When Garth Brooks announced he was launching a world tour, Michael T. Strickland, chair of Bandit Lites, knew the production would be something special.
“Garth is, and always has been, an innovator,” said Strickland. “He creates or recreates almost every aspect of the industry each time he tours. 2014 is no different! The massive, interactive lighting system that Dave and Garth have designed is second to none. It is simply stunning.”
Lighting designer David Butzler, who has worked with Brooks since his very first tour, requested a fixture that, simply put, did not exist on the market: a bright single source RGBA in a small PAR 30 form factor with a very smooth dimming curve that looked good on camera.
“The intention was to design these fixtures to mount in various elements of the set,” said Roth Edwards, Bandit’s director of special operations. Jordan Bone, Bandit’s resident engineer and a member of the R&D department, designed all of the software and electronics to control the LED fixture and obtain the smooth dimming and color accuracy requested. The result was the Gig Lite, aptly named in honor of Butzler’s nickname ‘Gig’.
“At the heart of this product is an LED Engine, 40 Watt RGBA source,” explained Edwards. “Furthermore its compact design allows it to be easily mounted into the set and integrated into the production.”
“The Gig Lite was born out of need, and it too is a home run,” added Strickland. “I am very proud of Dave, Jordan, Roth and the Bandit TSD team for developing it. There is no other light like it! It is the brightest, smoothest and richest LED light available. There was simply nothing on the market that would illuminate the set pieces in the manner we needed, with such a smooth dimming curve from 1% to 99%, so Bandit created it.”
Butzler placed 40 Gig Lites all around the set in steps for stage washes and eye candy, providing potent beam looks.
While the Gig Lite was created out of a need for Garth’s tour, Michael Strickland hints that it isn’t the only place the fixture is headed.
“From here we will be taking the fixture into many other applications, so stay tuned…In the meantime go see Garth and Dave as they tour the world.”
