They are currently near the end of the UK leg of Just Doin' It tour, playing to a mixture of theatres and arenas, which will then continue in July 2007.
Pat Marks, who has been lighting designer to Status Quo for the last 18 years says: "I'm usually given 'carte blanche' when designing Quo rigs, so I'm never given a brief, as such. However, I fancied going 'retro' this tour as I'd been dabbling with some high tech stuff over the last few years. I'd played around with loads of PixelLine and Pixel Pars last year and felt I was losing sight of the archetypal Quo rig i.e. big and brash!"
Marks chose the chrome Pars deliberately to gain the 'retro' feel and chose the MAC 700s, "for the incredible amount of light that they chuck out!"
All the lighting was supplied by Nordic, a sound, light and trucking company that operate out of Jutland, Denmark. The fixtures used were Par 64 chromes, Source 4 profile spots, 4 lite DWE linear, MAC 700 Profiles, and MAC 700 Washes, all controlled by a Grand MA.
Marks comments on the design of the rig, saying: "I've spread twenty MAC 700 spots around the rig to give me all those stunning effects that only a modern moving head can provide."
Marks used the MAC 700 Profiles and Washes in Europe over the summer of 2006 for the first time. He says, "The MAC 700s are the perfect combination of the intensity and beam qualities of the MAC 2000s, but are so much smaller and faster. Their size and weight means I can tuck them away into gaps that a MAC 2000 would never fit, and space and weight is at a premium on this PAR can heavy rig."
Marks has been using MAC 500s for several years. He explains that is it mainly due to them being so readily available anywhere around the world and the fact that they are very reliable. He says that he never has a problem securing Martin products locally which is important for the tight schedules of a Status Quo tour.
(Chris Henry)
