Jeff Lynne’s ELO has received the help of an MA Lighting grandMA2 console, with Matt Pitman the man operating it all.
Chosen by the show’s designer, Tim Routledge, to run the lighting and elements of the video display, Pitman began by explaining how he came to be there. “My thing when I first started in lighting was this: I didn’t have the money to buy WYSWYG or a grandMA2 back then but the point is, if you want to one day do the best jobs in the world, and work on the biggest tours, then you need to start with the best.
“The premise is that once you get to certain level – once you have spent the time training and then programming and operating – eventually you reach the point where people you don’t even know, but know you by reputation, will call you up and give you work.”
Pitman is already preparing for his next tour, where he is Designer designate.
“I’m writing the show for this summer’s outing by the Chemical Brothers at the moment,’ he said. “I want to take a bunch of MA VPUs with me this time. We will have a back LED screen, and some form of flat faced moving LED wash light in front of it; over a hundred of them.”
Jeff Lynne’s ELO will play a string of dates in the US next month, beginning with a show at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl on Friday 9 September.