LD Ryan Conlon 150 Logo

Practice Programming Lights to Music You Don’t Know

It is fun when you are running lights and you know/like the Music the band is playing. But you don’t get to pick the entertainment. Most of the time you might run lights for a band that you have never heard of. OR you don’t like that type of Music. So Practice Programming Lights to music you don’t know.

Story – So far my favorite concert I ran lights for – was The Wailers. It was a free outdoor concert in July. The weather was great. I know all the songs. The stagehands were good. All the lights worked. I was able to attend a concert and run lights that night.

Extra Tip – One simple thing you can do to Become a Better LD – Is to change it up. Make every event/concert look different. Different Effects – Different Colors – Different Positions. If you look at your Instagram Profile and you see the same colors in every picture. Try to mix it up.


Programming Playlist

I have a Programming playlist on my phone. It has a variety of different artists. The songs come in handy when I am getting ready for a band I don’t know. I try to look up a band the night before their show and find out their main hits. But for their other songs that I don’t know – I use the songs in my list to help me program. After most concerts I usually add a song to my programming playlist from a band I just worked with.


Some songs from my Playlist

Catfish and the Bottlemen – Soundcheck
Soul Asylum – Supersonic
Ester Dean – Drop It Low
Blink-182 – Up All Night
Bob Marley – Wait in Vain
Taylor Swift – Wildest DreamsConcert Lighting Programming
First Aid Kit – Emmylou
The War on Drugs – Eyes To the Wind
Judah & the Lion – Green Eyes
One Direction – Story of My Life
3 Speaker High – Make Me Dance All Night
Cardi B – Bodak Yellow
Paul Simon – Graceland
Taylor Swift – …Ready For It
Twenty One Pilots – Jumpsuit
Robbie Rivera – Girlfriend
Ludacris – My Chick is Bad
Solarstone – I Want You Here
Mumford & Sons – I’m On Fire (Cover)
Lissie – Shameless
Post Malone – A Thousand Bad Times
R3HAB & VINAI – How We Party (Haterade Remix)
Britney Spears – Till The World Ends (Jump Smokers Extended Mix)

Plus a lot of Chvrches, Angels and Airwaves, Blink 182

I put a song on repeat and go to work.

Practice Programing Lights to Music You Don’t Know


Read More


Pins for Pinterest If you like what we see feel free to share some love on Pinterest <3

Practice Programming Lights to Music You Don’t Know