FitzGerald has used Ayrton fixtures on several shows for Mars, including New Year shows at The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas and NBC's Saturday Night Live. FitzGerald's lighting for Mars' one-off Rock in Rio set, however, was an evolution of his designs for the singer's previous shows. "I wanted to create a similar visual vibe to the SNL show but was looking for something very specific that would bring an almost retro look to the show. Our reference points were the old PAR can rigs of those classic rock bands like Queen and AC/DC so we were searching for a fixture that would look good in a large array and create a visual reminiscent of those original touring looks.
"I saw Ayrton's MagicDot-R in the video from Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt alongside a raft of their other new products and it was exactly what we were looking for. It has a unique look about it with a quality of light and a beam-look that is very reminiscent of an old ACL-style fixture."
FitzGerald used all 184 MagicDot-R fixtures in the air above the band, rigged on four staggered trusses mounted on variable speed motors.
FitzGerald is also a long-time user of Ayrton's IntelliPix-R panels which he instituted to great effect on the SNL show. One hundred and twenty-eight IntelliPix-R panels were incorporated into the Rock in Rio design where FitzGerald used them as wrap-around fascias on the stepped risers behind the band.
The MagicDot-R and IntelliPix-R proved their durability. "Being solid state fixtures they are very robust and we were very happy with them," concludes FitzGerald. "I am now looking forward to trying out some of the sister products that Ayrton also released at Prolight."
(Jim Evans)
