Jands Vista Controls Lighting for Little Big Town US TourA Jands Vista T2 console was chosen by US-based lighting designer, Chris Shrom, to control lighting for the Grammy Award-winning vocal harmony group Little Big Town, currently touring North America until mid-December. Shrom was challenged with programming a rig which would have as much impact outside in daylight as it does when the band moves inside arenas. Shrom worked closely with the band, tour project manager, Chris Diener, and show designer, Raj Kapoor in designing something that worked well in all scenarios -- choosing a dynamic rig featuring Sharpys, Atomic 3000s with color scrollers, Nocturn UV lights with Eclipse shutters, and Mac Auras. "I know the Jands Vista T2 well and I can program it very quickly. I've been using the Vista software now for almost five years. I love the timeline feature: It is simple, easy to look at, and work in. The less thinking I have to do when building cues with complicated timing, the better. I can compact two or three steps into one by arranging various attributes to happen chronologically. Click, drag, done ... moving on." "The other item I find the most helpful is the visual interface -- I click on the icon, interact with it, and I'm done. There are no numbers to memorize or type in, it's so easy to use and very, very quick." Shrom reveals that during the tour, all flown items are provided locally, requiring regular fixture swaps. "Every day I'm changing luminaires and the Vista was designed to do this seamlessly," explains Shrom. "Most days I only need to update a few palettes and I'm rolling." Despite using the Vista for many years, Shrom continues to be surprised in new ways by its flexibility and ability to make light work of creative challenges. At one festival recently, which was held on a Saturday, it meant that Shrom's access to helpful advice from a lighting manufacturer was limited. "I had a bunch of LED lights that were brand new," explained Shrom. "They were just released and I had no profile for them. It was my most challenging show to date and I had a whole rig of lights that I couldn't use. Vista has a fixture editor in it, but at that point I had never used it. I opened the program and within two to three attempts I had built a working profile. Every time I walk into a challenge I am thankful I have that console -- it takes large catastrophes and seems to make them minor inconveniences." Bandit Lites, based in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, provided all the lighting equipment for the tour. "As far as service is concerned, between Jake Tickle at Bandit, who introduced me to the Vista, and the staff I've worked with at US distributor, A.C. Lighting, I've been very happy. If I run into trouble, on the rare occasion they can't help me, they know someone who can." 
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