, but for the opening sequence and some performances,” added Jamie. “The rest of the show was running full ambient light supplied by the SuperDome – basically their basketball lights.”

Initially, Jamie thought there may be a bit of a problem making a dynamic light show on such a small budget, but the MAC’s gave value for their money and produced a memorable lighting state.

Cowboys backlit with MAC 500s

“However, a lot of the show was based on what was not lit,” said Jamie. “For example, the bull riders would mount stages and we would make them look really eerie by back lighting them with the MAC 500s. Then when their names were announced we lit them with two followspots and then with all the MACs. As the music died we went back into the backlighting for the next rider.

“The Martin MAC is a great fixture and I’ve used them extensively. They are so robust and never play up. I chose them for this event because we had so little light going in we wanted something that could point everywhere in the arena.”

Programmed with aid of ShowDesigner

Jamie programmed the show with the aid of the Martin ShowDesigner. “The Martin ShowDesigner is the best thing I’ve ever bought,” stated Jamie. “I can preprogram a whole show before it even goes into production and the only thing I have to change is the focus and positions on lights. It’s excellent.”

Running the show at the SuperDome was Paul Collison who took the photos on this page.