NASHVILLE, TN – Country Radio Broadcasters (CRB) recently assembled for the annual Country Radio Seminar (CRS), an “educational event which gathers key business leaders in various radio and music industry fields, featuring presentations on best business practices, emerging technology, personal career development, and new music showcases.” Bandit Lites provided the lighting for the three-day event, working with Scott De Vos of De Lux Productions.
“It’s awesome to be part of the cog that is CRS. Lighting todays hitmakers and tomorrow’s stars never gets old,” said Bandit Client Representative Allen Deneau. “A big tip of the hat goes to the De Lux team as they are absolute professionals and more importantly, they’re fun to work with. Scott and his team are passionate about getting it right and that makes my part of the job very easy.”
CRS and De Lux Productions called on lighting designer Keith Hoagland to formulate a system that would both be creative while covering basic television need (“have good key light while also enough fill to not be flat”) as CRS archives the event in videos.
With the design locked in, a challenge arose to find a board op/programmer to step into a heavy programming situation while maintaining a festival-type show where multiple artists take to the stage.
“Stephen ‘Red’ Shumate’ did a great job stepping in for me to operate and run CRS this year. Very thankful he was able to jump in with both feet and get it done.”
“Keith’s design was very versatile and easy to work with,” said Shumate. “He had all the different aspects of the show covered and covered well. It was a pleasure to work with his design. He has done a great job at making sure the lighting challenges are kept to a minimum; the biggest challenge I had this year was when the presenters decided to present from different areas in the audience, just an hour before the show. The great thing is that this rig had everything it needed to make that happen quickly and effectively.”
“As always, Keith’s design was incredible and very powerful but still easy to work with,” Deneau added. “You can always tell so much attention gets paid to the smallest details when Keith is involved. Red did a great job taking Keith’s rig and making it his and putting together a collection of great looks.”
Bandit supplied more than 150 fixtures including Ayrton Khamsin S, Chauvet Rogue R2X Wash, Elation Smarty Hybrids, GLP X4S RGBW, GLP X4 Bar 20 and Chauvet Rogue R1 FX-B, which were a hit with both Hoagland and Shumate.
“The FX-B units are fun eye candy for camera as well as to use for creative background during songs,” said Hoagland. “Love the flexibility that these fixtures allow the programmer and board op to have.”
“This was my first time using R1 FX-B’s and they were a lot of fun when using effects,” said Shumate. “Used in the tower configuration, they were not only versatile in the looks they could create, but they were also great in creating small but not distracting movement. Also, I had some “old school” fun creating some ACL looks with the GLP Impression X4S and Rogue R2X Washes.”
There were three main elements of the show as well as three primary groups that Shumate kept in mind while he programmed: room lighting, presenter/talking head lighting and artist/band lighting.
“The three primary groups were the live audience, the video audience and the artist/band,” continued Shumate. “So the challenge of course is incorporating all of these things into one single show.”
Bandit provided Ayrton Khamsins for the room lighting, painting the walls as well as buffet areas.
“For the presenter/talking head lighting, I used two Ayrton Khamsin to create a static wash on the thrust (or wherever the presenters decided they wanted to present),” explained Shumate. “I used ten Rogue R2X Wash to color the curtain, and I used six GLP Impression X4S for back light. While presenters were talking, I also used Impression X4 Bar 20s to provide light behind the curtain for band change-overs.”
For the artist/band lighting, Bandit supplied more Ayrton Khamsin as well as a Follow-me system for front and back spotlights. Five additional Khamsins supplied video level wash for band members. Hoagland’s design also included Elation Smarty Hybrids, Rogue R2X Washes, GLP Impression X4S and Rogue R1 FX-B mounted on towers behind the band.
“As one would expect, I used the Smarty Hybrids to create beam and gobo looks/movement and the Rogue R2X’s I used mostly to color the Stage,” said Shumate. “The GLP impressions and the R1 FX-Bs were great for eye candy effects (both color and movement) as well as some audience abuse. Having those different types of fixtures allowed me to create complex layers and great visual effects (keeping both the live audience and the artists happy) without compromising video level lighting.”
This year’s CRS had a shorter load in time, but due to both Bandit’s meticulous prep and fastidious lighting techs, Carter Fulghum and AJ Quintel, the rig was up and running without issue in no time.
“Their knowledge, hard work and easy-going personalities are just what is needed with a job like CRS,” said Deneau. “I couldn’t be more impressed with the quality they deliver.
“Additionally, the schedule for rehearsals and shows are extremely tight so having a rig that is on point without any issues is important,” Shumate added. “You simply don’t have time to hunt down issues with the rig, and again, Bandit provided a solid rig that worked from the start.”
Hoagland previously ran the show on an MA, while Shumate worked on a Hog. (“The two Hog 4’s that Bandit provided had no issues networking together, along with my visualizer; this show was a lot of fun on the Hog!” said Shumate.) With a packed schedule leading up to the show, he relied on pre-vis for as much of the show as he could, but a fixture substitute in the weeks leading up to the event could have disrupted his preparation.
“It was a massive help to me for Don Lockridge with Bandit to reconfigure the universes and addresses for those fixtures, so that I didn’t have to take time away from pre-vis,” said Shumate. “I was able to continue to pre-vis the show with the old fixtures and once on sight, I simply updated my show with the new fixtures and the DMX information based on what Don sent and it was one of the smoothest fixture changes I’ve ever had.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Red on a Hog, having been a Hog guy myself,” echoed Deneau. “Red was easy to work with and helped make CRS a huge success. I’m looking forward to working with him again down the road.”
“I want to thank CRS and De Lux Production for always trusting me with this project,” finished Hoagland. “I enjoy so much my CRS family and the work that we do each year. Looking forward to 2025 and many more.”
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