MAC 550’s and Moe

Moe is an American jam band with a reputation for onstage antics and, we might add, a good sense of humor. The band toured the US from February until mid-April, playing a flexible schedule, then headed to Japan for a series of summer dates. More US dates are planned for an extensive tour this fall.

Lighting designer Jeff Waful uses MAC 550 moving heads on the show and has been using them since April of 2004. The 550s were a recommendation from Andrew Gumper of AG Light and Sound of Long Island, lighting supplier for Moe. Andrew, who has supplied the entire lighting for Moe for a number of years, also acts as lighting programmer when the band plays larger gigs such as New Year’s Eve when additional MACs supplement the rig. For normal touring shows Jeff does the programming himself.

Because Moe was looking for a theatrical yet rock n’ roll look, the flexibility the 550s provide allow for both color and special effect looks. They are used on a scenic cyc, for back- and front lighting of the band, and audience illumination. But mostly they are used for effects. Six 550s are located on an upstage truss and six on a downstage truss with six across the back on a deck.

“I like the 550s because they are so new,” Jeff comments. “I like the animation wheel especially; it’s unique to us and our show. It’s the only moving light fixture that we use. I like it because it’s very similar to a MAC 2000 but more lightweight and easier to manage.

“I like the effects we get from the animation wheel, mimicking motion or the rippling water effect or fire effect, or vapor lines or zebra stripes. I wouldn’t describe it like that but fans often come up and say that they like what we’ve done with the zebra pattern.

“We do a lot on the backdrops and on the band members themselves. I like to take 12 550s – the six on the upstage and six on the deck and focus them on a cyc or a curtain behind the band and then front light the band in a different color and do animation patterns on the backdrop. The contrast is eye popping. It looks like a hologram or like the band is being projected on a big screen TV. I like the depth and contrast.”  

As luck would have it Andrew told Jeff that the lights can project a great water effect, and it just so happens that the band has a song called “Water”. “I mix one of the gobos with a slow animation wheel and mimic for example the bottom of a swimming pool when the light is refracting through the water,” Jeff states. “It almost looks like video projection of water. It’s perfect for the band’s song. If only they’d write a song about Fire!”

Jeff uses the 550s throughout show from start to end. “More and more I’ve been trying to rely on the 550s because I like the light they give off.”  The 18 MAC 550s are supplemented with 120K Par Cans and the band uses a larger system for special occasions, adding 24 MAC 300 wash lights and 16 MAC 2000 Profiles.