Lester Cobrin, Bandit's business development manager, says: "It was an honour and a privilege working on what was billed as BB King's farewell tour. I have absolute respect for the 'King of the Blues' and will never forget seeing him on stage at his final show at Wembley."
Lighting designer Mark Wheatley has worked with Moore for the last four years, and he came onboard to light both sections as BB doesn't have permanent sound or lighting engineers.
It's the first time Wheatley has worked with Bandit, describing the experience as "Absolutely excellent". The famously 'thoroughly prepped' Bandit Standard methodologies proved invaluable as the tour went straight into the first gig with no rehearsals.
"It was basically like designing two completely different shows," explained Wheatley. Gary Moore was on first, and although his set veered towards the bluesy end of his repertoire, he also wanted a rock 'n' roll lightshow with lots of energy and movement to accompany his powerful playing. Eye-catching lighting has always been central to Moore's set, and "There's a lot of light and shade to what he does," observes Wheatley.
BB King, on the other hand, was a total contrast. He wanted no visibly moving lighting, no greens, no haze and a more sedate TV mode of illumination to suit his style, and to ensure there were no visual distractions to the music. All musicians had to be lit at all times using profiles and followspots - unlike Moore, who dislikes spotlights intensely.
The first design decision Wheatley made was to have a white cyc at the rear, broken up by four black legs, giving three white columns - which would be utilised for gobo projections. He also decided on three upstage/downstage trusses rather then the conventional orientation - to give the stage more depth. These were also raked - lower at the upstage end - imbibing the stage an elegant structure and form.
There was also a front truss containing 10 Source Fours with 19 degree lenses for key lighting, and an additional four, each with 26 degree lenses, to catch the upstage positions. 10 Bars of six lamp PARs were used to create a standard four-colour wash, and four Martin MAC profiles were used exclusively for the backdrop colouration and projections. The front truss also contained some 8-lite units pointing forwards for audience participation moments.
The two offstage fingers each contained four 6-lamp bars and two bars of 4 ACLs, while the centre one had two 6-lamp bars and two bars of ACLs. All three fingers had two MAC 2K washes along them, and two Profiles, plus a single Source Four and 4-lite blinders on the front facing ends. They were toned with ChromaQ ColorBlock LED fixtures.
On the floor were four vertical truss towers, carefully concealed in between the back legs at the back. These each had a MAC 2K Profile on the top, an ACL bar and another Source Four.Also on the floor were another three MAC 2K Washes, sat on flight cases to ensure there was plenty of cross lighting and low level contrasting beams.
Wheatley ran the show using an Avolites Sapphire 2000 console - his desk of choice, primarily because there were no rehearsals and it was always going to be an improvisational show - for which Avo is an ideal tool. While Moore kept to a set list most of the time, King had none at all, so it was a question of feeling the music and the vibe each night. "It certainly kept me on my toes," says Wheatley, who really enjoyed the challenge of fulfilling the lighting requirements of two totally contrasting artists.
Bandit's crew were Graham Feast and Rick "Avo" Butler. They were joined by Russell Matthews ('Tigger') who was on stan
