Deep Purple lighting
designer Louis Ball has just given Martin Professional’s new MAC III AirFX
lighting fixture a thorough workout on the definitive rock band‘s November / December
arena outing across Europe.
A classic rock
\’n\’ roll show it is, complete with guitar and drum solos and row of on-stage
Marshall amps. Once recognized by The
Guinness Book of World Records as „the globe’s loudest band,“ Deep Purple
can still put on a powerful, energy-filled show, and that goes for the lighting
rig as well.
Deep Purple’s
latest tour may not be as ear-splittingly loud as year’s past thanks to sound
exposure limits but there are no limits on how bright or active a lighting rig
can be. And Louis takes full advantage.
„They really take
a hammering!“ he says of the 1500-watt moving head fixtures, supplied for the
tour by TDA Rental. „The show is evolving every night and the looks I can get
with the AirFX are an important part of the design. I’m quite happy with the
lamp and I love the zoom.“
TDA has delivered
the full production for Deep Purple for the last 10 years. After receiving a
shipment of MAC III AirFX fixtures on November 5th, they were able to supply
them in time for Deep Purple‘s first European show on November 8th.
Louis, who has
been with Deep Purple since 1984, wasn’t shy about putting the fixture‘s through
their paces with a trim height of 10 meters gaving ample room to see what the
fixtures could do. Twenty-four MAC III AirFX
were paired with MAC
III Profiles across an upstage, midstage and downstage truss with one AirFX on each side of
the downstage floor used as side light.
The fixture‘s
versatility as a beam, mid-air
effect or wash luminaire
was clearly evident. Louis used the full spectrum of color from the AirFX’s CMY
color mixing system and 7-slot color wheel, coupled with the fixure’s 10-47°
linear zoom, for a variety of wash and beam looks throughout the show while
filling the air with aerial effects. He also turned them upstage for gobo
projection, including custom Deep Purple gobos, onto a back curtain. As a new
element as of the November 26th Berlin show, Louis also used them to decorate a
front kabuki curtain prior to the show’s start.
„It’s nice to
have a wash light that has gobos,“ he says.“It’s different but I like it.
They’ve been no problem at all. Reliability and ease. That’s the reason I use
Martin.“
Besides the MAC
III AirFX and MAC III Profiles, 18 Martin MAC Aura wash
lights were used to illuminate four upstage columns with additional fixtures in
an upstage rig and on the floor lighting the back curtain.
Deep Purple
plans to release a new album in 2013 followed by a world tour.
Martin Equipment:
24 x MAC III AirFX™
24 x MAC III Profile™
18 x MAC Aura™
10 x Atomic
3000™
Photos: November 26, 2012; O2 Arena, Berlin
Martin Professional
Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Aarhus, Denmark,
Martin Professional is a world leader in the creation of dynamic lighting
solutions for the entertainment, architectural, and commercial sectors. Martin
also offers a range of advanced lighting controllers and media servers, as well
as a complete line of smoke machines as a complement to intelligent lighting. The
company operates
the industry’s most complete and capable distributor network with local partners in
nearly 100 countries. For more information please visit http://www.martin.com
