Rising artist Riley Clemmons launched her first head-lining tour with a lighting system provided by Bandit Lites. With over 210 million global streams and 50 million YouTube video views since the beginning of her almost decade long career, Clemmons’s soaring vocals and touching lyrics have endeared her to millions of fans around the world. The First Christmas Tour is named for her hit Christmas song.
“Bandit had the opportunity to work with Production Manager Chris Newman and Lighting Director Dominic Hickman on a tour earlier in the fall, and upon completion of that tour we were asked if we could continue on with Ms. Riley Clemmons on her Christmas tour,” said Bandit Lites Vice President Mike Golden. “Chris and Dom have been outstanding to work with and they are very hands on in terms of production value, logistics and practicality.”
Lighting Designer Dominic Hickman assembled a lighting system that would stand out at the varying venues with sparse lighting of their own. Working with Production/Tour Manager Chris Newman, the result was a show that stood out from a typical church tour. “The reactions from guests that go to the show are just people blown away by how nice the setup is,” said Hickman. “The lighting affects the mood of this show. There are a lot of upbeat Christmas songs, but also some very chill Christmas songs that you don’t need flashing or crazy beams.”
Bandit Lites supplied GLP X4 along the truss for backlight and beam looks, COLORado Solo Battens to uplight the drapes, Martin VDO Atomic Bolds and Elation Smarty Hybrids as spots for nice beam looks.
“The VDO Atomic Bolds are new to me but are amazing,” shared Hickman. “Very bright and very nice eye candy. They are so bright but also the Aura effect brings it home. The CTOs you can get make it a blinder, but the colors make it so much more. I hope in the future to use the macros it has, but for this tour, we used the compact mode for this show.”
No Christmas show is complete without a snow machine, which coupled with a well-timed hit of Atomic Bolds, makes the stage a real-life snow globe as the snowflakes fall on the crowd. “It is almost like gold snow and all the kids love that part,” Hickman noted. “It is also Riley’s favorite part in the show.”
“Dom came up with a design that fit the many different scenarios of their tour schedule and my hats off to them both for pulling it off,” said Golden. “Both Dom and Chris are an incredible team and I look forward to what they have in mind for 2023.”
“Bandit has been so good to us with this tour,” finished Hickman. “I love that small tours get the love that bigger tours get. Jimmy Hatten, Jake Tickle and Mike Golden took great care of me and Chris Newman. If I had any problems, I know that I’m in great hands!”
Riley Clemmons’ The First Christmas Tour continues through December 18.
Further information from Bandit Lites, Inc.: www.BanditLites.com
