GULF SHORES, ALABAMA – Summer has nearly arrived which means that everyone has the ocean on their minds, and Bandit Lites was no different as the crew headed out to the Hangout Music Festival, the one of a kind weekend where nearly 40,000 people flock to the sandy beaches of the Gulf of Mexico to hear artists such as The Killers, Zedd, The Chainsmokers, Halsey, Logic, Kendrick Lamar, Odesza, Foster the People and Sza.
The festival may be in its ninth year, but each year boasts new elements with this year’s additions including a roller rink, full salon, and added water stations along with returning favorites such as beach volley ball, an ocean side Ferris wheel, yoga sessions, wedding chapel, VIP poolside lounging and a puppy kissing booth.
Bandit provided the lighting for three of the festival’s stages, including the mainstage, taking careful consideration of supplying a variety of gear that would accommodate the wide swath of artists traveling with their own packages.
“Hangout is the official start of festival season for us and always a blast to be involved with,” stated Client Rep and Production Director Dizzy Gosnell. “There truly is not a festival like it. The brief for the mainstage was for the system to be able to work for the three headliners, The Killers, Chainsmokers and Kendrick Lamar, and of course have enough toys for bands on earlier in the day to have some punch in daylight if needed. It helped enormously that the headliners had sent out their needs weeks ahead of the design, build, and prep.”
The mainstage had over 200 fixtures including Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes, VL 3500 Washes, VL 3000 Spots, Chauvet Illuminarc Panel 80 LED Washes, Clay Paky Sharpys, 8 Lite fixtures and four Lycian M2 spots with two grandMA 2 full consoles for control.
“The mainstage also featured our new truss weather protection system on the 60ft front truss, which got a full evacuation level storm workout on Thursday night and there was not one damp light the next morning,” Gosnell added.
“The Surf stage was fundamentally a three-truss rig, but as the stage is called The Surf Stage and is literally ten yards away from the lapping waves of the Gulf, I thought about making those three trusses a bity wavy and outlining them with the IP Elation 6bars and WW2 Cuepix blinders to emphasize the curves during the day or night,” said Gosnell. “We had to keep the rig high as the 40’w x 22’h rear video wall obviously couldn’t have ladders or low trusses in front of it, and this approach seemed to work well. I was really pleased with the end results; the headliner LD’s for that stage really cranked that rig hard and it looked fabulous.”
The Surf Stage featured Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes, GLP X4S fixtures, IP65 rated Elation SixBar 1000s, Elation CuePix WW2 Blinders, Chauvet Rogue RH1 Hybrids, Chauvet Illuminarc Panels, Clay Paky Sharpys, and Bandit’s exclusive GRNLite Moving Washes with two grandMA 2 full consoles for control.
Bandit Lites supplied the Beach Stage with six, eight-foot-tall ladder trusses and outfitted with IP65 rated Elation SixBar 1000 IP65, IP65 rated Elation SixPar 100 and Elation Paladins, with Gosnell emphasizing, “This stage had the Gulf behind it and minimal wind walls for protection on the stage so all the fixtures had to be IP rated, and they worked wonderfully.”
In addition to the three stages, Bandit also supplied packages for some of the artists performing, including Logic and the Chainsmokers.
Logic’s set on Saturday was outfitted with Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes, VL 6000 Beams, Clay Paky B-EYE K20 and Robe CycFX8 and the Chainsmokers took the stage Saturday night with lighting designer Josh Beard using a Bandit supplied lighting package of VL 3000 Spots, Ayrton MagicDot-R and Elation Paladins.
Bandit’s crew for the weekend included Terese Fensler, Steve Strickland, Jimmy Murray, Ty Veneziano, Alex Gagnon, Elliot Martin, Vanessa Tuttoilmondo and Jason Giaffo with additional support coming from Project Manager Gene Brian who helped facilitated all the lighting logistics for the massive weekend.
“Geno in the shop and Terese and Ty’s crews on each stage worked so hard on this show and really did a fantastic job,” finished Gosnell. “When all is said and done, a lamp is just a lamp, and it is the people that hang it and make it work that make the difference.”
About Bandit Lites, Inc.
Bandit Lites is a global leader in the entertainment lighting marketplace. From touring productions to fixed installations, Bandit Lites has a full staff of highly trained professionals to deal with all types of lighting needs. Bandit’s global presence will insure seamless transitions no matter where your next show takes you. More information available at www.BanditLites.com