Bandit Brings the Lights to the Black Music Honors

ATLANTA, GA – Bandit Lites is proud to have illuminated the 8th Annual Black Music Honors, a star-studded showcase that celebrates Black excellence and trailblazers in music, ranging from gospel to R&B, Hip-Hop and more. This year’s honorees included music legend Missy Elliott, vocal trio SWV, disco and R&B star Evelyn “Champagne” King, R&B/soul singer Jeffrey Osborne, and gospel trailblazers The Hawkins Family. Hosted by singer and actress LeToya Luckett and actor DeRay Davis, the event was taped at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta on Friday, May 19.

Lighting designer Mark Carver and production designer Scott Moore sought to utilize a range of fixtures that would offer the flexibility to build a range of looks for all the genres of music represented.

“We wanted fixtures that can look both retro and contemporary, and fixtures that have a vast color palette enabling our team to use color and texture style to differentiate between decades and genres as well as utilize both wash, strobe and hybrid fixtures,” Carver said.

Bandit Lites supplied nearly 300 fixtures including Ayrton Ghiblis, Chauvet Maverick MK 3 Spots, Chauvet Rogue R2X Washes, Chauvet Color STRIKE M, Elation Smarty Hybrids, Elation Color Chorus 12, GLP X4 Bar 20, HES SolaPix 19, HES SolaPix 37, ROBE BMFL Follow Spots, ROBE MegaPointes, ROBE Spikie LED and a Robo Spot System.

Carver used the SolaPix 37 and 19s as color wash fixtures for toning as well as utilizing their beam and pixel effects. The Maverick MK3 provided band and artist backlights and key lights, in addition to color correction, color and gobos. RoboSpots were used as back light spots for the artist while Color STRIKE M were used for strobe and pixel effects as well as eye candy for the camera. Chauvet R2X washes supplied audience lighting for color and color correction toning. The ROBE MegaPointes and Elation Smartys were used as beam effect and gobo effect lights.

“The MegaPointe is very impressive in output, color palette and speed,” said Carver. “It also has great optic range.”

Bandit’s experience in lighting special events with tight timeframes means that the gear and crew arrive fully prepped, allowing programmers more time to deliver their stellar results.

“Having network and time code capabilities that Bandit provides is essential in being able to program this amount of material in a short amount of time,” said Carver. “Also having the system come in well prepped and set up to our programming spec and work flow helps to insure we are not wasting time with modes and addresses on site. This allows us to hit the ground running once the system is in and begin programming as quickly as we are able. Bandit provided a 100% system for the duration meeting all our specs.”

Following a June 3 airing on The Stellar Network, fans can catch the unforgettable program all month long with national syndication broadcast running from June 10 to July 2 and a special airing on Bounce TV on Juneteenth (June 19).

Lighting Designer: Mark Carver

Production Designer: Scott Moore

Lighting Director/Programmer: Andre’ Petrus

Media Programmer: Tony Fransen

Lighting Gaffer: Luke Carver

Bandit Client Representative: Mike Golden

Bandit Project Manager: Don Lockridge

Bandit Crew Chief:  Cody Cheatham

Bandit Techs: Kristen Armstrong and Tala Bell.

About Bandit Lites, Inc.

Bandit Lites is a full-service design, management and producer of live events, theatrical productions, and live shows. Bandit Lites has a full staff of highly trained professionals to deal with all types of production needs. Bandit’s presence will ensure seamless transitions no matter where your next show takes you. More information available at www.BanditLites.com

About Black Music Honors

Black Music Honors is an annual two-hour event that acknowledges the legendary African-American artists who have influenced and made significant musical contributions to African-American culture and American music worldwide. The celebration of Black musical excellence first began as “Celebrate the Soul of American Music” from 1990 to 1993, a TV show that featured some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry. In 2016, it was revived under the new title of Black Music Honors to commemorate Black Music Month. Black Music Honors is produced by Chicago-based production company Central City Productions (CCP). For more information, visit www.blackmusichonors.com and connect on social media @blackmusichonors on Facebook and Instagram or @blackmusichonor on Twitter.