MartinKames.com

POV: You almost missed your pyro cue 💀🔥 - Obviously this is just a joke and we have a lot of respect for what we do on stage! Safety on shows like this is taken extremely seriously and we would never actually work like this during a live production. - This was filmed on May 7th at Schlachthof Wiesbaden during Machine Head’s current Europe tour while the band played Outsider. - A lot of people don’t realize how much preparation goes into making flames safe on a concert stage. Every effect is carefully planned months in advance with detailed pre production, permissions and venue approvals. Safety distances are measured extremely accurately and there are multiple trained crew members positioned around the stage specifically to monitor the flames and make sure nobody gets close and nothing catches fire. - We also travel with 6 CO2 fire extinguishers plus an additional high level extinguisher specifically for roof areas and overhead structures. - No shortcuts. No guessing. Safety always comes first. 🔥 - Very special thanks to @jernwatson for once again providing the scream of death at the beginning of this reel. Also many thanks to @noiseeater for waking me up in this video. 😂 - #machinehead #pyro #martinkames #flamethrower #robbflynn

Paris was amazing… but we want more! 🔥🇫🇷 Olympia went OFF… but we had one problem: We wanted to go bigger… ...and then… yeah… it got slightly out of hand. 😂 (wait for the Eiffel Tower at the end 💀🔥) On the road with @galaxisshowtechnik G-Flames & @magicfx.global Flameblazers… absolute rock solid service all tour long. No errors, no stress. Safety first, always. #machinehead #pyro #magicfx #galaxis #martinkames

Every mistake = fire 🔥 This is the secret Pyro-Practice-Pad technique to keep @machine_head ’s drummer, @matt.alston , on his toes. Mess up a note while practicing… fire goes off. (We’re obviously kidding — don’t try this at home.) My name is @martinkames , and I’ve been working with Machine Head since 2010 — handling lights, video, and of course special FX & pyro. Huge thanks to @vaterdrumsticks for providing such flameproof, durable practice pads. 😂 And to our man @jernwatson for the scream of death — we actually had to re-record it because Matt didn’t even flinch anymore. #machinehead #drums #pyro #martinkames

Haced headbang, cabrones! 🤘 ("Headbang MotherXXXers!" in spanish.) Sold out night at Sala Riviera in Madrid. Packed room, insane energy from the crowd. We’re currently on tour with Machine Head across Europe and me and my company is taking care of lights, video, pyro and special FX. Last time we were in Spain was @resurrectionfest , and honestly it’s always a good time coming back here. The crowd just hits different every time. Big thanks to @grigulewitsch and @jernwatson for capturing these shots. Always great to have moments like this documented. #machinehead #salariviera #martinkames #heavymetal

Machine Head - Catharsis LIVE in Munich 🤘 Not gonna lie, this one had its own kind of chaos. Sold out Tonhalle München and absolutely packed. Stage was tighter than usual which meant one thing… unreal heat. Every time I fired flames it got intense up there. 🔥🔥 At one point Robb Flynn looked over to me and my pyro-desk and made it very clear… I had to fix this. So mid show I jumped into the system and reprogrammed the two flame units right in front of him. Disabled them when he was up close and singing. Brought them back the second he stepped away. Problem solved on the fly. Btw - 'Catharsis' is my favourite Machine Head track... And I really love this LED-wall video I made for this song. In my opinion, especially if you don't have just one big screen but multiple led elements on stage, it really starts to stand out and become a full experience. Still one of those nights where everything feels like it’s on fire… in the best way 🔥🌍 Special thanks to @akasharojee for taking photos of this night. Can't wait to share them with you! #machinehead #robbflynn #martinkames #livemusic

Machine Head in Berlin - This room has stories 🖤 Not gonna lie, this one felt special in a different way. Not just because it was an amazing show with a great crowd, but because of the history in that room. You can feel it when you walk in, even before doors open. For this show, my company @martinkamescom handled the full production. Lights, video, design, and special effects, and a huge thank you to @wirkung.live for the incredible support on this tour. Many thanks to @areaone.de for handling our shows so smoothly and professionally. Building the whole experience from the ground up always hits different in rooms like this. Heavy Metal fact of the day: Last time @machine_head played the @columbiahalle.berlin in Berlin, James Hetfield stood on the balcony and watched the whole show. Seeing one of our biggest heroes of all time enjoying the show with us was unreal. Interesting fact: Right next to the venue is the @flughafentempelhof_thf which opened in the 1920s, one of the first major airports in the world. It played a huge role during the Berlin Airlift after World War II. Closed in 2008, and now it’s this massive open field where people skate, fly kites, and hang out on what used to be runways. I took some time on the showday to actually walk around the whole area and it was a great experience to see so much free space in the middle of a huge city like Berlin. The Columbiahalle itself has seen pretty much everyone pass through. Not just metal but also superstars like Rihanna or Lady Gaga, and many more shared this stage. Playing rooms like this is never just another show. You’re stepping into a timeline. I want to bring more real road stories into these posts. The stuff you don’t see in a 30 second clip. What would actually interest you? Gear failures? Last minute chaos before doors? Tour bus life? How pyro decisions get made? Moments that almost went wrong, but didn’t? Tell me what kind of behind the scenes stories you actually want to hear. Not just “more content”, but the specific stuff you’re curious about. I’ll start sharing more of that. #machinehead #columbiahalle #robbflynn #martinkames #lightdesign

