USA - Barry Manilow, a regular act at the Hilton in Las Vegas, is adding several tour dates to his schedule through January of 2007. Bandit Lites is working with lighting designer Seth Jackson, to provide the lighting.

For the hard-edge fixtures, Jackson has opted for a combination of VL2500s and Martin Mac2k Performances. For the 2ks, he added in the Patrick Woodroffe Gobo package to give some new variety to the light, which he says made a world of difference. Jackson also uses Syncrolite B-52s along with Mac 300s and Mac2ks.

The show is packed with video- including an upstage LED wall that is 30 feet wide, and then another 40 feet of Low-Res panels (built by Screenworks). It became essential to match the video with a lot of lighting, in order to cut through a backdrop that produces a fair amount of light on its own.

Jackson uses Morris Leasing's ESP Vision Studio in Nashville to pre-programme the show. "The ESP system is fantastic," Jackson commented, "It really gives you a natural feel for what the lights are going to do in reality and allowed me to programme in the daytime without distractions."

(Jim Evans)


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