NASHVILLE — Bandit Lites provided lighting gear for Music City’s New Year’s Eve Bash on Broadway. Thousands poured into the streets of Nashville to watch Hank Williams, Jr., Blackberry Smoke, Brett Eldredge and Striking Matches ring in 2014. LD John Lucksinger used GRNLite Pars, GLP Impressions, GLP X4S fixtures, GRN Battens, Clay Paky Sharpys, Vari*Lite VL2500s, VL3500 Spots and two grandMA2 Lite consoles.
More details from Bandit Lites (www.banditlites.com):
Lucksinger provided a three-in-one design for the event. The first part consisted of the stage: Lucksinger created a retro look with pars and toning truss, all while keeping in mind the look had to translate well for those watching the event from home. In the middle of the stage was a picture window with truss outlined with festoons, while a 2014 sign filled with 30 watt light bulbs gave the look of an old theatre marque.
The second part of the design was the audience package. Four 8 light moles were placed on the spot towers to light the “Battle of the Bands,” an event Lucksinger calls one of his favorite parts of the show.
“Two marching bands from the teams playing in the Franklin American Bowl game come down on the street and do a play off,” explained Lucksinger. “This is at night, so we need to light up almost a full block area; The moles do a great job for that. There is also about ten lekos put out in various places down town to put logos on buildings.”
The last part of the design was the eponymous “ball drop,” or as Nashville had, the music note drop. While previous years’ designs included Icolor tubes and Atomic strobes on the tower, Lucksinger strove to do something different this year, so he used Impressions and GRNLite battens on the tower.
“This allowed for movement and lots of color,” said Lucksinger. “It was so bright that it was said it could be seen over 17 blocks away. When the note dropped the tower changed color and looked like it moved. I was very happy with the result, as well was the City of Nashville.”
Equipment used included GRNLite Pars, GLP Impressions, GRN Battens, Clay Paky Sharpys, VL 2500s, GLP X4S’s, VL 3500 spots and 2 grand MA2 Lite consoles.
Challenges arose in the form of stage space, with Lucksinger needing to change his original design of towers going from all the way upstage to 10’ from the downstage edge and removing lights that were to be hung from pipes between each tower. And while he chose to hang them vertically, the looks still worked and most importantly, “looked good.”
In spite of the cold and dreary weather, Lucksinger and Bandit delivered an amazing light show to ring in the New Year.
“I have worked for and with Bandit for 10 years now,” Lucksinger said, “and the product is always top quality. As with anything there are challenges and Bandit is always there to help with that. Whether that be in the planning stage with the project manager, Shawn Lear, who always does a great job, to the load in and out with the techs. This year’s crew was John Houle, and Andrew Heid; both went beyond the job to get everything done.”
“As always, Bandit delivered a superior product and outstanding crew,” added production manager Chris Lisle. “We had over 85,000 people attend this year’s event, and there is no doubt that each of them had an amazing night. The lighting elements on the Music Drop tower and stage helped make for a memorable night for all.”