This moment almost broke the crowd 🔥 Short clip from Machine Head live in Zwickau - Germany! You see Robb Flynn calling the entire crowd to get up, the tension keeps building, you can feel what is coming, and then everything hits at once. Band is blasting, lights & videos slamming and the whole place erupts into pure chaos when the flames hit! These are the moments where every department locks in and everything becomes one. For this show we delivered the full production. Audio, lighting design, video design and SFX all working together to create that impact. This is not just a show, it is more than three decades of metal history. Machine Head was founded in 1991, and you can feel every bit of that legacy in moments like this. Proud to be part of the Machine Head camp since 2010 and still pushing every show to the next level. This is not just a concert, this is a full sensory experience. #machinehead #martinkames #liveproduction #pyro

HOW TO BUILD A MACHINE HEAD SHOW 🔥 Five steps. One goal: absolute chaos. Every single day on tour this starts from zero. Trucks roll in early. Cases hit the floor. Crew spreads out like a machine. Audio, lights, video, SFX – every department locking in, piece by piece. We rotate towers, fly rig, build massive LED walls, wire up everything, test, fix, adjust… and then we add the fun part: pyro and special FX. Hours of work for one moment. Because when the lights go down and the first note hits, everything has to be perfect. And when it all comes together… that energy is unreal. This doesn’t happen without an insane crew grinding all day long. And it doesn’t mean anything without every single one of you showing up and bringing the energy right back at us. See you out there. Visit us on the upcoming Europe tour-dates below ⬇️ Apr 17 – Zwickau – Stadthalle Apr 18 – Berlin – Columbiahalle Apr 19 – Vienna – Gasometer Apr 20 – Munich – Zenith Apr 22 – Milan – Alcatraz Apr 23 – Marseille – Le Moulin Apr 24 – Toulouse – Bikini Apr 25 – Pamplona – Navarra Arena Apr 27 – Madrid – La Riviera Apr 29 – Málaga – Paris 15 Apr 30 – Barcelona – Razzmatazz May 02 – Paris – Élysée Montmartre May 03 – Strasbourg – La Laiterie May 04 – Saarbrücken – Garage May 06 – Ludwigsburg – MHP Arena May 07 – Wiesbaden – Schlachthof May 08 – Cologne – Palladium May 09 – Fribourg – Fri-Son May 14 – Glasgow – Barrowland Ballroom May 15 – Manchester – Academy May 16 – Wolverhampton – Civic Hall May 17 – London – Roundhouse #machinehead #tourlife #martinkames #stagedesign #pyro

First Machine Head full production show of the tour and it hit HARD. 🔥🔥🔥 Short clip from the front of the stage capturing the chaos the energy and the power of Machine Head. My company provided audio, video, lights and SFX for this run together with my good friends feom @wirkung.live and seeing it all come together like this is just unreal. Super proud to be part of the Machine Head camp since 2010 and still pushing limits together every tour. Huge love to the whole crew and band for trusting us to help build this monster every night. #machinehead #tourlife #pyro #martinkames

Kürzlich war unser jüngster Kunde Fredy zu Besuch, um die neuen Flamebar-Aufsätze in Herz-Form für die G-Flame zu testen. Zugegeben, Papa Martin durfte auch mit. 😄 Die Flamebar-Aufsätze können mit wenigen Handgriffen an der G-Flame fixiert werden. Die Gasversorgung erfolgte in diesem Fall über unsere neuen Kartuschen-Reservoirs, in denen bis zu 4 Gaskartuschen untergebracht werden können. Die Entnahme erfolgt hierbei (anders als normalerweise) in Gas-Phase, statt in Flüssig-Phase. Hierdurch sind deutlich längere Brenndauern möglich. #martinkames #gflame #galaxisshowtechnik #galaxisfiringsystem #burningheart #feuerherz #sfxengineering #firefx

Biggest Avatar show in Europe. Fire in Paris. 🔥 Last night in Paris was something special. Avatar played their biggest European headline show ever at the Zénith and I had the honor of being part of the pyro crew for it. Huge stage, huge production, and a crowd that brought unbelievable energy from the first second to the last. Moments like this are exactly why I love what I do. Seeing months of preparation come together in one explosive show is always something special. I’m incredibly proud to have contributed to this production and to help bring the fire to a night like that. 🔥 Thank you to @avatarmetal @john_avatar @timavatar @johannes_avatar @kungen_avatar @henrik_avatar and especially @photosbyolausson and the whole team for having me on this show. It means a lot to be trusted with moments like this. Paris, that was massive. #avatar #paris #zenith #martinkames #pyro

Today I had the honor to provide a huge pyroshow for the mighty @avatarmetal at my headquarters in Vienna. It was a huge pleasure and a lot of fun with one of the friendliest bands I've ever met! Thank you very much for having me @photosbyolausson and @john_avatar 🔥💪