Bandit Lites Brings the Lights to Black Music Honors

	2021 Black Music Honors in Chicago, Illinois

It was a night of celebration as Chicago-based television production company Central City Productions presented the 2021 Black Music Honors. Held in commemoration of Juneteenth, the annual two-hour event acknowledges the legendary African American artists who have influenced and made significant musical contributions to African American culture and American music worldwide.

Bandit Lites once again provided the lighting packaged for the evening, which was hosted by Loni Love and pre-taped at Nashville's City Winery. Televised in national broadcast syndication from June 5 to July 4, the night honored Grammy Award nominees Angie Stone, Ginuwine, and Marvin Sapp. Grammy Award-winning jazz artist Ramsey Lewis was also presented with the Legends Award while the National Museum of African American Music received the Legacy Award.

COVID protocols meant the production was held in a more compact venue with a very limited audience; however, lighting designer Mark Carver configured a lighting design that supplied the look of a large-scale production and accentuated the uniqueness of the music format with dramatic lighting. He also made use of cinematic cameras and lenses for more stylized effects.

Bandit Lites supplied more than two hundred fixtures, including Ayrton Ghiblis, Ayrton Mistral S, Chauvet Rogue R2X Washes, Chauvet Rogue R1 FX-B, Chauvet Colorado Solo Batten IP 65, Elation Smarty Hybrids, Elation ACL 360i, and GLP X4 Bar 20 as well as two grandMA 2 Full consoles for control.

The Ayrton Ghiblis provided key light for the various performance areas, where 20 artists including Montell Jordan, J. Moss, CeCeWinans, Kevin Ross, After 7, and Avery Sunshine took to the stage. Ayrton Mistrals supplied back light and gobo effects while Chauvet R2X Washes were the workhorses for color toning the band and the audience.

A grid of GLP X4 Bar 20s made up the background on the main stage, where they delivered dynamic effects, color, and singular looks for each performance. Rogue FX-B filled any negative space and offered eye candy for the camera and millions watching from home.

"Mark Carver presented a very ambitious equipment list for this job, but between his planning with Bandit project manager Gene Brian and the Bandit tech team on site, it went in as smooth as you could ever hope for," says Bandit Lites vice president Mike Golden. "Central City always provides us with a fantastic production staff and this time was no exception. Andre Petrus once again provided the programming for the event and my hat's off to everyone for putting together this beautiful show."

"Mike Golden and Gene Brian did an awesome job putting the package together and prepping the system to meet spec in a short time frame," finishes Carver. "John Lucksinger, Cody Cheatham, and Scott Wesson did a fine job on site getting the gear installed and keeping it maintained during the run. It was a large package in a very small venue, and they, along with Gaffer Keith Averett, handled the task flawlessly."