For McGraw's latest show Premiere Global, which has been a vendor for the artist for the last decade, supplied two grandMA2 full-size consoles.
Everything in the show, including the video content, is triggered by the grandMA2; a backup unit is also on hand. "We had a multi-user interface for two programmers," says lighting designer Pat Brannon. "They could save to the same cue files at the same time, and that was great. The main feature is the video interface; I'm very fond of the DMX bridge that Control Freak provides. And it's great to be able to write your own fixture profile."
Brannon says he "loves the feel of the desk and using the MA NPU (Network Processing Unit). The speed and processing is unmatched by anything I've ever used." He enjoys the new layout feature of the grandMA2 series, which he finds "very useful - it eliminates the old fashioned process of grouping. Now you can lay out in the exact formation that you have in the system. You can see what your fixtures are doing live by just looking on the screen."
John Zajonc is production manager for the tour and Troy Eckerman was the programmer. Jeff Bertuch assisted on the video programming. Drew Finley is the content creator.
(Jim Evans)
