NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – When hip-hop recording artist, songwriter, record producer, and actor Lecrae needed a lighting package for his one-off season, Bandit Lites was there to provide the gear and support for those on the road. With venues ranging from a headlining event at U.S. Bank Stadium to an intimate performance at prisons for inmate moral, Production Manager Charlton Combs crafted a diverse and vibrant lighting design for the two time Grammy-award winner.
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“The hardest challenge we find is building a rig that can work for 5,000 people or 50,000 and still bring the same look every night,” explained Combs.
Bandit supplied a floor package that consisted of four to six 8’ GT towers along with fixtures including Martin MAC Auras, Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes, Elation CuePix WW2 blinders, Chauvet Rogue RH1 Hybrids and Robe CycFX8.
“We made a conscious decision that our biggest advantage for a consistent show was Lecrae and the band themselves, then we just work to compliment what they do every night,” said Combs. “We use a variety of FX that compliment show cues (Confetti, Pyro, Cryo, LSG) and then bring in lighting fixtures that will give us the ability to have diverse looks.”
With the emphasis of the production on Lecrae and the band, Combs counted on the lighting to accent their performance, choosing fixtures that had multiple functions and provided assorted looks.
“We did not want to fall into a trap of having fixtures that were one trick ponies and made the lighting design predictable by the third song,” he said.
And while the production had a reduced lighting package when compared to their normal tour, Combs praised Bandit’s prep and thoroughness.
“Our first experience with Bandit is just this small floor package for a handful of one off dates, nothing even close to the scale of what we do on tour, but even with that being said, Bandit prepped the rig with the same attention to detail they would on a much larger rental.”
Bandit Lites Project Manager Gene Brian provided meticulous care in preproduction ensured that the rig would be ready for use, no matter who was at the helm.
“Show days going smooth starts with proper prep, and Bandit knocks it out of the park,” finished Combs. “We had several fill in LDs out since we did not have consistent shows, and the tour book that explains the rig made it easy to have fill in guys. Everything was intuitive enough that even a PM like myself could jump in and build the rig if needed.”
