Playing before their largest audience to date, the show was universally acclaimed as a huge success for the band, and was also a benchmark for lighting designer Sebastian Ekeberg, who has been with Karpe Diem for the last four years.
"This was one of the largest and most important events I've been involved in so when I designed the show it was important for me to use equipment I knew in advance," Ekeberg stated, who turned to a large Martin rig that included some 225 MAC moving heads. "I've had great experience with the MAC range in the past so they were an obvious choice for this show."
Ekeberg's design was both innovative and inspiring. His mixture of LED and HID sources coupled with LED video screens and creative LED video elements, with a dash of smoke effects, pyrotechnics and C02, was pure visual pleasure and complemented the performance to a tee.
At his disposal were a host of MAC Aura, MAC 101 and MAC 401 Dual LED fixtures along with MAC 2000 and MAC 700 series moving heads. Sebastian also turned to Martin's new MAC Viper Family in the form of the award-winning MAC Viper Profile.
"When I started planning this concert, the MAC Viper Profile was brand new on the market. I got to see a demo at the Prolight + Sound show in Frankfurt in 2012 and quickly became a fan. I was really hoping that Norwegian rental companies would also like what they saw so I could put it on the rider and lucky for me the Viper quickly became an industry standard in Norway."
Ekeberg spread Viper Profiles across six finger trusses fanned over the stage, alternating them with MAC 401s. He also lined Viper Profiles beneath upstage LED screens with more Vipers working from a side truss and floor position each side of the stage.
The MAC Viper Profile wasn't the only new Martin moving head in the rig however. "With so many Vipers and LED screens in the design, I needed an even more powerful lamp that could function as a wash and a beam," Ekeberg said.
"I had never tried the MAC III AirFX before but it impressed me a lot. Previously, where I've chosen both a beam and a powerful wash, I can now get both functions from a single luminaire. It's a powerful lamp with a lot of possibilities."
To underline the importance of the evening, the show was broadcast by Norwegian television and the show will also appear on an upcoming DVD by the band. Sebastian's mix of visual elements was pure delight on camera.
Ekeberg was very satisfied with the show as well and accolades came in droves, also from the press. "It was really fun to do this show, he says, "and great to wake up Sunday morning to fantastic reviews in Norway's biggest newspapers."
(Jim Evans)
