Note: This is a release from Bandit Lites, a Knoxville Chamber member.

Born in the U.S., it is a tour that took stage in Europe, traveled America, and will continue through the Pacific, Central America and Costa Rica. Traveling for 11 months, the tour includes a minimum of six different lighting designs, all based around a central theme of triangles. No one has had more fun on this tour than Lighting Designer, Greg Shipley.

Currently the Smashing Pumpkins are on their third European run of this tour. The act decided to take some of the lighting equipment from Bandit America, which was seamlessly incorporated with Bandit UK’s power distribution and motor systems- thus allowing the current system to meet codes throughout Europe.

"Apart from making the logistics flow, it was a great opportunity to show how inter-continental co-operation offers the client ultimate continuity," says Bandit UK's Lester Cobrin, adding, "It has been a great pleasure for us here in the UK to work with Chris Gratton (production manager) and his team."

Greg Shipley has been working with the band since June 2007. In that time, the lighting design has undergone several metamorphoses. Each leg of the tour has presented itself with different challenges. The designs have ranged from new LED technology to traditional rock & roll lighting.

After some initial input from (lead singer) Billy Corgan, Shipley has been free to create new and interesting designs for each leg of the band's tour. After designing several plots, Shipley gets with Production Manager, Chris Gratton to evaluate each creation for touring reality.

"It has been a great pleasure to work with Chris Gratton. He is one of the great touring production managers on the road today," comments Shipley. Together, Shipley and Gratton present each design to the band for final approval.

For the current European leg, Shipley created a more traditional rock design utilizing 13 individually hung 15 ft sections of truss - each suspended on two motors - which make up 6 triangles, arching over the stage.

The band thrives on having a very intimate, personal look on stage. To achieve this, the lighting consists of an upstage trim of a mere 12 ft arching to a downstage trim of just 20 ft. There are no followspots and a plethora of back and side lighting, which produces many dramatic moments. With no production video on this leg, lighting has the pleasure of being the star of the show.

The fixtures used on this tour are a combination of Coemar, Martin, and Vari*lite products. Moving lights include 24 Vari*Lite 3000 Spots and 30 Martin MAC 2000 Washes, which Shipley chose because he loves their brightness and durability.

Adding to the base moving package is the excitement of 10 Coemar iWash LEDs that create a layer of lighting just above the band's head, 37 Coemar Parlite LEDs, used not only as truss toners for creating varieties of color and flash, but also as up lighting of the artists- all complemented by 36 Martin Atomic Strobe 3000s with scrollers.

Shipley is a big fan of LED sources, and loves their speed and intensity. The power saving properties are also very important as many acts wish to set an example of energy conservation to their fans. Other permutations of the rig featured more LED fixtures and were video driven, but with this section of the tour, the main look is essentially back to a rock 'n' roll traditional style – metal and movement.

The console of choice for this tour is the Compulite Vector Red, including one active and one slaved spare. Shipley has been using the Compulite Vectors for over three years.

"The desk is absolutely amazing. I have the ability to compress or expand my shows at will. With the great support one can get from Compulite, the sky is the limit for this console," states Shipley. The consoles are running via Ethernet. With Artnet running thru 2 D-Link boxes and a Compulite E-Port, the desks are in sync and either is able to instantaneously control the show.

Shipley, who also acts as lighting director, is joined on the tour by crew chief, Shawn Lear and techs Jackson Beck and Sam Morgan, who he says are, “just fantastic – I really can’t praise them enough – this is a great team effort.”

Shipley also comments, “Working with Bandit UK has been an excellent experience.

Everything was meticulously prepped on both sides of the Atlantic, and the process of fitting the gear from the UK and US together went seamlessly from the first European show. Thank you to Chris Gratton for his support, guidance and expertise.”

Tour Staff: Production Manager- Chris Gratton, Tour Manager- Doug Goodman, Security- Gio (The Kiwi) Gasparetti, Production Assistant- Genevieve Neace, Technicians- Jason Baskin, Mark Newman, Donny Clay, and Ryan Merfy, Sound by Showco Europe, Buses by Beat the Street, and Trucking by Stage Truck.

Note: This release was sent from Bandit Lites, a Knoxville Chamber member.

