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Another Number One for Westlife with Bandit
Bandit’s general manager and account handler is Mark Powell who comments: “We are, of course, delighted to be continuing our relationship with Westlife, and working with Peter Barnes is always a pleasure.”
Lighting director and operator Dave Lee worked with Peter Barnes on the lighting design, and the end result is collaboration between the two, both of whom brought different ideas and perspectives to the equation.
The set is designed by Production North’s Steve Levitt and Westlife - Nicky Byrne, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan and Shane Filan – who have also been closely involved in all other aspects of their stage presentation for the tour. The show is divided into five sections, featuring their 12 Number one hits along with a Rat Pack section and a tumultuous disco anthem medley section in the middle. The stage takes on a loose Rat Pack themeing in homage to their last album, ‘Allow Us To Be Frank’ which celebrates the songs from that 1950’s bourbon filled era at the Sands Hotel, Las Vegas.
The lighting needed to be dynamic, slick and fast moving – keeping pace with the rhythm of the show, which was honed down during six days of production rehearsals in Belfast’s Odyssey Arena.
The stage set features a large set of steps in the centre, with various entrances and exits around the space including man-lifts and hydraulic ramps. The main overhead trussing consists of two diamond shaped boxes, one within the other, framed on the offstage edges by two chevron shaped trusses.
These are loaded with High End Studio Colors for front light, and Martin MAC 2000 washes and 2000 profiles for rear lighting. Other fixtures include Pulsar ChromaBank LED battens, which are up-lighting sections of Perspex in the set floor from underneath, with additional battens at the top of the riser pointing forward.
The only generic lighting is 16 Pars used as truss toners and twelve 4-cell moles used for audience illumination. Bandit is also supplying two Glaciator ‘low’ fog effect machines, four F100 smoke machines placed below the man lifts, and four Lycian 2k followspots.
Lee is operating the show from a WholeHog II and a wing. He says: “As always, the ‘Bandit Standard’ was in place. Everything was prepped to the highest standards, and all went extremely smoothly from the first load-in - and that’s the way it has continued.”
To give the show a touch of uniqueness and a bit of a retro narrative thread, they decided to swap some of the standard gobos out of the 2k’s and replace them with custom ones, reminiscent of the glory days of the Golden Scan 3 luminaire. This piece of early 1990’s technology is fondly remembered by most of the lighting fraternity, particularly anyone who cut their teeth on the vibrant rave scene of the day.
The lighting is generally bold and simple in looks, colours and feel – lots of single and two colour combinations, beam dynamics, plenty of huge rock looks for the great swirly numbers and the glitzy Vegas moments, and lots of mood and silhouettes in reserve for when the pace dropped right down. Each section of the show has its own ambience and style within the overall show, and there’s plenty of surprises and visual excitement reserved for the last section.
Two Studio Due City Colors are rigged up at the last moment and used to silhouette the band in one of the arena doorways at the start of their dramatic entrance. This starts at the back of the hall and they then walk slowly through the crown and onto the stage, ramping the excitement to fever pitch.
Bandit’s crew chief is Ian Lomas, Jason Hyne looks after the dimmers, and they are joined by Ricky Butler and Charlie Denny. Lee is quick to pay tribute to the teamwork: “As always, getting the right people in the right combination is as important to Bandit as sending the gear out in pristine condition.”
The tour is being production managed by Jason Danter and Karen Ringland. Sound is supplied by Wigwam, rigging by Star Rigging and pyro by Pyro Junkies.
14th March 2005
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