zactrack SMART tours with Norwegian pop legend
- 11 hours ago
- 4 min read
In 2025, Norwegian music legend Åge Aleksandersen and his long-time band Sambandet bid farewell to the stage with their final tour. Lighting designer Lars Martin Eriksen used zactrack SMART to automatically track the performers, enabling dynamic lighting effects and supporting the show's visual storytelling throughout the production.
Åge Aleksandersen is one of Norway's most celebrated artists. After more than four decades as a professional musician, the 76-year-old embarked on his final tour with his long-time band Sambandet, bringing an era to a close. For the six largest shows of the farewell tour, the production was powered by zactrack SMART. The show featured lighting design by Lars Martin Eriksen and throughout support by zactrack expert Jan Martin Svensson Vågen. Charles Ellingsen also joined the team to provide additional on-site support for the final three concerts, which marked the tour's grand finale.
zactrack SMART was supplied by SuperDiode – pre-configured and ready to use.
“I needed a system that offered 100% consistency every night.”
The tour consisted of nearly 20 festival shows over the summer months, as well as six large concerts in arena-sized venues. For lighting designer Lars Martin Eriksen, the main goal was to create a visual journey that matched the emotional weight of a farewell tour.
“I wanted a design that felt grand and timeless but also intimate enough to capture the connection between Åge and his audience,” he explains.
From a technical point of view, Lars Martin needed a solution flexible enough to meet the challenges of the different touring venues. “I needed a system that offered 100% consistency every night, regardless of the venue's physical constraints.”
He continues: “The decision to use zactrack came after a great recommendation from Jan Martin at SuperDiode. He convinced me to test zactrack for the first of our major indoor shows in Stavanger. We allocated extra time during that production for thorough testing, and I was quickly convinced by the precision and the freedom it gave me to turn any fixture in the rig into a followspot at any given moment.”
Lighting a Farewell: zactrack SMART on Tour with Åge & Sambandet
“We focused heavily on the synergy between the music and the lighting. Åge & Sambandet is a band that is very conscious of their stage presence and the importance of being visible to the fans. The lighting design had to be dynamic to keep up with the energy on stage, making sure the right people were in focus at the right time,” explains Lars Martin.
To achieve this, he relied heavily on backlighting and side lighting to create depth while using light to guide the audience's attention. With several accomplished musicians sharing the stage, zactrack SMART enabled the lighting to seamlessly shift the focus between band members, highlighting soloists and ensuring the audience's attention naturally followed the lead performer throughout each song.
To track the performers, Lars Martin used Martin MAC Ultra Performance fixtures and MAC Vipers XIPs, transforming them into automated followspots whenever needed.
A reliable Touring Workflow
The production used 11 zactrack Anchors to cover the performance area. All band members who moved freely around the stage were equipped with Trackers, while the drummer and keyboard player remained untracked due to their fixed positions. Additional Trackers were kept on hand for guest artists appearing throughout the tour.
“One of my initial concerns was whether we would be able to position the Trackers optimally on the artists for the system to work. However, it turned out that simply placing one Tracker in a back pocket and another in a front pocket was more than enough to achieve accurate tracking.”
Integration with grandMA3 proved equally straightforward. Lars Martin describes the communication between the lighting console and zactrack as “rock solid,” allowing the tracking data to be integrated seamlessly into the lighting workflow.
For the three final stadium shows, Jan Martin Svensson Vågen joined video department. The setup was expanded with additional LED screens and a dedicated IMAG producer, while the festival dates followed a typical in-and-out workflow, integrating the venue's local IMAG system whenever available.
zactrack Enables More Freedom Behind the Console
For Lars Martin, however, the biggest benefit of zactrack wasn't only the technology itself, but the freedom it created during the show: “For me, the biggest advantage is the mental ‘space’ it gives me. This is not a timecoded show – every cue and every bump is triggered manually by me. Being able to let go of the worry about whether the artists are lit correctly is a massive help.”
Asked whether he could see himself using zactrack on future productions, his answer came without hesitation: “Absolutely. Once you've experienced the flexibility and the ability to stay ‘in the zone’ as an operator without the distraction of calling spots, it's hard to go back.”
Credits
Artist: Åge Aleksandersen & Sambandet
Production Company: All Things Live Norway
Production Manager: Svein-Egil Hernes
Lighting Design: Lars Martin Eriksen
Key Light operator (Lerkendal): Knut G Estensen
System Technicians: Jakob Arne Brønstad
zactrack Experts: Jan Martin Svensson Vågen and Charles Ellingsen
Copyright photos: © Jan Martin Svensson Vågen
