
Garth Brooks Returns to the Stage with Bandit Lites posted: 03/07/2020
Garth Brooks returned to the stage in true spectacular fashion, as only Garth can, in a coordinated live concert at over 300 drive-in theaters across North America. Nothing like this had ever been seen before, and Bandit Lites provided the lighting for the special event, where more than 350,000 fans were entertained while safe in their own vehicles.
This time, I was the fan and the people were the entertainment. Watching people all night from coast to coast, in Canada and here in the U.S., laughing, dancing, and singing, made me smile, said Garth Brooks in a statement. It reminded me how much I miss the crazy, happy, and unpredictable life we lead as entertainers. For one night, things seemed...right.
The event was produced by Encore Live and recorded in Nashville with a full band. Brooks' long-time lighting designer David Gig' Butzler modified his original in-the-round lighting design from Brooks' current world tour, all at a breakneck pace while programmer Aaron Swetland reworked the show.
We only had a week to put this together before he wanted to load in, so without a lot of time, we used the same lighting rig. We just hung it differently, explained Butzler. Dizzy Gosnell was the mastermind behind all of the CAD work.
We had to reign in some focus positions that just didn't work for this layout, said Swetland. No big deal, really. Just like an odd festival day! Second, some of the elements of the rig didn't fit and that forced us to create some new looks to augment moments from the missing fixtures.
With the drive-in wall being the key focus of the event, Butzler kept the video wall the main key element. Substituting a studio venue for what is normally a massive arena meant the lighting team had to do a rare thing for a Garth Brooks show: turn the lights down.
We had more light than what was needed, but that's the normal way for Garth, said Butzler. we just cheated by only having a couple of focuses that we put around the band instead of on them, but of course they walked in and out of hotspots.
Bandit Lites supplied nearly 400 fixtures including Robe BMFL Wash Beams, Robe BMFL,
Robe Robin 1200 LED Washes, GLP KNV Cubes, GLP JDC-1 Strobes, GLP X4 Bar 20, GLP X4S, VL 6000 Beams, Martin MAC Viper AirFX, Martin Atomic 3000 LED Strobes, Showline Nitro 510C, two grandMA2 Full consoles as well as a grandMA2 light.
The light masters made it extremely easy for us to keep light and follow the band, said Butzler. I was able to put eight units on an 80-foot truss to make it easier to key light the band. This could not have been done so easily using follow spot old school method, but otherwise everything did its job.
With the live entertainment industry frozen, this concert not only gave music fans something to come together and enjoy, but it also provided the opportunity for Bandit to quite literally shine a light in these dark times, something that was not lost on the team. Even more important, all of Bandit's employees were healthy and ready to go the moment the call came from Garth.
All our team jumped in, said Crew Chief Chuck Hastings. I had four to sixteen extra Bandits being stagehands for everyone. We helped to put together the stage, helped the audio guys push gear and run their cable, acted as downriggers and assisted the backline guys. We put down the that's not my gig' mentality, and made the show happen.
Thanks to Garth for putting this together and allowing us the chance to work again, added Swetland. I also want to give a big thanks to all the great Bandit LDs and techs that came out to help, from fork driving to deck slinging to spot opp-ing. They were awesome.
Bandit's crew included Cody Cheatham, Terese Fensler, Carter Hopkins, Andy Knighton, John
Lucksinger, Sam Morgan, Chris Noll, Craig Richter, Scot Sepe, Steve Strickland, Aaron Swetland, Ty Veneziano, Ryan Waldron, Elizabeth Weller, Scott Wesson, Justin Wilk, Carter Fulghum, Chuck Hastings and Dave Butzler.
Garth called me a few weeks back about his concept for a Drive-In Tour, said Bandit Lites
Chair Michael T. Strickland. I thought he meant playing multiple drive-ins. He quickly told me, No, not that. We will play 300 drive-ins at once!' Only Garth! Always a trail blazer, always a leader, he comes up with this unique concept and, like all things Garth, it is a home run. The care, love, and compassion that Garth has for his fans, his band, his crew and his friends and family is second to none. In a time when we are all looking for a way to connect, Garth figures it out. Thank you, my friend, I love you sir!
About Bandit Lites, Inc.
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. Bandit's global presence will ensure seamless transitions no matter where your next show takes you.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
28/07/2026
Harvard Athletics Transforms Collegiate Sports Storytelling with AJA Gear
Brie Clayton July 27, 2026
0 Comments
Between the maturation of IP and remot...
28/07/2026
New Live Action Projection Mapping Film Captured with URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton July 27, 2026
0 Comments
Large format sensor allows Texas Legacy ...
28/07/2026
NVIDIA Agent Toolkit Expands With New Omniverse Libraries, Putting AI Agents to ...
