Bandit Lites Glad to Be Here with Walker Hayes
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“Scale is something I feel we do very well here at Darkroom,” explained Alves. “It is one thing to build something that looks good when hung as designed, it is another to be able to grow and condense with the room and fill that upstage space effectively and responsibly. The rig looks bigger than it is, and as such, we can really squeeze this show into some tight spaces. This is where our equipment choices really helped us.”
“You are talking about a TikTok wizard,” said Jackson about Hayes, referring to his 33.4m views and 3.2m followers. “Most people will see this show on a stream, so we needed to light it so a smart phone would capture an accurate picture.”
“To put a genre on this guy is like trying to catch wind in your hand,” said Alves. “Just when I think I have him figured out he produces something new and totally surprises me. Seth and the team at Bandit really executed an effective Swiss army knife of a lighting design that lets us cover the show very effectively.”
“We went for products with a lot of flexibility, rock solid performance and the best output in a small package,” said Jackson.
The selection included Bandit Lites supplied Elation Smarty Hybrids, Elation CuePix WW2, GLP X4S, GLP X4 Bar 20 and a grandMA 2 console.
“The GLP colour system is still remarkable and consistent across all of the fixture lines, so the X4s and Xbar20s were a perfect choice,” said Jackson. “Bright, small, fast, great colour and bulletproof. Mike Golden suggested the Smarty Hybrid in our search for a hard-edge fixture; for such a small physical footprint, there is a great deal of brightness and a surprising number of effects.”
With a large amount of wash fixtures in the air, Alves explained the horsepower in the form of a big wash allows a base layer to build on.
“We tend to lean toward the traditional with our stage designs,” he said, “and by that, I mean that we always start with where the artist is, what do we want to see, and how can we paint an environment around those elements using the technology we have. The fixtures Mike Golden suggested to do that work were exactly what we needed.”
Using Bandit Lites GOGO Truss, most fixtures and cabling travel inside the truss and the 20.5” footprint is a huge help in the truck. Additionally, the rig is capable of being assembled by lighting director Dom Hickman and Bandit lighting tech AJ Quintel.
“Occasionally I have the opportunity to work with old, old friends and Seth Jackson and Nate Alves are just that,” said Golden. “When Seth and Nate spent a week in our Venue One programming facility to pre-program the show, it seemed just like old times again. Add to that the fact both production manager Chris Newman and Dominic Hickman are fantastic: they have been incredible to work with and extremely professional. The show looks amazing and I’m looking forward to working with all of these gentlemen for many years to come.”
