latest news headlines

Tomcat USA Makes a Confession

Tomcat USA has several custom made pieces on Madonna's ‘Confessions’ tour.

Leroy Bennet (who also worked on the Tim and Faith tour earlier this year) conceived a lighting design which included nine custom lighting pod frames with transport dollies. The pods are 54" wide and approximately 87" long – the size being determined by the fixtures that Bennet wanted to hang inside.

In addition to the lighting pods, Tomcat also fabricated five 3' diameter disco-balls. These disco-balls are designed to hang from a central point where they raise and lower several times during the show. 88 Seco LED fixtures are mounted inside each of these balls. In the bottom center of each ball a Vari*Lite VL500 was mounted to shine straight down.

The skin of each ball was fabricated out of 1/8" aluminum, spun on a large metal lathe to create a hemisphere. These hemispheres were then cut and mounted to the under frame of the ball. Each ball was divided into four sections so that the inside can be easily accessed for maintenance of the fixtures when needed. Because of heat concerns with 88 LED fixtures and a VL500 all in such close proximity to each other three small ventilation fans were installed to keep air moving through the center of the fixtures.

The electronics for the LED fixtures were located in the stem of each ball about 30" from the top of the ball to the bottom of the electrical enclosure box. Inside the electrical box is all the electronic equipment needed for the LED fixtures. The skin of each ball was polished to a bright finish while the stem and electrical enclosure were powder coated black.

Demand for the tickets for this tour is so high that several dates have been added. Madonna's itinerary now spans nearly 40 dates, with concerts in North America, Europe and Japan booked through to early September.

News Type:

latest news headlines

Tomcat USA Makes a Confession

22nd June 2006

HEADLINES

news archive

search stories