038 REPORT
DIE SÖHNE MANNHEIM
Company: Robe Location: Europe
Leading German lighting designer Gunther Hecker used 22 Robe LEDWash 600’s as his key fixtures for the just finished Die Söhne Mannheims European tour, an opportunity seized by the band to preview material for their forthcoming new album to be released in the autumn. Söhne Mannheims is a popular German music band with massive energy and dynamics, featuring up to 17 members (with 13 on this tour) encompassing several musical genres including rap, R‘n’B, soul, hip hop and rock, all fused into a unique and very distinctive style, achieving considerable commercial and critical acclaim. It is also one of the many ongoing projects of Xavier Naidoo, one of Germany’s high- est profile and most prolific singer / songwriter / musicians. Hecker’s lighting design studio is based in Werne. He started his lighting career in the theatre 20 years ago, and now works on a host of cutting-edge live events, TV shows and bands - also including LDing the Die Fantastischen Vier and Tokio Hotel. He has designed several impressive architectural and buildings installations, and enjoys the variety of work and the opportunity of crossing-over his substantial lighting and visual skills between all these different disciplines. He has worked with Söhne Mannheims since 1999, during which time they have grown and developed into the phenomenon they are today. He has been a Robe fan since first using the 2500 Series soon after its launch in 2006. Robe’s Stage Banner was also his original idea, developed initially as a custom product for a show he created for German pop singer Nena, after which Robe thought it was such a great idea that they decided to make it a production item. Hecker had been wanting to try out the new Robe ROBIN LEDWash 600 since its launch at the end of 2010, and when the itinerary for this Söhne Mannheims tour was revealed it presented the perfect opportunity. The gigs varied from 200 to 6,500 capacities, and so for the smaller clubs and venues, he wanted a small, bright low power solution. LEDWash 600 ticked all the boxes. He needed his rig to be very flexible, and that’s also why he chose LEDWash as the main fixture. They were all floor based for ultimate versatility and adaptability. This enabled at least some of his key fixtures to be fitted into whatever space was available onstage.
www.mondodr.com
For the full size stage format, all 22 of the LEDWashes were located along the back just forward of the backline, around the sides and across the front of stage. Where there was the space, an expedient overhead rig - six bars of six PARs - and the PA was flown from a six-legged ground support system. Other than the LED- Washes and the PARs he used four 8-lite Moles, and two Martin Atomic strobes. The set was equally minimal - 21 panels (in full size configuration) of white canvas squares flown off the back and front trusses to add some architectural definition and depth to the stage. So, it really was all down to the LEDWash 600’s to bring the set alive visually. With 13 people onstage to light, and a two and a half hour set, it was a bold move to rely on 22 moving lights, but Hecker’s experience and the huge functionality of the LEDWashes made him confident that it was the right decision. Matching the hard driving action and massive energy of the band, a lot of the light- ing looks were straightforward single and duo colour mixes - where the richness, intensity and pureness of the LEDWash palette really had impact. With the LEDWashes located on the floor, it enabled a myriad of moody shadows to be projected onto the back wall and the upstage canvas squares and for the front line band to be crisply silhouetted, all adding to the excitement of the performance. “It’s a very good, highly cost effective product with excellent colour mixing and a great quality of light,” stated Hecker. He also used a lot of white light. Several songs were lit solely in different colour temperature whites - emphasising the seriously raw, edgy harshness of the music - and an effect that can only have been achieved so easily using the LEDWash 600 with its range of ‘real’ whites from 2700 - 8000°K. All lighting equipment for the Söhne Mannheims tour was supplied out of Satis & Fy’s Werne office, including the Road Hog console that Hecker used to run the show. He worked alongside his two crew - Hanna List and Ralph Hackstedt. Die Söhne Mannheims will be embarking on a full German arena tour in November following the release of the new album. Hecker already has an elaborate set design planned which will involve lots more LEDWashes... and other Robe fixtures.
www.robe.cz
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148