Maxedia, MACs Drive New Cars

The Martin Maxedia continues to gain in popularity as the lighting designer’s digital media server of choice. This summer, the industry’s most user friendly media server is being used on a number of top tours and special events.

Veteran singer/songwriter Todd Rundgren has stepped in for Ric Ocasek in New Cars, a fresh incarnation of pioneering new wave American rock act, The Cars. With a new album in the works, the band hit the road playing a mix of new and old material.

That was all before guitarist Elliot Easton broke his left clavicle however (he was thrown from a bunk as the band's tour bus swerved to avoid another vehicle), forcing the band to postpone the group's “Road Rage Tour” with Blondie. Nevertheless, the group did get several shows in and a re-start of the tour is eagerly awaited.

Lighting design is by Mark Foffano who has a predominately Martin MAC rig at his disposal: 10 MAC 700 Profiles, 16 MAC 2000 Profiles, 55 MAC 2000 Wash, 21 MAC 300 washlights, and 4 Atomic strobes with Atomic Colors scrollers, as well as a smattering of conventional lights. Digital content from 6 Maxedia Digital Media Composers make for a striking visual show. Lighting control is from a Martin Maxxyz with lighting supply by Christie Lites of Toronto.

Visual set up
The lighting set up features a V-shaped truss, upstage line and side lighting with six round, artfully distributed projection screens and mid-stage ‘eye’ forming the visual focus of the set. “Production designer Michael Cotten had a rough idea of his set when they approached me to do the lighting,” Mark Foffano comments. “The screens took up most of the space. It became a lighting rig designed by utilising the space left available by Michael Cotten, thus asymmetry. After sitting back and looking at it on paper, it ended up fitting the bands style a feel. There is a lot of layers and angles of lighting with the feel of a ‘80s rock rig.”

“We have MAC 700s on the eye. Size really governed the fixtures we placed there but the 700’s have no trouble competing in output or features compared to the MAC 2K Wash. When we started running cues in rehearsals after programming the majority of the show at S.C.P. productions, E.S.P. studios we thought, ‘wow,’ those things are really punchy. They kick ass and definitely don’t get lost in the 2Ks. MAC 300s are also utilised on the eye – they give a nice shaft of light utilised altogether from upstage center. When we were looking at budgets and I needed to scatter lights down to backlight the band and separate them from all these big white projection surfaces, the MAC 300s and a few 700s did it so perfectly - size, output and features.”

Maxedia effects
Custom digital content from six Martin Maxedia Digital Media Composers, and created by Michael Cotten and Till Kruger, cover the six projection screens. During the show 10 songs of custom content fill the screens, while the remainder of the set list is filled with a stockpile of useful stock content triggered flawlessly by the Maxxyz. “I knew that we couldn’t have black screens so with the time frame given to us by the band and production, we appreciated the ability to network across all the Maxedia’s and the ability to pull up stock and custom content quickly,” Mark states. “The ability to build content on the Maxedia graphically and then easily edit it was welcomed.”

Maxedia’s versatility is shown in another way as well. Mark explains, “The good thing about Maxedia is its ability to act like a hard edge moving light. When I needed to light the screens I had the ability to do it with the Maxedia, not eating up my limited fixture count. Maxedia is used throughout the show whether it is content or just texture (gobo) and color projection.” The Maxedia servers were provided by Steve Cohen Productions.

Lighting Designer / Director: Mark Foffano
Production Manager: Tom Halpain
Programmer: Joel Young
Maxedia Programmer: Curtis Cox
Crew Chief: Darryl Magura
Moving Light Tech: Suki Dukes
System Tech: Kevin Mosdell
Dimmer Tech: Drew McElary
Lighting Vendor: Christie Lites Toronto (Martin Kelley)