zactrack for Ghost Skeletour

	Mika, using zactrack for the first time, says, "It proved reliable and a good option to deal with the level of precision required for this show." Photo: Ryan Chang

Ghost's 2025-26 Skeletour World Tour -- the Swedish band's largest to date -- concluded last month with the final dramatic shows in the US. The tour's lighting was designed by Tobias Rylander, with Ishai Mika, of Stockholm-based Green Wall Design, serving as lighting director/operator. Precision spotlighting was central to the show, leading to the specification of zactrack PRO.

The zactrack PRO system was supplied with live and backup servers by Berlin-based tracking specialist Tracking Pro, led by the tour's global lighting and video contractor PRG.

The zactrack system, tech'd on tour by lighting crew chief Dom McClory ran in 3D mode due to the multi-level stage risers. McCloary programmed the zactrack system with all positional information, which was input, stored, and played back via Mika's grandMA3 full-size lighting console.

Nineteen Vari-Lite VL3600s were run on the zactrack system, allowing Mika and his team flexibility in choosing and focusing units. Any of the designed units could be repurposed from followspotting duties and use as part of the general lighting rig.

Seventeen zactrack Anchors were deployed around the performance space and triangulated to denote the trackable field, measuring approximately 68.8' wide by 65.6' deep.

Each mobile band member, five in total, wore two zactrack Trackers on the front and back of their stage costumes. This was for full redundancy and to ensure that full line-of-sight between zactrack Trackers and Anchors was maintained wherever they moved around the stage.

Mika, using zactrack for the first time, says, "It proved reliable and a good option to deal with the level of precision required for this show."

The positioning of the Trackers in the costumes was critical; Mika and McClory collaborated closely with Ghost's wardrobe team to choose the right locations.

All fixture parameters -- intensities, colors, iris, gobos, etc. -- were controlled from the console, with the positional information from the zactrack servers integrated into the grandMA3 and stored in the relevant lighting cues, which were then timecoded.

Mika used some such zactrack features as Height Offset, which ensures that the light will always be on the tracked person's face, and Smart Beam, which shrinks or expands the beam size as the performer moves around the stage, so it always stays proportionate.

The zactrack system was set up during production rehearsals in Production Park at Wakefield in the UK with the help of two Tracking Pro technicians: Jaro Brinkmann, and Raphael Doelle. Doelle also worked on the first two shows as a backup tech. McClory notes that once the zactrack setup is initially completed, the day-to-day calibrations are swift and straightforward.

PRG UK coordinated lighting and video for all the UK and European legs of the tour, with their US counterparts doing the same in North and South America. Lighting director/operator for the last leg was Vada Briceño, and lighting crew chief for the first two legs was Tom Bider.

You can read more about the Skeletour in the March 2026 issues of LSA.