David Cassidy on the Web
Once In A Lifetime Experience for Bandit
May 4, 2007
news.etnow.com
Bandit Lites UK supplied full production lighting and crew for the very popular "Once In A lifetime" Rewind tour, featuring a star-studded line-up of UK and U.S. superstars from the 1970s - Showaddywaddy, David Cassidy, David Essex and The Osmonds.
Bandit also supplied the original Once In A Lifetime (OIAL) tour in 2005 as well as the OIAL Country tour in 2006, all project managed by Bandit Lites' Lester Cobrin.
For this 'Rewind' tour, the lighting design was completely re-worked by Bandit's production designer, Dizzy Gosnell from their San Francisco office, which included the addition of a moving truss system. This enabled the rig to be moved into different shapes for all the acts. Although there was a specific running order, they were all effectively headliners.
"Making each artist look different was the biggest task for me," says lighting director and console operator, Pete Watts, adding, "They also presented a huge diversity in music and style which had to reflect in the lighting."
In tribute to the fashion and spirit of the 1970s, the rig contained a heavy concentration of Parcans - over 150 in total. "We wanted a bit of a vintage feel but with a few modern twists," explains Watts.
The acts all demanded totally different approaches to their lighting. Showaddywaddy are classic rock 'n' roll, David Cassidy's set included several moody ballads, while David Essex embraced a myriad of styles and oeuvres, from epic musicals to off-beat rock tracks. The Osmonds presented a slick, fast-moving cabaret of their greatest hits and more, performed with all the professional flourish of one of the world's original 'boy bands.'
None of these artists would have used anything near this amount of production technology for their live shows during 1970s or early 80s!
Bandit supplied an upstage drapes truss, hung with four vertical white banners that were used as a semi-theatrical cyc effect. For Showaddywaddy, this was washed in different colors, and for Cassidy, it was textured with gobos.
In front of that were the two sets of moving trusses - four trusses in total which shared their central point positions. These started off straight, and then moved into an arch shape for Cassidy, before being configured as a double scissor effect for both Essex and The Osmonds.
The four moving trusses were each loaded up with bars of six PARs, Martin Professional MAC 500s and High End StudioColor fixtures, strings of ACLs and some Moles - primarily used for audience illumination for Essex and The Osmonds.
The front truss was 48ft wide and fully double-loaded with bars of six PARs. The floor featured additional StudioColor fixtures and strings of ACLs, but was mainly kept clear for the busy changeover schedule.
With no video or LED walls, lighting had to do all the big effects!
The truss movements made focusing a real challenge, as ideally all the instruments on the trusses had to work with all the different truss positions.
Watts operated the show using an Avolites Sapphire 2000 console, which he describes as "perfect for the job". It was an extremely busy show that kept him on his toes, a lot of which had to be 'busked' due to the spontaneous nature of some of the performances.
Bandit also supplied Lycian 2kW FOH followspots and three crew consisting of Steve Rusling (crew chief), Martin Garnish (dimmers) and Tom Crosbie (lighting technician).
Watts says of Bandit, "Lester has been fantastic as usual in sorting everything out and the kit is excellent as always. One of the things that set Bandit apart from other rental companies is their crew, and these guys are absolutely first class - hugely knowledgeable, really pleasant to work with, and nothing's too much trouble."
http://www.banditlites.com
