The increasingly dire plight of the American family farm spawned one of the greatest concert events in the United States. Since 1985, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, and Willie Nelson have put on the Farm Aid benefit concert to raise both money and awareness about the situation in America’s Heartland. Bandit Lites has been a part of Farm Aid for 12 years and was pleased to once again be a sponsor of this great event. This year the concert line up was as impressive as ever. Acts that appeared were: Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Sheryl Crow, Brooks & Dunn and Trick Pony, Vanessa Carlton, Hootie and the Blowfish, Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois, Los Lonely Boys, Aaron Brotherton, Titty Bingo, and Billy Bob Thornton.
Lighting such a diverse range of acts is never an easy task, but lighting designer Michael Dalton was up to the challenge. Using a variety of moving fixtures, he was able to create an impressive stage experience for the event. The rig was made up of five main trusses. There is a circular truss at mid-stage, two serpentine trusses at downstage left and right, and a rectangular truss upstage. The circular truss was hung with eight Martin Mac 2000 Spots and featured the Farm Aid logo. The two serpentine downstage trusses were each hung with five Martin Mac 500s and 16 ETC Source 4 ellipsoidals. The rectangular upstage truss was hung with 19 Martin Mac 2000 spots, 19 Martin MAC 600s and six Lycian M2 2.5kW followspots. Located on the stage itself were a number of Martin Mac 500s, Mac 2000 Wash fixtures and 6’ MR16 Mini Strips. The show was controlled from a Flying Pig Systems Wholehog II console.
Crew for Farm Aid:
Lighting Designer – Michael Dalton
Lighting Director – Jim Fitzpatrick
Lighting Director – Peter Moore
Technician – Eric “Rock” Shafferman
Technician – Rick Munroe
Technician – Sears Hallett
Technician – Shawn Beaulieu
Technician – John McAllester
Equipment Supplied by Bandit Lites:
12 – Martin Mac 2000 Wash
8 – Mac 2000 Spot
56 – Mac 600
32 – Mac 500
32 – Mac 250
5 – MR16 Mini Strip 30 Cell
14 – 6 Lampbar
6 – Lycian M2 2.5kW Followspot
1 – Flying Pig Systems Wholehog II Console
1 – ETC 72 Dimmer Sensor Rolling Rack
4 – JEM Hazer
1 – 20’ Circle A-type truss
10 – 41’-9” OD Circles silver A-type truss
8 – 10’ A-type silver truss
6 – 10’ A-type black truss
8 – 8’ A-type silver truss
22 – 3E DN Motor