LD Matt Arthur had been impressed by the Jands Vista's capabilities after seeing it used for last year's Keane arena tour, so decided to try it out for himself on the Mark Ronson tour. Production meetings led to the idea of re-creating a 60s style TV show set, so the band were placed on a series of risers in a V shape, ranging in height from 0.6m to 1.5m. To give the lighting a suitably retro feel, Matt's design incorporated some 5K Fresnels retro fitted with LED fixtures inside. The set also featured all red drapes, legs and swagged borders to give it an 'old school' feel.
The tour lighting rig was supplied by Lite Alternative and included Martin MAC700 spots split over three trusses, TW1s on the front truss and MAC250 washes on the floor, with the retro fitted 5K Fresnels on the back truss. The rig also included five 1.5m wide by 4.5m deep Mi-Trix panels upstage, arranged in a 60s theatre style fan shape and sub-hung off the back truss using 250kg Lodestars. All riser fronts were also covered in Mi-Trix panels. Video elements and content were handled by Stevie Marr, with all equipment supplied by XL Video.
Summarising his overall experience using the Vista, Matt commented: "The Vista is very powerful and its potential is huge. I particularly liked the easy way to swap fixtures in and out with the generic fixture model...a breeze. The second day was local lights with my desk and specials, and the feature worked very smoothly. The fact you can bring fixtures in and out and have very minimal re-programming to do is a godsend. I also liked the console's programmer window, as it gives you a really good idea of where everything is and what it's doing. I will definitely be considering the Vista for other tours."
A.C. Lighting is the exclusive North American, European and Middle East distributor for the Jands Vista range and an authorised WYSIWYG trainer and supplier.
(Claire Beeson)
