BANDIT HAS THE X FACTOR
Bandit Lites supplied lighting production and crew to Production North for the first ever X Factor tour, working for the first time with lighting director and programmer Arturo Ollandini, who was recommended by Bandit's Lester Cobrin.
Ollandini collaborated with LD and set designer Peter Barnes to mimic Simon Cowell's hugely successful TV series. The overhead rig was dominated by a large, gently raked, 'X' shaped truss skeleton, constructed from Tomcat 12" trussing, and clad in red and white gauze fabric supplied by soft goods supplier Hangman. Upstage and to the sides were two chevron shaped set pieces, which neatly framed the side-stage, continuing the lines of the stage's 'X' geometry and highlighted with Pulsar ChromaBanks.
Topping the lighting spec were Martin MAC 2000s and MAC 600s, over 100 Raylites built into the 'X', and Moles for uplighting the perspex stage.
A diamond shaped LED video screen from XL Video was also flanked by ChromaBanks attached to scenic surround panels, and displayed a mostly I-Mag live camera mix by Ed Moore.The tour was production managed by Sarah Hollis for Production North, with audio supplied by Wigwam.