Pitbull Meets Viper on “Global Warming” Tour

Production and Lighting Designer Justin Geiger of Impulse Creative Group (www.impulsecreativegroup.com) has been handling the visual look on American rap star Pitbull’s live shows for nearly two years. For the rapper’s current “Global Warming” tour, he has turned to Martin Professional’s MAC Viper family of moving heads.

Geiger is one of the first LDs in the U.S. to use MAC Viper Quadray, Viper AirFX and Viper Profiles on the same show. “From the time we received the fixtures until they were up in the rig was literally only minutes,” Geiger says. “The Vipers look fantastic and work really well on this high-energy club show. I use other lights on tour and it's honestly such a relief to have Vipers because of the amazing gobos and optics. They’re some of the best I’ve seen.”

Geiger became familiar with the new family of luminaires through production house Complete Production Resources (www.completeproductionresources.com) of Orlando, who acquired the MAC Viper fixtures just prior to the tour.

Complete Production Resources (CPR) owner Kelly Greene explains why they went with Martin. “The Martin name was a big part of the decision-making process for the purchase,” he says. “We wanted an industry-standard lighting product to end up in our inventory. We have had great success with Martin in the past and are looking forward to the same with our new Viper products.”

Geiger was also the very first in the U.S to use the new MAC Viper Quadray, Martin’s new multi-beam moving head that allows for projection of up to four individually-controllable rays of light.

“Whenever we need something over the top, we turn to the Quadray’s unique multiple beams and fantastic gobos,” he states. “And then we can always use it as a wash when not using the Quadray effect.”

The MAC Viper Quadray is a new effect with the ability to individually maneuver and manipulate up to four beams from a single luminaire. It is available as an easy-to-install front lens replacement kit for any standard MAC Viper AirFX.

Geiger uses the Quadrays to “open up the stage” and likes the luminaire’s fat white beam and preprogrammed effects, which he uses at variable speeds. He has them placed on the floor, risers, wing trusses and on the main upstage truss.

“For its size and output these fixtures cannot be beat” Director of Lighting Production Lucas Peterson states, “and while on tour, we experienced very little maintenance over a six week run. It was a bit intimidating being the first company out with the Viper AirFX and Quadrays, but our fear quickly diminished after multiple shows with no issues. Jim Fuller and the Martin Professional team are outstanding!”

Video Director for the tour is Nate Selvidio of Impulse Creative Group.

The “Global Warming” tour started on May 23rd in Boston and tours through the rest of the year.

Martin Equipment:
48 x MAC Viper Profile™
16 x MAC Viper Quadray™
12 x MAC Viper AirFX™
24 x Atomic 3000™
24 x Atomic Colors™
Jem ZR44 Hi-Mass™