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Los Angeles, January 15,
2008
grandMAs played a key role in a series of eight, sold-out concerts in
Kansas City featuring country music legend Garth Brooks. The concerts,
which were staged from October 31 to November 15, included a simulcast
to local cinemas which later aired on cable’s Great American
Country network as the 90-minute special, “Garth: One Artist,
One
City, One Night,” his first televised concert since 2001.
“It was kind of family reunion,” reports Don
Lockridge,
project manager for grandMA supplier Bandit, who was on
Brooks’
lighting crew back in the ’90s. “We had three
active
grandMAs and a grandMA light all networked together in a typical
front-of-house set up with about 14 universes. There were three
operators: lighting designer, Dave Butzler who wrote the cues for the
key lights and performer-specific back lights, Kyle Russelberg, who
controlled the audience rig, and programmer, Kevin Lawson. We use a lot
of grandMAs at Bandit, and for these concerts the grandMAs were
Kevin’s choice, and Dave was interested in having
them.”
“I’ve been using the grandMA for four years, and
it’s
become my primary board -- I couldn’t imagine using anything
else,” says Kevin Lawson. “I love it.
It’s efficient,
fast and can be set up to accommodate anyone’s personal
style.”
For the Garth Brooks concerts Lawson employed the grandMA’s
multiuser function, which enabled him to provide individual control on
three separate desks, all while running the same show-file.
“We
couldn’t do that with any other console,” he notes.
“I was able to set up the consoles for each user with what
they
needed.”
The shows “had a big rock feel,” he says, with
“a lot
of audience energy. The crowd reaction was intense. Because of the
crowd we pushed a lot of the focus and lighting action out into the
crowd so they felt part of Garth’s amazing show.”
Dave Butzler was impressed by the grandMAs’ performance.
“I
like the desk and everything about it. You can set it up as simple or
complex as you want. I’ll continue to use it.”
"Bandit Lites does a great job and they have given Dave Butzler, Kevin,
and Kyle along with a very sophisticated grandMA network. This system
gave them real-time control over a very large system and enabled them
unparalleled flexibility. This is the key when lighting someone as
dynamic as Garth Brooks," comments A.C .T Lighting's President and CEO,
Bob Gordon.
MA Lighting is
exclusively distributed by A.C.T Lighting.
A leading importer and distributor of lighting products, A.C.T
Lighting, Inc. strives to identify future trends and cutting-edge
products, and stock, sell and support their inventory. The company
provides superior customer service and value for money to all of its
clients.
For more information call 818-707-0884.
Copyright © ACT Lighting 2009. All rights reserved.
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