Acclaimed bluegrass musician Billy Strings channeled the Coen Brothers cult classic O Brother Where Art Thou? film for his epic Halloween show at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore. Entitled O Billy, Where Art Thou? the night featured a theatrical stage production illuminated by Lighting Designer, Roger Gant with support from the band’s longtime vendor, Bandit Lites. Strings was joined by special guests Jerry Douglas, Sierra Hull, Duane Trucks, Lindsay Lou, and many more.
Starring George Clooney, the 2000 film follows three escaped convicts in the deep South searching for hidden treasure while a sheriff relentlessly pursues them. Lighting Designer Gant evoked the rural 1937 film setting by utilizing tungsten additions to the Fresnels and festoons.
“There is some really interesting information out there about this movie being the first ever major motion picture to be completely color graded and manipulated digitally,” explained Production Manager Charlie Bryson. “Because of this we were able to get much more insight than you might normally have done on any other movie about how the Coen Brothers and their director of photography wanted this movie to look. As a result, we were able to really dial in how we wanted the lighting to pay homage to the movie and be a really accurate representation of what they did for the film.”
“Obviously the movie was the main inspiration, but within that the filmmakers used a method of color toning on the film to desaturate colors and give off a very dusty, Depression era vibe,” explained Gant. “I even adjusted all my usual color presets to reduce saturation and make those colors less bold. I tried to make everything very cinematic and theatrical as we moved through the show, and I thought it ended up looking pretty great!”
“Since the Baltimore shows were right in the middle of Billy’s regular tour schedule, Charlie and Roger’s brief for the show equipment-wise was to use as much of the tour system as possible, but hung with a much more theatrical/television/film look than a rock show to fit in with the vibe,” explained Bandit Lites VP of Production, Dizzy Gosnell. “In addition to the tour equipment spec, they chose LED Fresnels by Elation and Dracast as well as some ETC Source 4 pars all with barn doors. It made total sense for their output and look, but the dark-horse, king-daddy units are the big old tungsten Mole 2k Fresnels that Bandit’s Jake Tickle was offered before they hit the dumpster. Jake modified with an Astera bulb inside, a total blend of new and old (which have no right to look as good as they do), but they really rock. They also were looking for non-moving pantographs for hanging heads, not easy to find for rent, so I suggested some ‘faux’ pantos from the scenic shop using sections of trellis painted black and clamped on either side of the drop pipe that actually held the lamp in place.”
Bandit Lites supplied 332’ of Tyler Truss, ETC Source Four PAR with barn doors, Dracast 1kW LED with barn doors, Dracast 2kW LED with barn doors, 2kW Astera LED with barn doors, Elation Fresnel KL 8FC with barn doors, tungsten festoons, Ayrton Khamsin S, Ayrton Mistral S, Chauvet AIR min panel, STRIKE Array 2, ACME Gemini, Ayrton Khamsin FS, a Follow-Me remote followspot control system, and three grandMA 3 full-size consoles for control.
“I loved, loved, loved the Astera bulbs in the old beat-up Fresnel,” Gant said. “It looked amazing.” With such precise lighting, those in attendance were transported to 1930s Mississippi as Billy Strings staged a dozen songs from the film with appearances from a staggering 11 high-profile special guests.
“Roger had to build the show from scratch in almost zero time as the set list was a total one-off and would run to a specific theatrical schedule,” said Gosnell. “Using a good chunk of the tour system just hung very differently gave him the leg up on programming that he needed. Throw in a few hundred feet of festoons and the whole thing really came to life with Roger’s masterful operating.”
“As always, my experience with Bandit has been impeccable,” said Gant. “Iti s great to work with Dizzy, who totally gets the art as well as the technical details. My crew is amazing: John Lucksinger is now one of my favorite people ever. Huge props to the Bandit team.”
“I have said this before, but Dizzy is really such a great asset to have on our side,” said Bryson. “His CAD skills, wealth of knowledge and his years of experience really help get projects from napkin drawing ideas to actionable, riggable show designs that I can deliver to venues.”
Further information from Bandit Lites, Inc.: www.BanditLites.com
Photo credit: Jesse Faatz