40 AT 40: STEPHEN POWELL
Job Title: General Manager
The people are what sets Bandit Lites apart from the rest of the industry. Once a week, for the next 40 weeks, Bandit will showcase an employee that has made a substantial contribution to the company, whether it be in an office, on the road or somewhere in between. Bandit would not be celebrating its 40th Anniversary without the hard work and dedication of every one these employees.*
*Employee Spotlights are released in no particular order.
Stephen Powell has worked at Bandit Lites for the last 9 years. Starting out as warehouse manager at the Knoxville location in 1999, Powell went on to be the lighting director for the Food Network, Board-op for Woodstock ’99, the project manager for WWE and various special events, and finally settled into the general manager position at Bandit’s Nashville location. Below are a few questions we asked to get to know him a little better.
Q: How did you get involved in this industry?
A: I was a professional musician in California for 10 years in the 80’s. I played with a bar band that traveled all over the western United States. I moved to Nashville in ’94 with my wife and two kids, partly because of the economy in Nashville, but also because of the entertainment business. I started doing sound for Cowboys LaCage and taught myself lighting with the help of a few friends. From there I did showcases for Starstruck Entertainment in the LaCage theater, which led to a job with the Louise Mandrell organization and then to Bandit in 1999.
Q: What is your favorite memory from working at Bandit Lites?
A: I think it was ’99 or 2000. We had set up lighting equipment for advanced elementary school and showed them some basics of lighting. It was at that event that I had a “light bulb” moment. I realized that I really enjoyed teaching and mentoring people.
Q: So you are a General Manager now. Are you mentoring people in your current position?
A: I feel as general manager my first priority is to help mentor the next generation of talent- lighting designers, crew chiefs, lighting technicians - the people that will be running this company 10 years from now. The 20-somethings here are highly motivated. Whereas baby-boomers were happy with being employed for 50 years, with the same company, with a pension, these new people want to rule the world in 2 years. They value change, expect it, and push to get it, quickly. The biggest and best challenge is finding ways to motivate these ‘millennials,’ focus their talent and move them forward to bigger opportunities.

Bandit Lites has recently added new equipment to their inventory. After examining the upcoming needs for 2008, Bandit worked with manufacturers to purchase a variety of new equipment including everything from LED products to media servers to spot and wash fixtures.
One thousand Element Labs Versa Tube HDs were purchased for World Wrestling Entertainment, Carrie Underwood plus additional units to fulfill future lighting obligations. Bandit also bought six Green Hippo Hipotizer Media Servers, 4 Grand MA Video Media Servers and all the associated equipment. Fifty Elation PZ720 Stage Panels were purchased to fulfill WWE lighting needs.
Other general purchases include an additional 72 VL 3000 Spots, 72 VL 3500 Washes, and 48 VL 2500 Spots, which have been added to the already significant Vari*Lite inventory. Several new Grand MA Consoles, Compulite Vector Consoles and Lycian M2 Spotlights were also added to the existing stock of these fine products. Bandit added several of the new Elation Impressions moving LED fixtures to their rental stock as well as the new Elation LED PAR.
Recently named Pollstar’s ‘Lighting Company of the Year,’ Bandit looks forward to the upcoming year and the addition of new equipment, which will help Bandit to provide even better service to a growing client base.

NOTE: This release was sent by Bandit Lites, a Chamber member.

Bandit Lites recently lit the University of Tennessee 16th Annual Lead-off Banquet, which was held at the Knoxville Convention Center in front of a sold-out crowd.

UT honored former UT athlete, Todd Helton, by making him the first baseball player in school history to have his jersey number retired.

Recently making his first World Series appearance with the Rockies, Helton entertained a crowd of over 1,000 people with stories of his days at UT as well as some of his favorite big league experiences. Before the night was over, the former Knoxville resident was
inducted into the UT Baseball Hall of Fame.

The event also provided fans with the opportunity to meet the 2008 Vols along with first- year head coach, Todd Raleigh and staff.

Lighting Designer, Chris Lisle chose to use Martin MAC 600s, 500s and 300s and Color Kinetics iColor Accent 4ft tubes to light the event. Lighting was controlled by two High End Systems Whole Hog IIs.

"It was truly a pleasure to be involved with the UT Baseball Lead-Off Banquet,” commented Lisle. “One of the key purposes of this event was to honor Todd as they were retiring his UT jersey at this ceremony. I used Mac 500s with custom gobos to project onto the walls with both [Helton’s] UT and Colorado Rockies jersey numbers.” Lisle used Mac 600s to spread some general color throughout the room. There were also six towers with Color Kinetics tubes on them, used to fill in some gaps between video screens.

