American rapper and singer Jelly Roll is out on the road performing with a lighting system from Bandit Lites. The Southern hip hop country rock breakout artist recently hit No. 1 on Billboard‘s Emerging Artists chart, leading as the top emerging act in the U.S. for the first time for his new album, Ballads of the Broken. The “Son of a Sinner” singer has been touring with Shinedown on their Planet Zero World Tour.
As Jelly Roll’s sound crosses multiple music genres, his team called upon Lighting Director Nate Cromwell to program a show that wouldn’t resemble a traditional hip hop, country or rock show, but instead showcase a performance that is as unique and dynamic as he is.
“They also didn’t want him, or the message to get lost in all of the visual noise that can be achieved these days,” said Cromwell, “therefore my approach was to try to resonate and amplify the emotions and expression that was coming through, but in lyrics and music.”
Bandit Lites supplied a modular system that would provide a large amount of visual horsepower that would be able to move on and off the stage efficiently. The system is made up of 120 Ayrton MagicDots, Elation CuePix WW2, GLP X4 Bar 10, JDC1 LED Strobes, Robe BMFL Spots and Robe PATT 2017.
“When (Tour Manager) Ron Gardner first contacted me, he told me that they wanted a wall of light behind the band that was quick to deploy and remove after Jelly Roll’s set since they had to clear the decks swiftly for Shinedown to close the night,” said Bandit Lites Vice President of Production, Dizzy Gosnell. “I suggested our trusty Thomas 7’ 7” square Pre-rig truss pods filled with a variety of lamps that could fit the bill. I sent him a couple of preliminary renderings and Ron called me back chuckling, ‘That looks sick.’ I took that as a good thing and we progressed on from there.”
Cromwell joined the team following the design portion, which meant the programming occurred in a real time. “There aren’t a lot of gobos or patterns available, so color, movement with intention, and focus became my ways to tell the story,” he said.
Gardner shared Bandit’s service was excellent, and with Bandit as the longtime lighting partner for Shinedown, Cromwell noted the two crews were able to work together seamlessly. “Everything integrated perfectly—right down to the IP addresses,” said Cromwell. “Dizzy Gosnell has been great in getting me correct information as well as Matt King.”
“Working with Ron, Mike and the Jelly Roll camp has been a great experience,” added Gosnell. “They’re very responsive to questions and options from our side. Nate has really pushed this modest system to get a ton of fantastic looks.”
Tour Manager/FOH: Ron Gardner
Production Manager: Mike Frey
Lighting Programming by: Nate Cromwell
Tech: Zach Shultz
Tech: Chris Caballero
