Bandit illuminates Winter Jam Tour 360
- Details
With multiple artists on the roster, production manager Jerry Holcomb and lighting designer Kurtis Wheat had to design a rig that would allow each performer distinct looks while still accounting for a line-up that ranges from a rock show, to a rap artist, followed by a speaker sharing the gospel.
“Lighting can often be a distraction to important moments, so I try to create a look that allows the speaker to be the focus, while still allowing the crew to change over the bands on the main stage,” says Wheat. “No matter the artists or the lighting rig, that will always be the main focus of this tour, so we have to make sure we do our part in not taking away from those moments. This year we decided to go with silver Tyler truss which allowed me to use the GLP X4 fixtures as truss warmers giving the rig a completely different look from the flashy bands and make it a bit more corporate.”
Bandit Lites supplied nearly 400 fixtures, including 120 Ayrton MagicDot-R fixtures, Robe BMFL, Chauvet Rogue RH1 Hybrids, Elation CuePix WW4, Elation CuePix WW2, Elation SixPar 200, GLP X4 RGBW and Martin MAC Auras.
“I try to pick fixtures that are not a “one trick pony” because everyone will program differently and use the lights in a way that someone else might not have thought of,” says Wheat. “The past few years I have gone with a hybrid fixture instead of your typical spot fixture for that reason. Some of the fixtures like the MagicDots or the SixPar 200s were used to fill in the look so that anywhere you were seated you have a great lighting show happening in front of you.”
As the Winter Jam Tour 360 name implies, this is the first year the stage is completely in the round, leading to challenges of cable and lighting the artists on all sides while avoiding exasperating follow spot calls.
“This year we looked at our initial design and planned where cabling needed to drop and then found a useful way to cover that up. In each corner there is a tower, and all our cabling drops cleanly behind those towers, meaning now instead of seeing this ugly mass of cabling, you have lighting tying the rig up top into the floor fixtures, and really helping to create the 360 degree feel of the show.”
“Every year, Winter Jam’s production never ceases to impress me, and this production is no different,” says Bandit business development officer Brent Barrett. “Working with Jerry and Kurtis on each year’s design is always an experience that is complete with creativity, honesty and humour. As a Christian, having the opportunity for Bandit to be a part of the Winter Jam production team is especially an honour.”
Wheat had praise for Bandit Lites and its crew, comprised of Nikki Dotson, Cody Cheatham and Jon Houle with additional support coming from Bandit’s project manager, Matt King.
(Jim Evans)
