Jack Daniel's New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash, held at the city's Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, featured an impressive artist lineup and a lighting and production design created by Robert W. Peterson of Real World Lighting.

Peterson added 86 Robe iFORTE LTX moving lights to his lighting plot, together with 46 iFORTES, 38 iSpiider LED wash beams, 20 Robe Tarrantula large LED wash beams, and 20 LEDBeam 350s, all supplied by Solotech, project-managed by Austin Schussler and Steven Morgan with Joseph Logsdon providing account oversight.

The five-hour CBS special concert kicked off at 7pm. It was directed by Sandra Restrepo and was headlined and co-hosted by four-time GRAMMY award-winning Keith Urban with Rachel Smith, together with Kane Brown and Jelly Roll, and sets from Shaboozey, Brittney Spencer, and many others.

It's the second year that Peterson has lit the concert. The telecast also involved pre-recorded cut-ins filmed in various live music clubs along Nashville's Broadway (shown on the IMAG screens for those at the concert); he says, in terms of stage design, lighting rather than video was very much the dominant visual aesthetic.

Gently curving trusses at the back were divided by horizontal strips of LED, rather than a big upstage slab of screen, a decision made by Big Bash executive producer Robert Deaton, who wanted to unify the theme and place the focus firmly on the artists rather than any supporting video content. The main screens were wing IMAGs at stage right and stage left.

Peterson's lighting was designed with flexibility and multifunctionality at the core. In addition to the trusses, a series of arched structures upstage were populated with Robe fixtures plus other lights -- a nod to the many arched bridges that define and traverse Nashville's section of the Cumberland River and help define its cityscape.

iFORTES and iFORTE LTXs, the workhorses of the rig, were positioned on the over-stage trusses front and back, and six self-climbing towers in the audience together with two more towers at the front of house. Petersons says the luminaires were "rock solid" and worked extensively throughout the event period and the show, despite high winds and rain throughout the week. Good audience lighting was critical, and "these were some of the best-looking crowd shots I've seen, fully bathed in the iFORTE LTX beams," he says.

He also used iFORTE LTXs as rear followspots onstage and notes that both iFORTES and iFORTE LTXs will be going on all his future lighting designs when possible, saying their "power and reliability" make them a perfect choice for large-scale outdoor events.

The LEDBeam 350s were rigged on the arch structures and used as band backlight and for numerous other rear-lighting and back-of-camera effects. The iSpiiders were also on the rear trusses where they contrasted with the iFORTES, including lots of twinkling and sparkling pixel effects.

Onstage, Peterson used 32 Robe FOOTSIE2 Slim RGB luminaires to assist as low-profile key lighting for the left and right sides of the mainstage. It was the first time he had used the Slim version of the FOOTSIE -- an IP65-rated reduced footprint version of the original product, designed to take footlights into a new era -- and says, "The functionality and size are great."

Twelve iFORTE LTXs -- positioned on the front of house and sides of the onstage rig -- had RoboSpot cameras added; they were controlled by 12 RoboSpot BaseStations with their operators located downstage right in a designated tent.

Peterson worked closely with lighting programmer Scott Cunningham, who also programmed and operated lighting for many of the pre-recorded venue segments; Tal Kolchav took care of audience lighting.

Solotech's lighting crew chief was Tommy Smith. Dave Carr managed the front of house and was the team's RoboSpot wiz. The dimmer tech was Robert Winfree. Lighting techs included Josh Dirks, Robbie Sheene, Hayley Cass, and Jimmy Healey.

Marshall Blair was video crew chief, working with techs Kenny Kightlinger and William Sherman/ The lighting director was Taylor Price. Lead rigger was Jake Lanier, and Gabe Boardley coordinated the automation elements.

The event was managed for the City of Nashville by David Spencer and Chris Lisle.

Peterson started his professional lighting career in touring and was introduced to the television world by Allen Branton. He now works on many music television shows, Netflix comedies, and other genres that cross over between these two disciplines.

Peterson has been using Robe products since the brand's early days and has seen the company develop and grow. He feels that Robe "really appreciates the importance of quality optics in professional-level tools."