More than 200,000 people gathered at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park to usher in 2020 at Jack Daniel’s Music City Midnight: New Year’s Eve in Nashville. Bandit Lites once again provided the celebration with a massive, comprehensive lighting system to help with six hours of live music, fireworks and the iconic midnight Music Note Drop.
“It’s never easy to plan a party for 200,000 people but the design and production team of David Spencer, Chris Lisle, Mark Anderson and Erik Parker literally make it seem like a stroll through the park,” said Bandit Lites Vice President Mike Golden. “This marks the twelfth year of working with this team, and each year they make adjustments to further streamline production.”
Production designer Erik Parker of Chris Lisle Lighting Design refreshed his previous years’
designs for the main stage, outfitting the rig to pop both in person and for the millions streaming online and watching on CNN and NBC. The lineup for the evening featured Keith Urban, Stevie Nicks, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, The Struts and Amanda Shires.
“Bandit’s supply of IP rated gear is super helpful,” said Parker. “For a show like this, outdoors inthe middle of winter, we never know what the weather is actually going to do, so it is very helpful to have gear that will withstand it. We had a couple days with a ton of rain and had very minimal issues.”
Bandit Lites provided more that 850 fixtures across the park, including more than 200 Elation SixBar 1000 IP fixtures, Elation Paladins, Chauvet Illuminarc Panel 80 LED Wash, VL 6000 Beams, GLP KNV Cubes, Elation SixPar 100 IP65, Elation Proton Eclypse, Chauvet Rogue RH1 Hybrids, Chauvet Solo Battens, Claypaky B-EYE K20, Claypaky Mythos, Robe BMFL, three grandMA 2 Full consoles and five grandMA 2 Ultralite consoles.
“KNV Cubes really impressed me,” shared Parker. “I used them as audience lights and they
were super bright! We used Chauvet SoloBattens to line the Music Note Drop® tower that
added a fun single line of light this year.”
When the angled torms on the stage left the rigging tight and caused difficult cable
management, Bandit Lites team concocted solutions that made sure Parker’s concept was not sacrificed.
“Matt King (Project Manager) and Diz Gosnell (Production Manager) worked with us on it to
make sure it was functional and that the vision came to life,” Parker said.
In addition to the stage, Parker and team illuminated multiple areas around the park including arches, roundabouts, a selfie station and more, with safety taking priority and then flair following with uniform color and energy accenting anywhere guests might find themselves.
“We had a good bit of other tools to help with safety, like Airstars and festoon string lights along the street, but getting people around safely is the most important task,” he said.
“Then it’s adding pizzaz and fun looks to help everyone ring in the new year in style. From LED Pars to Elation Rayzors, Elation Proteus Hybrid and KNV Cubes, we wanted to create an inclusive experience around the entire site.”
Bandit’s team consisted of more than twenty lighting technicians including Patrick Cowden,
Terese Fenlser, Carter Hopkins, Darryl Newcombe, Craig Richter, Mark Scherer, Steve
Strickland, Ty Veneziano, Ryan Waldron, Elizabeth Weller, Scott Wesson, Justin Wilk, Joey
DiLeo, Chase Evans, Kelly Field, Jessie Hochinyavong, Jonathan Montoya, Brenna Rae, Ivy
Reid, Taylor Sherman and Matt King.
“The production staff and event vendors have all worked together as a team for years and we meet as a group at the beginning of December to review and adjust from the previous year,” finished Golden.
“Because of this continuity the event goes down like clockwork. Matt King is our Project Manager for this event and through his experience overseeing things on-site for years, he has refined our involvement down to a science. It is a huge honor to be involved with this annual event and everyone involved.”
