Bandit Lites had the privilege of lighting the 31st Annual Texaco Country Showdown, the nation's largest and longest running country talent search. The event took place at The Ryman Auditorium on 17 January and was hosted by singer/songwriter Jewel.
California band Poor Man's Poison, one of five finalists, triumphed over the competition, which included Kassie and Ben, The Brothers Roberson, Deidre Thornell and Kate and Corey. The winning act was selected by a group of industry executives and artists, and was awarded a Grand Prize of $100,000.
Lighting designer Mark Carver has provided the lighting design for the contest for several years, and has become adept at transforming The Ryman. Parts of a circular truss, made up of two arch trusses, created a twin circular look over the stage. VL 2500s and Coemar Halos were hung over the stage, while Bandit GRN fixtures washed the screen wire set pieces formed by two triangular trusses. Since the show is to be broadcasted on television, Carver made sure to have plenty of eye candy was available, utilizing both GRN washes and haze.
"I wanted to compliment the content for each particular song," said Carver, who worked with programmer Jess Baker to make sure the five finalists each had a distinctive look on stage while the LED wall upstage displayed history and information about the acts.
Equipment list included VL 2500 spots and VL 500s, Coemar Halo, Bandit GRN LED pars and moving washes and GrandMA consoles. The crew consisted of project manager Matt King, crew chief Sam Morgan, Sarah Eucker and Jon Houle.
"I'm always happy with the Bandit crew," said Carver. "Everything went in great and performed well."
"Mark Carver has the respect and appreciation of everyone that works with him," said Bandit's vice president Mike Golden. "He is a professional in every aspect, and I know I speak for all at Bandit when I say we always look forward to any job that has his name on it."
