Bandit green initiative gains momentum

17 June 2010

USA - Bandit Lites use of the new GRNLite LED products and other LED products has been an unqualified success, says the company.The initial round of equipment which includes GRN Moving Wash 3-120, GRN PAR 3-36, GRN Wash 3-36, GRN Batten 3-54 and GRN 8 Light 3-96 all flew out the door within two weeks of offering up the equipment for rental.

The GRNLite equipment is currently on tour with Alan Jackson and designer John Lucksinger, Heart and designer Dale Doucette, Needtobreathe and designer Jay Wadell, Rascal Flatts and designer Bob Peterson, Wynona Judd and designer Kieth Hoagland, Jimmy Buffett and designer Sid Strong, Neil Young and designer Kieth Wissmar, Widespread Panic and designer Paul Hoffman, Billy Currington and designer Chris Lisle, Melissa Ethridge and designer David Hamilton and Shinedown and designer Scott Allee.

The GRNLite equipment is also on tour with the two artists that gave Bandit Lites the idea to "Go Green", Jackson Browne and Crosby, Stills and Nash. In early 2009 Designer David Davidian and Managers Cree and Buddha Miller approached Bandit about using more environmentally friendly equipment on tour with Jackson and CSN. This lead to a lot of dialogue and the eventual commitment by Bandit to follow this path.

Both artists used various proto types of equipment as well as already available gear as the year unfolded. The entire year of 2009 led up to the current range of equipment that Bandit is offering. Without the vision of these artists and their staff, none of these would have been possible. Both artists are currently touring globally and Bandit is providing almost totally green lighting packages on every continent.

Finally, the largest and Greenest show today will be the new Toby Kieth tour with a Van Halen style GRNLite system, with hundreds of GRNLite LED PARs and GRN Moving Washes in pods executed in a manner reminiscing of the glory days of Van Halen.

"We are all very excited about our move into LED lighting and becoming the global leader in that field," says Bandit chairman Michael T. Strickland. "The solution is before us and now is the time to embrace it. We must all start sooner rather than later to move to technology that is energy efficient, cost effective and eco friendly. LED lighting is just that solution and Bandit is committed."

(Jim Evans)