Bandit Brings the Lights for Forecastle Festival

	Avett Brothers performing at Forecastle Music Festival in Louisville.

Bandit Lites continued its epic summer of festivals by providing the lighting for The Forecastle Music Festival, July 15 - 17. With a record breaking 65,000 in attendance, Forecastle proved that it is one of the country's must-see music events as four stages spread across 85 acres of Louisville, Kentucky's Waterfront Park hosted more than 60 acts, including Alabama Shakes, The Avett Brothers, Ryan Adams, Death Cab for Cutie, Local Natives, Group Love, and Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals.

The coordination of providing lighting for the headliners while also making sure the stages worked for all the acts over the weekend, both in the throes of the sunlight and once the sun set, is a task Bandit has practically perfected.

"As always, we kept in mind the bands that may not have a large touring entourage with them," explained Bandit's Dizzy Gosnell. "So we give them enough lights in the right places to make them, and the show itself 'pop' for the people who ultimately pay all of our wages: the tireless audience."

The mast stage, Forecastle's mainstage, featured nearly one hundred lights itself, including Clay Paky Sharpys, Martin by Haarman Atomic 3000 Strobes, GRNLite Moving Washes, and Par 64s, Bandit 5x5s, and Philips Vari-Lite VL 2500 Spots.

"We catered the lighting for Alabama Shakes, Ben Harper, and The Avett Brothers on the 'mast' stage as they were among the main festival headliners," said Gosnell.

For the boom stage, Bandit supplied Bandit 5x5s, VL 2500 Spots, GRNLite Par 64s, and GRNLite Moving Washes, with a MA Lighting grandMA 2 console for control, while the ocean stage was comprised of Bandit 5x5s, Clay Paky Sharpys, and GRNLite Moving Washes with another grandMA 1 full console.

One specific lighting challenge came in the form of the port stage, as it takes place under a bridge in the park. VL 2500 Spots, GRNLite 8 Lites, GRNLite Par 64s, and Moving Washes illuminated that stage with a grandMA 1 full console.

The logistics of making such a massive undertaking a success invariably comes from teamwork, a fact Bandit prides itself on. Matt King yet again delivering the goods as project manager in the Nashville shop keeping track of the logistics of all four systems and overseeing all the patches, power, and crew needs.

"In addition to our fabulous onsite crew of Teresa Fensler, Chelsea Opdyke, Charles Smith, Jason Giaffo, Aaron Swetland, and Mark Scherer, kudos must also go to the Lambda Productions folk of Richard Wold, Paul Dalen, Kat Harris, Josh Levin, and John Ficklen," said Gosnell.