Apocalyptica now: grandMA tours with the Finnish artists around the globe

Thursday, December 20, 2007 || MA Lighting

What started with four cellists playing Metallica songs has become one of Finnlands most successful bands - Apocalyptica. The musicians thrill their audiences everywhere they perform with their exceptionally powerful songs - mostly their own material spiced with additional guest artists. Right now Apocalyptica are on their Worlds Collide World Tour. Lighting designer Mikki Kunttu created a show to remember, using an grandMA full-size and one MA NSP for controlling the lighting.

The grandMA was really the only choice, said Kunttu, We actually tried another console but life got seriously difficult. It is the intelligent and advanced programming that you find on a grandMA that makes this show rock as hard as it does. The grandMA offers possibilities that no other console on the market can deliver. Another important factor is of course its reliability. Pekka Martti, programmer and operator of the show, needs to be safe when he is on the road. Both, in terms of the hardware and software, are rock solid as well as the unbeatable support network of MA Lighting.

The set design, which was also done by Kunttu, consists of a rather small rig. The visuals are based on three basic elements: High End Showguns, Martin Atomic Strobes, a few moving lights and conventionals and of course the set, said Kunttu, This is a rock show that makes a statement. Its beams, strong looks and timings are just out of this world. Pekka Martti is by far the most amazing performer Ive ever witnessed behind a lighting console. The strobes are a lot about timing, they are working a great deal with the drumfills and accents as well as the shutters and dimmers of the moving lights too. Kunttu continued: The set has a backdrop which is my way of taking whats on the album cover and making it more rough, more rock and just more Apocalyptica in my opinion. Then there are the chairs of the band which are a symbiosis of a cello and a skull. And then there is of course the burning cello...

Eastway provided the lighting equipment for the rehearsals in Helsinki, Black Box has delivered the material for the tour.