Toby Keith Takes Bandit Lites on Interstates and Tailgates

	Toby Keith on his Interstates and Tailgates tour.

Toby Keith knows what his fans want -- more Toby Keith -- and the multiplatinum country singer with more than twenty #1 hits is happy to oblige them as he continues his Interstates and Tailgates tour with a new design and lighting package provided by Bandit Lites.

Lighting designer Seth Jackson reunited with the Toby team last winter to transform the look of the design, centering less on a specific tour theme and instead focusing on the operation.

"Toby wanted to shake his schedule up and play more of the festivals and fairs this year, rather than the standard amphitheater run that had become the norm for him," explained Jackson. "In order to accomplish this, we had to design the show in such a way that it could always fit and look like the show we created, rather than have to make drastic compromises from day to day."

To achieve that goal, Jackson used several Bandit Pods in addition to Tyler truss that had the ability to expand wide for amphitheater stages or shrink when under a fair roof, filling the stage in either scenario.

"The main thing was getting those elements in place," he said. "Once we figured out the layout, things fell into place."

Lighting director Eddie "Bones" Connell found the Bandit Pods and truss to be his favorite aspect of the new elements, as they proved to be more efficient, especially compared to past years' designs where each fixture was placed one at a time. "This year's lighting is a bit smaller than past years: it's more about video and content," said Connell. "We used three Bandit pods as our upstage lighting, and it is very fast setting up compared to past years."

Jackson and Connell collaborated to create a large looking rig while choosing fixtures that could live in the truss to ease with load in and out.

The design relied heavily on LED fixtures with the only arc lamps being Martin by Harman MAC Vipers and Chauvet Professional Legend 230SR Beams. Bandit supplied gear included Ayrton Magic Panels, Elation Professional 360 Bars, GRNLite Moving Washes, GLP X4s, Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes, ETC Source Fours, Lycian M2 Spots, and two MA Lighting grandMA 2 lite consoles for control.

"One of the great surprises was the Sunstrips," said Jackson. "We used them inside several trusses and found a lot of great ways to use them other than just as blinders. They also have a great tungsten look which helped balance all of the LED and arc sources."

Bandit has been providing the lighting since Toby Keith started headlining, and 15 years later, Jackson still trusts Bandit to provide quality gear, service, and lighting technicians.

"Working with Mike Golden, (project manager) Donnie Lockridge and the various techs has been awesome," Jackson said. "Bandit has always been problem solvers. With the long history I have with Mike Golden, we can usually just get on the phone and put together a show rather quickly. If I say 'I'm looking to do something like this...,' Mike usually can punch things into the inventory and come up with a solution. The crew this year are all new to the Toby camp and they have been extraordinary and have great attitudes about the work and the show we are creating."

"Seth, Bones, and the entire Toby organization are fantastic to work with and I would be remiss to not mention Mark Sissel, Ashely Swann, and David Milam," said Bandit's vice president Mike Golden. "Those three individuals have been steering the ship for many, many years and you can almost set your watch to their plans. My sincere appreciation to each and every one of them for the professional way they carry out their tour and I look forward to working with them each year."