Maxxyz Controls Tonight Show Summer Concert Stage

For a new lighting console, Martin’s new Maxxyz had a busy summer including service on one of America’s most popular late night talk shows, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
 
The late night variety show features celebrity guests, comedy segments and nightly musical guests who, during the summer months, perform outdoors on the show’s summer concert stage. NBC Studios and The Tonight Show employed the Martin Maxxyz to control lighting on this stage.

Jeff Lloyd
Tonight Show lighting board operator/programmer Jeff Lloyd programmed and operated the console for the summer stage performances with assistance from indoor studio operator Gary Hoffman.
 
“There were performances on the outdoor stage once a week, every Friday, from June through August for a total of twelve shows,” Jeff stated. “I would often get the song on Friday morning, just hours before the show, and would then have to program the lighting by showtime. The Maxxyz proved to be a great console for programming on a tight schedule and on the fly. I often went outside the cuelist and the override feature is so accessible it made that easy to do.”

Jeff also makes serious use of the Maxxyz’s powerful effects generator and integrated 3D Visualizer, giving him the chance to create cues beforehand and tweak them when the stage is finally running.
 
Easy transition from other boards
Along with many other top lighting programmers and operators from around the U.S., and indeed the world, Jeff was given the opportunity to provide input in the early development phases of the board. He reasons that that is why the board is so user friendly. “The whole board is very thought out. The programming interface really makes sense, and even if you don’t know the board, it is easy to figure out because it is so logical. And that makes it easy to transition from other boards.”
 
Maxxyz controls Martin rig
A single Maxxyz console controls a 100% moving head rig made up of 16 MAC 2000 Wash, 6 MAC 2000 Profile and 2 Martin MAC 2000 Performance.

Motorized faders and touchscreens are other features Jeff found exceptional. “Layout of the board is excellent and the touchscreens are really bright. Although I use it during the daytime, there is no problem in seeing the screen. The colors are excellent, much better than a monochrome screen and the screen is also very accurate. I don’t use a special pointer or anything, I just use my finger and it works perfectly.”

Jeff is particularly proud of the effort that The Tonight Show makes lighting the show each evening, “particularly compared to other daily TV shows which often rely on the same looks each day,” he states. Inside Studio 3 where the main show takes place, and which also features a full Martin lighting rig, there is a different set each night and much effort is made to create different looks for each show. The same was true for the outdoor summer concert series.

Ether2DMX box
The Tonight Show summer concerts were the first in the US to run on Martin’s new Ether2DMX box useful in extending the number of DMX universes of the Maxxyz or for having DMX inputs placed remotely, among other features.

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is from Big Dog Productions in association with NBC Studios. Originally debuting in 1954, The Tonight Show is America’s longest running network entertainment program and an indelible part of American TV folklore.
 
Lighting Director: Gary Thorns
Lighting Programmer/Operator (inside studio): Gary Hoffman
Lighting Programmer/Operator (summer stage): Jeff Lloyd
Head Electrician: Gilbert Quintanar