The Rolling Stones have wrapped the U.S. leg of
their “50 & Counting” world tour with grandMA2 consoles along for the
still-wild ride. The Stones sell-out 50th anniversary tour is their first in
six years. They opened the U.S. leg in LA and concluded their 18 dates in
Washington, D.C. The legendary band performed on a stage set featuring a giant
set of psychedelic lips and a tongue-shaped walkway that riffed on their iconic
logo. Patrick Woodroffe was the lighting designer and Ethan Weber the
co-lighting director.
Weber
and programmer/co-lighting director Dave Hill manned two grandMA2 full-size
consoles, networked together, for the tour. “We love them“, says Weber. “I
handled the key lighting on one console and Dave ran the bulk of the system off
the other.” Both men are veteran Stones lighting directors with Hill having programmed
every tour since Steel Wheels. And both are veteran MA users.
“We
both spent a few years on the grandMA,” Weber says. “I switched over to the
grandMA2 last year for Green Day, and found it a very fluid changeover. The
grandMA2 has a good feel and look to it. I very much like the way it programs
and operates—the bigger screens make for quicker access, the effects engine is
much improved, more functional macros, etc. And I’m very appreciative that the
command syntax is close to that of the grandMA ‘series 1’. It seems like it can
be hit or miss with updated/re-designed consoles, but think MA got it right
with the grandMA2.”
Upstaging
supplied the lighting equipment. A.C.T Lighting is the exclusive distributor of
Clay Paky and MA Lighting products in North America.
Photos:
© Todd Kaplan
