Bandit supply tour lighting solution

Bandit Lites UK supplied the full lighting production and crew to cult heavy rockers Dream Theater for their UK and European tour.
Dream Theater’s worldwide lighting requirements have been looked after in the US and Europe by Bandit for several years, offering a fully integrated intercontinental Bandit solution. The European leg of the tour was project managed for Bandit Lites UK by Mark Powell.
Powell said: “It was great to work with the Dream Theater team again on another innovative and interesting design.”
The band’s long term LD Benoit Richards and their video designer Bert Baldwin worked together on developing the 2005 show’s ‘visuality’, which united both lighting and video in an integrated stage ‘look’, matching the band’s huge energy.
Bandit supplied Martin MAC 2K profiles and MAC 600 washes as the main moving lights. The design featured two over-stage lighting trusses – front and rear – each containing six 600s plus six of the 2K profiles on the back for big, bold, punchy beam effects and five MAC 500 profiles on the front truss used as ‘specials’.
On the floor were eight MAC 600s at the back, and then two 600s a side for cross-stage washes, ‘shin’ and filler lighting, the upstage ones rigged were on top of flightcases for a bit of elevation, and the downstage ones were all on the deck.
They had eight Atomic 3K strobes – four in the air and four on the ground, and 10 sets of 4-lites with colour changers, four sets on the front truss and six on the back.
A single PAR can on the floor at front of stage was utilised for highly effective special ‘ghoulish’ moments on the singer’s face.
Bandit also supplied four Lycian 1.2K follow spots and top crew members Ian Lomas and Ewan Cameron. Lomas has worked on the previous two Dream Theater tours.
(GB)