USA - Reggae band Stick Figure recently wrapped their Sacred Sands Summer Tour with a lighting system provided by Bandit Lites. Led by Scott Woodruff, Stick Figure is known for their blend of reggae and dub, weaving together infectious rhythms and melodic hooks with mellow vibes and positivity.
Lighting designer Nesta Garrick chose fixtures that would provide a range of effects, utilising Chauvet Color Strike M, Elation Proteus Maximus IP 65, Elation Smarty Hybrids, GLP X5, ACME Gemini and Robe MegaPointes.
“Everything served its purpose,” said Garrick. “We have a long set with a bunch of different songs, and these fixtures were selected to give us multiple choices and looks without being repetitive throughout the show.
“The MegaPointes were able to give good effects coming off with their beams, but at the same time they’re great to utilise as a spot fixture. The X5s were amazing; I was very shocked by how bright they were compared to other wash fixtures. They did a great job with balancing the brightness coming straight from the video wall as well. It gave a good colourful look within the stage.”
“One of my favourite things about what we do is meeting the production rock stars of our industry,” said Bandit Lites client representative Ty Veneziano. “Nesta is a rockstar in my book and was a pleasure to work with. I’m glad Stick Figure’s production manager Eran Ben Zur was able to network us, as it opened another door that may open many more.”
Garrick initially worked with Stick Figure three years ago and drew upon the fans and their experiences to build out the lighting design, noting that it is more than the traditional reggae red, green and gold.
“There’s spaceships, mushrooms and forests with a chill vibe,” he said. “The design of the stage was to create an intergalactic look, with a spaceship design where we are going on a journey with the music. The circular truss in the middle would be used to represent travelling to a different time, galaxy or planet.”
“Bandit came in strong with their GT Tyler Circle truss; we were able to have lights around the edge, we had lights inside of it, and we were able to hang another circle underneath it so that we could have other trusses in there,” Garrick continues. “It was perfect. It was easy to break apart and store together. That was such a big challenge I knew we would’ve come across with other shops, and Bandit came in and did its thing.”
Edge Lights offered a quick and easy setup with a huge impact: outlining the truss and deck brought the system to life, but it was the ACME Gemini fixture that stood out the most to Garrick due to their infinity pan and tilt, a feature he only deployed twice during the show to lean into the EDM look without appearing too “gimmicky”.
“I love the output stack I got from them when using the Gemini’s pixel zoom and going pretty tight and wide,” he said. “It was also great as a back light towards the band and on the circle, it gave that spaceship look that was intended for.”
“It wasn’t a complicated system as such, but some of the venues on their itinerary posed some head scratching to get as much of the full system in as we could in a safe and timely manner,” said Bandit Lites vice-president of production Dizzy Gosnell. “The 10ft OD GT circle on its own stuffed with lamps on all faces came in at over a tonne. As that was a key part of Nesta’s design, it warranted getting the abacus out to see how we could make it work.
“I really enjoyed seeing posts online after crew chief Andy Ellis and the two Zachs (Zach McQueen and Zach Schwartz) had loaded the system in. Being able to help Nesta, production manager Eran Ben Zur and Andy and the crew with a custom plot and plan for each show, meant time at load in was not wasted by trying to figure things out.”
