ZZ Top rock on with Bandit Lites
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Lighting designer John Lucksinger conceived a classic par can rig made up of moving lights to give the band the authentic rock look of yester-years.
“It’s been a fun time,” says Lucksinger. “Three guys on stage. No real frills. Just guys playing great music. It has been different in that the last few tours I was behind the console for where we had a lot of trucks, huge video walls, and lots of lights. This is just a plain and simple rock show. The band doesn’t like movement in the lighting, so the show is mostly big rock looks with hits of lights and colour chases. I’m just trying to accent what is being played on stage and not distract from it.”
Bandit Lites supplied Martin MAC Auras, GLP X4, GLP X4S, GLP JDC1, Elation CuePix WW4 Blinders, Chauvet Rogue RH1 Hybrids, Claypaky Sharpys, Bandit’s exclusive GRNLite Moving Washes and a grandMA2 Full console for control.
“I tried to get an old school look with newer technology,” Lucksinger explains. “I chose the fixtures based on that. Also, the functionality of the fixture was important; colour mixing and zoom was a must. I went with the RH1s due to size, as I needed a small powerful fixture.
“I’ve always been a fan of the X4s,” continues Lucksinger. “It’s small and versatile, plus it fits great in the Bandit GoGo truss.”
“Bandit has been great as always,” says Lucksinger. “From being able to sit in the 3D suite to pre-programme to actually hanging the whole thing at Venue 1 to incorporate the video elements, it’s the type of thing that makes the start of the tour so smooth.”
Bandit’s crew for the tour included Scot Sepe and Kelly Feild with additional support coming from project manager Don Lockridge.
“When our show got hit with a huge rainstorm, all I had to do was send an email out and everyone was on it,” concludes Lucksinger. “They had everything ready to go the next day when I sent the request of what was needed. The next day, we had 24 fixtures on the dock of our next show waiting for us. That is what Bandit does.”
(Jim Evans)