Note: Knoxville Chamber member Bandit Lites celebrates the following achievement with this release.

The entertainment industry has again named Bandit Lites as ‘Lighting Company of the Year.’ The awards ceremony took place on February 7, 2008 at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, CA. Hosted by the world famous Smothers Brothers, the event also featured notable presenters such as Peter and Gordon, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Glen Frey, Timothy Schmidt (from the Eagles) and Andrew Dice Clay.
The awards ceremony closed out the 2008 CIC Convention. Held at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in Los Angeles, the annual 3-day event seeks to facilitate the exchange of ideas between key decision makers, enhance the flow of information among
professionals, and make a positive contribution toward enriching the concert industry's health.
Bandit General Manager, Dizzy Gosnell was there to accept this honor on behalf of Bandit Lites. Bandit has been named ‘Lighting Company of the Year’ 16 different times through the years.
“This was made possible by the tremendous global Bandit family. Please accept my most sincere thank you and offer my thanks and congratulations to all the staff worldwide,” commented Bandit CEO, Michael T. Strickland. “This is the perfect start to our 40th Anniversary.”

NOTE: This is from a release from Bandit Lites, Inc., a Chamber member. They are celebrating a milestone anniversary with a trip down memory lane.

Bandit Lites is celebrating 40 Years of Excellence in 2008. To highlight this significant anniversary, Bandit is releasing a 6-Part Series featuring key milestones from the first 40 Years. The series will provide readers with a unique behind-the-scenes perspective as to how Bandit Lites started with a 12-year-old’s idea and grew into the world’s preeminent lighting company.
The first installment, The Early Years, describes how a kid with a vision and some borrowed equipment was able to start a successful business.
The story began 40 years ago, when a touring band stopped in Bandit CEO, Michael T. Strickland’s hometown of Kingsport, TN to perform a concert. In the late 60’s most acts were just beginning to use lighting of any type. However, having been involved in Community Theater since age 5, Michael knew that theatrical lighting existed and could be applied to the live music industry.
"After a Beach Boys concert I approached the promoter and asked him if he would like to use lighting for his next concert,” Michael explained. The promoter asked Michael to name his price, and he quoted a modest $25, which seemed like a huge amount of money to a 12-year-old in 1968. They agreed to the price, and the next month when another band came, he did the same thing.
“The next month we took all the lights from the school theater, hung them in the gymnasium around the stage, and lit Paul Revere and The Raiders. I didn't have any knowledge back then," he admits, "but neither did the people I was working for, so anything and everything I did was correct. The color I used was right. The mood I set was right. There was no wrong for these people, nor was there any wrong for me."

Word of Strickland’s success spread and soon other touring bands began requesting Bandit to light their concerts.

"We'd do a show one night for the Beach Boys, and they'd ask us to go the next night to another city. The first time they asked, I had to say no. I was twelve years old," he says. "I couldn't drive. I had no way of getting there. I was ready the next time. I hired a friend with a car and a U-Haul trailer. When they asked if we could do a show the next night in Asheville, I said sure. I did not think that after Asheville, he was going to say, 'Can you go to Charlotte?’ I had to go to school the next day, and had to pass on Charlotte. After that experience I hired 2 people, with 2 cars, so one could drive me home on Sunday night while the other stayed on the road.”

Juggling the demands of adolescence and a budding company proved to be a bit challenging at times, but determined to succeed, Strickland pressed on while in Junior High and High School while also playing football and basketball.

“We worked most of the major rock concerts within 300 miles of Kingsport in the early years. We did it mainly to see free concerts and meet girls. Making money was never really part of the equation at that point. Most of the shows took place on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays so we were able to travel to them. At that time all the equipment we used was borrowed from the local schools and theaters, hence the name Bandit!”
From 1968 to 1971 Bandit had the pleasure of working with a large number of national acts, including The Monkees, The Grassroots, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, Dennis Yost and the Classics Four, BJ Thomas, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, The Beach Boys, Kris Kristofferson plus many others. This was the beginning of a firm foundation for what would eventually become one of the world’s leading lighting companies.

Please stay tuned for the second installment of Bandit History: 40 Years of Excellence – The 70’s.
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. With offices in Knoxville, Nashville, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Bandit’s global presence will insure seamless transitions no matter where your next show takes you.