NASHVILLE – For Miranda Lambert’s Platinum tour, in support of the artist’s latest album release, LD Chris Lisle specified a Bandit Lites-supplied rig that includes fixtures from Vari-Lite (VL3500 Washes), Martin (MAC Vipers) and Chauvet (Legend Beams and Nexus 7x7s) to complement the visual centerpiece, a 50-by-30 foot (WxH) picture frame/video screen element. The tour kicked off July 10 and runs through Sept. 20, then resumes with another North American tour leg in early 2015.
More details from Bandit Lites (www.banditlites.com):
Miranda Lambert is on top of her game by following her record fifth straight Female Vocalist of the Year Academy of Country Music Award with another no-holds-barred, gas pedal to the floor Platinum Tour with lighting provided by Bandit Lites. The North American tour kicked off in July with Justin Moore and Thomas Rhett joining the tour on August 8.
Lighting designer Chris Lisle, the creative lighting force behind all of Miranda’s tours and The Pistol Annies trio, worked closely with Miranda to bring Platinum to life visually.
“Platinum represents a lifestyle for me,” said Miranda. “It’s the color of my hair, my wedding ring, my airstream trailer, so it’s just a natural fit for the name of my new album and it’s why we decided to name the tour Platinum too.”
“The overall look of the show is platinum from top to bottom, including our flooring,” explained Lisle. “The center piece of the design is a 50′ wide x 30′ tall picture frame that goes around the video screen; we actually projection map video onto this frame for added effect.”
The structural design of the tour is comprised of three straight trusses, in addition to some side trusses stacked on top of one another. With the overall look of the show being “scenic based,” Lisle worked to ensure that the trussing wasn’t distracting.
“The main fixtures we use are VL3500 Washes for general stage color and wash, Mac Vipers for our gobos, textures, and effects, and the Chauvet Legend Beams for the rock and roll punch. There are also a few other fixtures scattered throughout the design as well including Chauvet Nexus 7×7 fixtures built into the thrust.”
Bandit is proud to have provided the lighting for Miranda since the beginning, a journey that Lisle has seen grow organically over the years.
“When I first started designing for her, it was all in one truck,” Lisle said. “Now we are up to eight. It has been nice on several levels as the growth was in phases and at a good pace. As always, Bandit has over delivered on this system: From the account rep side to the prep to the techs, every detail was covered and well thought out. They even handled all the little surprises I threw at them very well and without complaint! A super huge thanks to the crew that is busting their bootie every day to build this system, to the tour LD, Jason Workman, for making it look good, and the Bandit management team for working with us to sort out every detail!”
Bandit’s VP, Mike Golden says “There are times I will see a production and think ‘Wow, how are they ever going to top that’ and I’m sure I made that comment to Chris on the last Miranda tour which was stunning. I love working with Chris Lisle and the Miranda team because they excel in exceeding expectations with each and every tour.”
