NASHVILLE – Bandit Lites is providing the lighting package for Jason Aldean’s They Don’t Know tour, which features five automated, hexagonal pods that move to various positions. Production designer Chris Lisle began working on the production in late 2016, where he sat down with the Aldean’s management to coordinate the looks of the show.
More details from Bandit Lites (www.banditlites.com):
“This whole design is based off of hexagons and the geometry that comes with that shape,” said Lisle. “It plays into everything from the design of the truss, to the video screens, and the risers and staging. It was a fun design to work on, and gave us a lot of opportunity to get some great looks using the mixture of lighting, video, and automation elements.”
“The show is designed in a way to appear very layered, achieving depth with lighting, video and scenic elements,” said Lisle.
Bandit Lites supplied more than 350 fixtures for Aldean’s production on the THEY DON’T KNOW TOUR, including over one hundred Chauvet Rogue Hybrids, Martin MAC Viper Profiles, VL 3500 Washes, BMFL Spots, CuePix WW4, Color Chorus 2-48 and Color Chorus 2-72 fixtures, Bandit’s exclusive GRNLite Pars, Elation ACL Bar 360s, Ayrton Magic Rings, Chauvet Color Dashes and Nitro 510c Strobes. Two Grand MA 2 full consoles provide control for Lighting Director Keith Hoagland.
“The VL3500 Wash are primarily used for stage wash, and then we use the MAC Vipers as keylight,” said Lisle. “The BMFL’s take care of most of the backlight needs, and we use the Chauvet Hybrids for the big punchy rock looks, effects, and eye candy. Beyond that we have Ayrton Magic Rings that are used for some big light moments, as well as for the effects that they were made for. We also have quite a few Nitro strobes throughout the rig; some songs use them for accent and wash, and others for bright flashy strobe moments.”
As the two-time and reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year “has become one of Country’s best-selling artists both on the charts and out on the road” with “rowdy throwdown songs as big as the venues he plays them in” (Green Bay Press-Gazette), he has enlisted openers Chris Young and Kane Brown.
In designing the lighting for the THEY DON’T KNOW TOUR, Lisle ensured that each act was exceptional in its own right. Kane Brown utilizes a cart-based design that features Chauvet Nexus 7×7 fixtures along with Chauvet Legend 230SR beams while Mike Stanley, Chris Young’s lighting director, adapted Young’s previous tour design to be more portable, including an entire video screen that strikes at set change. Bandit Lites supplied Elation Cuepix Blinder WW2, Robe Pointes, Ayrton Magic Panels and Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes for Chris Young’s set.
“Each performer definitely has their own unique look for the show,” said Lisle. “The other nice part is that I used a different programmer (or several) for each of the three acts, which means that even the creative use of the lighting systems looks different.”
Programmers for the They Don’t Know Tour include Keith Hoagland, Scott Chmielewski, Erik Parker and Chris Lisle. Bandit’s crew for the tour consists of Crew Chief, Jonathan ‘Neppy’ Houle, Sarah Eucker, Patrick Cowden, Scott Wesson and Savannah Harden.
“Bandit always provides top-notch prep, equipment, techs, and customer services,” Lisle finished. “Even during the design process, the Bandit team (Neppy, Dizzy Gosnell, Project Manager Don Lockridge, and Mike Golden) all worked hard to make sure that these crazy ideas I had would work and are feasible.”
“It was a complete team effort by Chris Lisle, Drew Brown, Dizzy Gosnell and Don Lockridge to execute the design to everyone’s expectations,” said Bandit’s Vice President Mike Golden. “Drew was incredibly helpful in directing rigging adjustments as well as his focus on the load in and load out aspects of the design. Chris Lisle and Keith Hoagland are an awesome team and having known both gentlemen for many years it was great seeing them work together to achieve this beautiful show.”
The They Don’t Know Tour continues through October 2017. For more information regarding tour dates and tickets, visit www.JasonAldean.com/Tour.
For more details on this tour, visit www.plsn.com/current-issue/79-features/23007.
