“Reliable, powerful and highly capable.” The MAC’s take on the WWF.

Love it or loathe it, the WWF roadshow has taken the youth of the UK by storm, and it currently attracts a larger TV sports audience than live Premiership football featuring Manchester United.

Like the participants themselves, WWF is really big. So when Sky TV hosted a one-off pay TV WWF extravaganza at London¹s Earls Court, demand was bound to be high. Naturally the WWF Insurrextion show was a sell out, grossing an estimated £2m for the single UK event. And with 20,000 WWF fans queuing around the venue from 3:00pm in the afternoon, the stage set had to match the show.

When performing in its native USA, live WWF shows all employ lightshows designed and supplied by leading rental company Bandit Lites, so it was natural that for the London show, Bandit Lites UK operation based in Bedfordshire was called to provide the lighting score.

For the show Bandit Lites exclusively employed Martin Professional MAC moving heads for all elements of the performance. Jason Tang, MD of Bandit Lites UK explains the choice, “In the US we extensively employ Martin MAC heads for all our events, so having found the units to be so satisfactory, it was logical we continued this arrangement with Martin UK. The MACs are fundamentally good units, reliable, powerful and highly capable... all you need for this sort of demanding live show.”

Martin MAC 250, 300, 500 and 600 heads were hung on the massive trusses above the canvas and on the stage where the contestants entered the arena. A total of 10 MAC 250, 6 MAC 300, 36 MAC 600 and 7 MAC 500 units made up the lighting, with the only other effects needed to support the Martin lighting being parcans. The resulting event was electric, with the Martin effects creating so much of the drama and theatre that makes the WWF show so irresistible.

For further information contact Martin Professional Plc Martin House, Boxmend Industrial Estate, Bircholt Road, Parkwood, Maidstone, Kent. ME15 9YG Tel: +44 1622 755442 Fax: +44 1622 755447