BERLIN, Germany – German punk band Die Ärzte finished their latest tour of German-speaking countries with LD Lui Helmig and the latest Robe moving lights, including LEDBeam 100s, LEDWash 600s and ColorSpot 2500E ATs. Helmig has been with the band for 27 years, and began using Robe fixures in 2004.
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BERLIN, Germany – German punk band Die Ärzte have just finished their latest tour of German speaking countries with another lighting design by Lui Helmig involving the latest Robe moving lights, including LEDBeam 100s, LEDWash 600s and ColorSpot 2500E ATs.
Helmig has worked with the band for a 27 years. Since he first used Robe fixtures in 2004 he has also been a big Robe advocate and they appear on the specs for all his major shows.
For this Die Ärzte “Das Ende ist noch nicht vorbei” tour, the Robes plus all the other lighting and video production was supplied by German rental company Satis and Fy’s Werner office.
Helmig was again working closely with lighting/video programmer Roland Greil.
The feel of the show was ‘punky, funky and dirty’ in keeping with the band’s musical roots and energy – still full on, noisy and anarchic after all this time – with some theatrical flourishes and special effects.
The lighting design concept for this leg of the tour evolved around the use of five moving trussing cubes rigged on a Cyberhoist system beneath a mother grid. These could be turned on any axis, and in the process change the whole look and shape of the stage space.
The cubes were three faceted. On one side they were clad with video tiles, on the second with four bars of 4 ACLs and on the third with eight Robe LEDBeam 100s arranged in a circle around a single Robe LEDWash 600 in the center.
In the spaces on the trussing between the cubes, three Robe ColorSpot 2500E ATs were flown beneath the mother grid, and below these was a striplight with ACL bulbs used for blinder effects.
Upstage was a single truss for scenic elements including a painted backdrop featuring the album artwork, which was revealed for the end of the set. On the floor beneath this cloth were 12 LEDWash 600s used as digital cyc lights to color the whole surface.
On the front truss were another 12 ColorSpot 2500E ATs – arranged in four groups of three, together with nine LEDWash 600s also in groups of three (to match the band line up) which were used as basic stage wash lights. The three follow spots were also positioned on the front truss to keep the beams neat.
There were two LED sidewalls upstage left and right used for a mix of IMAG and playback content fed in from a Catalyst media server. On the top and bottom rails of the video screen frames were six LEDWashes (12 in total per LED screen).
On the floor were another 12 ColorSpot 2500E ATs used for punchy, powerful beams, with another three per side each on the downstage left and right wings for cross stage low level lighting, finishing off with six more behind the drum riser.
The tour featured a Prolyte Lite Deck rolling stage also designed by Helmig, and supplied by Gunther Hecker GmbH, which saved time each day on the set up.
Helmig specified Robe fixtures once again because of their reliability and creative scope.
It was the first time he’s used the new LEDBeam 100s, and he was well impressed with the range of colors, the brightness, the small size and the light weight, “They are a bit like digital ACLs,” he comments. “Beamy, fast, effective and a lot more versatile.”
He says he will use them on future shows.
He likes the LEDWash 600 immensely, especially the flexibility of the zoom. “They are great fixtures for lighting a stage, an audience, set pieces or a cyc, even when in close proximity to the object producing a smooth, even field of light.”
The Die Ärzte show was controlled via two Road Hog Full Boar consoles: one for lighting, operated by Helmig and the other operated by Greil, triggering the Catalyst.
