Production guru Hadden Hipsley of Lambda Productions once again called on Bandit Lites to serve as prime lighting contractor for the three-day arts and music festival. Bandit's Dizzy Gosnell works with Hadden, Leslie Radigan, Joel Carmichael, AC Entertainment, Superfly Productions and Coran Capshaws Red Light Management to provide the artists with their illumination needs at the award-winning event.
Artists at the 2010 Bonnaroo included Dave Mathews Band, The Kings of Leon, Stevie Wonder, Jay Z, Weezer, The Flaming Lips, Norah Jones, John Fogerty, Tori Amos, Jeff Beck, Umpherys Magee, Conan O'Brien, The Dead Weather, GWAR, Ozomatli, Needtobreathe, Damian Marley, Phoenix, Jimmy Cliff, Ween, John Prine, John Butler Trio, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and The Zac Brown Band.
Bandit worked with many of the individual designers to meet their needs at the event within the framework of a 'festival' system.
The CMA Music Festival line-up included Alan Jackson, Kid Rock, Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride, Reba, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Billy Currington, Blake Shelton, Trace Adkins and The Zac Brown Band.
Steve Moore, Robert Deaton, Tzvi Small and lighting designer Mike Swinford once again relied on Bandit vice president Mike Golden and the staff at Bandit to deliver the enormous package required to complete the the spectacular. Swinford was assisted by Mark Carver.
Multiple truck loads of equipment as specified by Swinford included VL 3500 Spots, VL 3000 Spots, MAC 2000 Washes, Coemar Infinity Spots, Color Blasts, GRNLite 3-54 Battens, Jarag PAR 30's, Grand MA's, Thomas Cycs, Mini Strips, Lycian 1271 spots, Lycian 3K spots, Syncrolites, Versa Tubes, and miles of cable and trussing.
This year's event is a remarkable testimony to the resiliency of the people of the Nashville area, who were under eight feet of water just a month ago. The stadium itself was flooded as was most of downtown Nashville. The entire production community came together and made this CMA Music Festival one of the best ever.
(Jim Evans)
