Martin MAC III Profile™ no ‘Illusion’ on Staind Tour

American rock and metal group Staind is touring the US and Europe in support of their latest release, The "Illusion of Progress." Lighting designer and programmer is Michael Cooper who has been putting Martin's new 1500 watt MAC III Profile through its paces as one of a handful of field test outings for the new profile spot.

"John Bahnick from Upstaging and Brad Haynes from Martin called and asked if I'd like to take them out for a test run and I was happy to do it," Cooper explains. "My previous rig had MAC 2000 Performances in the position the MAC IIIs took, and with the animation wheel and other features, the MAC III fit perfectly in their place."

Besides the MAC III Profiles, Cooper is using a Martin package of MAC 2000 Wash XBs™, MAC 700 Profiles™, MAC 700 Washes™, Stagebar 54™ LED pixel bars and Atomic 3000™ strobes with Atomic Colors™ scrollers.

MAC III Profile
Cooper has eight MAC III Profiles integrated into the set's floor design - downstage right and left alternating with MAC 2000 Wash XB units. He comments, "The MAC III / XB combo is very fitting and match each other really well in output. I decided to put the MAC IIIs on the floor mainly because they are new beta units. I'm also able get much bigger looks out of them when they have all the air in the venue to consume, yet still keep the focus on the band. Due to drastically varying trim heights at these venues, I didnt want to waste the light when we had low trim days."

The MAC III Profile is the first luminaire in Martin's third generation of MAC moving heads. It is a super bright profile luminaire with an output of over 33,000 lumens and a unique fat beam look.

"The good thing about using lights with big output is you can get a lot more out of less," Cooper says. "With the horsepower this lamp has, you can make really big looks with only a few fixtures and make the rig look bigger than it actually is.

"The MAC III Profile cuts through ANYTHING and the color mixing is nice across the entire spectrum. The prism is very nice as well and doesn't kill the output when you roll it in."

Fast zoom
One of the unique features of the MAC III Profile is a linked zoom and focus with an 11.5 to 55 degree true zoom range that zooms to full in a second. The zoom feature wasnt lost on Cooper. "For a light of its size, it really moves and the speed of the zoom is awesome! I use it pretty hard in one song to see what it's made of. You don't lose much output while zoomed all the way out. The FX speed is nice too - colors change and gobos come in quickly."

Another MAC III Profile innovation that users find convenient is an LCD screen Graphical User Interface with jog wheel that makes the fixture easy to program, troubleshoot and use. "I really like the onboard screen interface," Cooper comments. "It makes the light smart and the fact that you can update the software off a USB stick is also a nice touch."

Stagebar 54
Cooper has also incorporated dynamic color from Martin Stagebar 54s positioned on the floor and set - mainly lighting the band members as footlights with additional units on either side of the drum kit. "Brad demoed the Stagebar for me last year and I liked what I saw," he says. "As soon as the opportunity came up to spec them I did."

The Stagebar 54 is a bright LED pixel bar with RGB, Amber and White color mixing for a broad color spectrum. It can function as a pixel bar for displaying imagery or as a wash luminaire for floodlighting surfaces and stages.

"They work perfect for this application," he continues. "Sometimes I find myself having to dim them because they throw light all over our projection screen from the downstage edge!"

Lighting supply for the tour is from Upstaging, whom Cooper has praise for. "The guys at Upstaging always take great care of me," he says, "and they have been very helpful on the last minute adoption of the MAC III into the rig. When the lights arrived, Tony Thompson took the time to update the software and address all the new lights - along with helping out with the prep of the rig."

Cooper concludes, "I loved the 2K series before but Martin has hit it out of the park with the MAC III. I think it is going to be a monster in the industry and I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of the beginnings of a new light that the industry will use for the next decade or more."

Staind is touring the US through the fall then playing dates in the UK and Europe in early 2009.

Lighting Designer/Programmer: Michael Cooper
Lighting Supplier: Upstaging
Crew Chief: Ed Duda

8 x Martin MAC III Profile™
24 x Martin MAC 2000 Wash XB™
10 x Martin MAC 700 Profile™
4 x Martin MAC 700 Wash
8 x Martin Stagebar 54™
16 x Martin Atomic 3000™
16 x Martin Atomic Colors™