28/07/2026
AI Agents Expand Creative Tools to Millions
Brie Clayton July 27, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Epic Games
Leading creative applications are...
28/07/2026
How Rick Aggeler Built a Music Community for Boston Teens When he was a Berklee student, Aggeler volunteered at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, where he hel...
27/07/2026
The Audio Engineering Society Educational Foundation has named its scholarship and grant recipients for the 2026/2027 academic year. The awards support students...
27/07/2026
ESPN and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) have signed a multi-year media rights agreement covering basketball championships and select football and ba...
27/07/2026
Yahoo Sports and Cameo have partnered to allow fantasy football users to book personalized celebrity videos directly within the Yahoo Fantasy app and website. T...
27/07/2026
Eutelsat has welcomed the FCC's order establishing the regulatory framework for the transition of Upper C-band spectrum in the United States. Under the orde...
27/07/2026
ESPN and the International Dance League (IDL) have signed a global rights agreement for the 2026 season. Events will air bi-weekly on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET beginni...
27/07/2026
NBCUniversal and YouTube have signed a multi-year global partnership that includes bundling Peacock with YouTube Premium, extending NBCUniversal's distribut...
27/07/2026
Agenda includes presentations from the Miami Heat, Inter Miami, Florida Panthers...
27/07/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...
27/07/2026
Ten one-minute shorts will roll out across CBS, The CW, Paramount+ during the 2026 PBR Teams season
PBR is officially moving into scripted animation. The Profe...
27/07/2026
Today the nonprofit Sundance Institute shared the names of this year's cohor...
27/07/2026
New app turns vocal percussion into polished loops
Vochlea, the company behind the voice-to-MIDI instrument Dubler 2, have just announced the launch of a ne...
27/07/2026
Latest MPE-capable instrument completes Pure Trilogy line-up
Sonora Cinematic have just released the third and final instalment in their series of acoustic ...
27/07/2026
Emulates four varieties of optical compression
The latest addition to the fedDSP line-up has just been announced, and packs four distinct optical compressor...
27/07/2026
Optical & FET compressors join 500-series line-up
At our recent GearExpo UK show, we heard from Drawmer that they would soon be launching a pair of new 500-...
27/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/07/2026
Lightware announces SNMPv3-based monitoring support for selected Taurus devices, available from firmware v1.20.0. The update enables IT administrators and AV in...
27/07/2026
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, will showcase its vision for the Real-Time...
27/07/2026
All episodes available Thursday 6 August on Sky and streaming service NOWMonday ...
27/07/2026
Why Confidence MattersIn this series, we explore the technologies, architectures and operational realities shaping modern media operations. Along the way, we ex...
27/07/2026
Apple today announced AppleCare One - a new way for customers to protect multipl...
27/07/2026
Yesterday witnessed truly memorable scenes in Croke Park, bringing the curtain d...
27/07/2026
Luxembourg, July 27, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, issued the following statement following the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approval...
27/07/2026
Open source software is a critical pillar of the global economy. It underpins cloud computing, financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications, government...
26/07/2026
What is Audio Vivid? A New Destination for Immersive Audio Over the past several years, immersive audio has evolved from a niche production consideration into a...
26/07/2026
The complexity of modern chip design continues to grow as engineering teams work to develop increasingly sophisticated CPUs, GPUs and AI systems. To help meet t...
25/07/2026
New app turns vocal percussion into polished loops
Vochlea, the company behind the voice-to-MIDI instrument Dubler 2, have just announced the launch of a ne...
25/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
25/07/2026
Export FCP7 to XML Without Needing FCP7 Installed
Dave Rice July 24, 2026
0 Comments
I've created an open source tool that allows you to export FC...
25/07/2026
Documentary Sell Your House Edited with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton July 24, 2026
0 Comments
Filmmakers post feature documentary from opposite...
25/07/2026
Time to Act: Bringing a New Opera to Life Boston Conservatory at Berklee vocal arts students played a vital role in shaping the opera's creative developme...
25/07/2026
Beyond the Score For Dean of Music Kevin Haden, the boundless possibilities of classical music begin with process.
July 24, 2026
By
Kevin Haden
Michelle ...
25/07/2026
Reading the Room As music director of two major orchestras, conductor Jonathon Heyward aims to make the concert hall a space for everyone.
July 24, 2026
By
...
25/07/2026
Saturday 25 July 2026
First look revealed for YAGA, a seductive mystery thrille...
24/07/2026
Referee hat cameras, player/coach mics, and virtual graphics will be deployed at the three-day event for the first time
The NFL FLAG Championships return to ES...
24/07/2026
Qvest, Ateme, and Scaleway have partnered to offer broadcasters, media organizat...