Touring Europe and North America in support of their new album, Viva La Vida, the show uses no LED screens or crowd imag at the band's request. Lighting, set, and production designer Paul Normandale makes sure of that, opting for visual impact from video projection and Martin MAC 2000 Wash XBs, MAC 700 Profiles, MAC 250 Washes and Atomic 3000 strobes.
"Coldplay are a high impact band that require dynamic looks with lots of cues," Normandale comments. "The MAC 2000 Wash XB is used primarily as a rear wash light and is so bright it means I can use less than I would with other fixtures. Plus we trim at 48ft so I needed a wash that would reach with cover to spare."
The MAC 2000 Wash XB is a new 1500W Fresnel that takes the proven optical and effect qualities of Martin's MAC 2000 Wash and adds "even greater brightness (over 60,000 lumens of power), new efficient fans, ballast, starter and more".
Specific features of the XB that Normandale likes include its "sheer punch. They are very, very bright and compact," he says. "And reliability has been really good."
Coldplay opened their 2008 tour mid-summer in North America and hit Europe starting in September. This fall sees them back in North America before a string of shows in the UK in December. Lighting vendor in Europe is Lite Alternative with Upstaging handling the US leg. Video vendor is XL Video.
(Jim Evans)
