GLP report increasing demand this summer and fall for GLP’s mighty MAD MAXX skytracker, billed as the world’s first super-fat LED beam and designed to emulate the legacy 3kW and 7kW xenon searchlights of yesteryear.
With a massive 750mm beam diameter, promoters, production designers and creatives generally have been incorporating the MAD MAXX into stage sets and scenography to provide an additional wow factor. The fixture utilises 19 individually controllable 90W white LEDs, generating a total output of up to 68,000 lumens. Those pixels can be controlled individually or grouped into three segments (centre, inner ring and outer ring) for dynamic effects and pixel mapping.
Based in Newburyport, MA, Gateway Productions were one of the first adopters, investing in 10 MAD MAXXes after previewing them first in a GLP video, and then in the flesh at InfoComm, an experience which was the deal maker.
Owner, Alex Sommerfeld, a long-standing GLP customer, admits that he fell in love with the MAD MAXX. “We are a small company, a regional shop, and when I go to trade shows or am out in the field, I want to bring something to the table that is completely different. I’m not looking for the same meat and potato product that happens to be a bit brighter. I want to encourage lighting designers to use regional shops more and show a bit of foresight. MAD MAXX is next generation in size and will enable me to drive that market and hopefully offer touring clients some sprinkles on their ice cream!”
Fixtures quickly went out on T-Pain’s TP20 tour, celebrating the 20th anniversary of his debut album, Rappa Ternt Sanga. The LD present was Noah ‘Nappy Boy’ Lucas. “I first saw [the fixtures] last year on Instagram and was very intrigued with the unique possibilities they have for eye candy as well as fat beams,” Lucas states. “I was looking for a fat beam, especially for our amphitheatre shows and Red Rocks. I wanted the light to go as far as the lasers would.”
The MAD MAXX first went out with Lucas at a Radio City Music Hall Show in September. “We used six inside an upstage line behind four cars to get huge searchlight and beam impact for the show. They really stood out. All the local crew were amazed at the fixtures and couldn’t stop talking about them, especially when I asked them to remove them from the cases,” he laughed. “For touring purposes, we used two on the downstage edges. We actually built custom scenic to go around the case bases, so we didn’t have to lift the fixtures out every day.”
Lucas’ verdict was unequivocal. “They exceeded my expectations. And for their size, I was surprised at just how fast they move. They were very easy to program, and I used them in the full extended mode. I had moments where I wrote out the name of songs on them. I also made them look like casino dice for our Got Money song. In fact, I loved the different effects we could get out of them. I will for sure be specifying these fixtures for our future tours,” promised Lucas.
Chris Ruppel and Michael Smalley (of PHNTM Productions) are further creatives who deployed the MAD MAXX recently on the Zodiac (second stage) at the Valley of the Seven Stars Festival in Arrington, VA, highlighting a diverse line-up of artists. “We first saw the MAD MAXX in person at a GLP roadshow after we had already spec’d them for this project,” said Ruppel. The fixtures were sub-hired from Volt Lites by Christie Lites, PHNTM’s primary vendor. We chose the MAD MAXX predominantly because of the size and shape language of the face of the fixture, which matched to the language we established in some of the scenic elements for the stage,” added Michael Smalley.
The scale of the fixture also played well with the approach they took to scale with the stage as a whole. “Ultimately, it acted as a beacon of sorts to call attendees to the stage, but the original emphasis was on the size and shape of the lens faces,” he added.
A pair were mounted atop 25 foot-high towers on the far stage left and stage right, just behind the PA, and they were programmed in mode 3 multi beam (170 DMX channels). This deployment was a total success. “They definitely achieved the desired mirroring of shape language and the desire for a giant fixture to match our creative approach to the scenic design,” Ruppel summarised. “We got unlucky with the weather on day three, but one happy surprise was that they looked incredible in the air, bouncing off the rain drops and illuminating the low cloud cover.”
Aside from Ruppel and Smalley, the production team included Elliott Little (technical director), William Kessler (production manager) and Chris Olivieri (stage manager). Another prominent LD, Marcus Jessup, also used a pair of Gateway Productions’ MAD MAXXes on Playboi Carti’s Antagonist 2.0 tour in support of his album Music (2025). Next year he will increase the quantity considerably when he accompanies Bad Bunny on a world tour. Other major MAD MAXX deployments from Gateway include Falling In Reverse, plus Ice Cube’s Truth To Power 40th anniversary tour.
