Alan Jackson Returns to Where He's from for Benefit Concert with Bandit Lites For his first show back since a pair of drive-in concerts in June 2020, country superstar Alan Jackson greeted 20,000 fans eager to both show their support to the community and enjoy a live concert. 46 Entertainment and Real World Tours produced and Bandit Lites provided the lighting system for the outdoor event, which raised more than $2 million for local relief efforts in Newnan, Georgia, which had been devastated by an EF-4 tornado months earlier. "I was hoping we'd be able to do something to try to help down here," Jackson said. "It's just been amazing how this community came together to make this happen." Bandit Lites supplied Alan Jackson's production manager and lighting designer Mason Felps with nearly 150 fixtures including Vari-Lite 3000 Spots, Ayrton Ghiblis, Chauvet Professional Rogue R2 Washes, Elation Professional Paladin IP 65, and Elation Proton Eclypse Strobe IP 65. Felps configured the design as a hybrid of the rig for Jackson's upcoming fall tour, fashioning an outdoor hardy system that would look good both live and on camera. "Facebook Live hopped on board to offer streaming services," said Bandit Lites client representative Shawn Lear. "Mason then updated his design to position fixtures for every camera angle using Ayrton Ghibli's for key light with corrected front-of-house spotlights. The broadcast quality look fantastic for those streaming at home and abroad." "I was really impressed with the Elation Proton Eclypse," added Felps. "They were super bright and flexible. They also looked really good on camera." "The success of this concert was greatly due to 46 Entertainments detailed preparations with Mason and Nathan Baugh offering a concise and clear vision and execution," said Lear. "Originally this benefit was open to the first 16,000 guest but grew to almost 25,000 patrons supporting Newnan." Additional support for the concert came from fellow country artists Chris Young and Caylee Hammack who each performed for the crowd before Jackson's 22-song set. Jackson took to the stage with his iconic cowboy hat, which provided a fairly unusual lighting challenge for Felps. "The face light with Alan can sometimes be an issue due to the cowboy hat he wears," shared Felps. "Thankfully, our spots were far enough back that this was not an issue, and we were able to get the proper key light angle for him." Jackson will return to the road this fall with Felps and Bandit Lites following a number of summer dates. "The Bandit team was awesome," added Felps. "The rig was tour prepped and laid out very well. Chris Noll handled key light duties for me so I could focus on running Alan's show from a lighting standpoint and video content." For more information about Alan Jackson, including upcoming tour dates, visit www.alanjackson.com/tour. Alan Jackson manager: Debbie Doebler Alan Jackson tour manager: Nathan Baugh Alan Jackson production manager/LD: Mason Felps Bandit Lighting tech: Chris Noll Bandit Lighting tech: Cody Cheatham Lighting tech: Courtney Stauffer
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