Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour
Madonna relies on PRG’s Mbox EXtreme media server for quick changes.
The Challenge: Provide state-of-the art equipment and support for a rock icon’s complex world tour.
The Solution: Lighting and production designer Roy Bennett and video director Christian Lamb had been involved in several Madonna projects over the years, so it was no surprise when they were tapped to handle her complicated Sticky & Sweet world tour. “Madonna is very specific about what she wants and we work up till the last possible minute making changes and getting things just right,” says Lamb.
Lamb knew the video requirements would be demanding and he wanted a media server that was responsive and reliable. PRG provided him with the Mbox EXtreme® v3 media server. The Mbox performed flawlessly when Lamb first used it EXtreme to run 720p QuickTime movies for the three promotional shows in NYC, London and Paris. So he decided to use it for the tour, settling one using one 1080p movie for each song. One source drove all the stage screens simultaneously. Within a 1080 raster Lamb was able to manipulate and control all the LED devices. This meant that Lamb created one digital deliverable for each track—movies that could be laid in, tested and replaced without the downtime of digitizing and/or rendering. PRG supported Lamb by writing new software to make the Mbox more robust when higher resolution content was used. Said Lamb, “PRG has always been supportive through the years on various projects I’ve done. I trust them on a project of this scale.”
PRG provided the entire lighting system—all the truss, rigging and lighting fixtures including numerous Vari-Lite and Martin units. They also supplied followspots, strobes, hazers, fans and four MA Lighting grandMA consoles for control. The tour used an extensive PRG Series 400® Power and Data Distribution System, which made life easier for the fast turnarounds needed to handle the packed tour schedule.