satis&fy on tour with 'Söhne Mannheims'
The event specialist attached 18,000 tiny mirrors to an LED ball
Kicking off on October 15, the IZ ON/Alles kann besser werden tour featured Söhne Mannheims und Xavier Naidoo. Sharing a double billing and performing on two successive evenings on Germany, Austria, and Switzerland’s biggest stages, Söhne Mannheims appeared as a collective and Naidoo as a solo artist. The tour culminated in a closing concert at Leipzig on December 5.
satis&fy AG Werne (satis&fy) provided technical support for the two popular acts’ joint tour. X.N. Tertainment GmbH from Mannheim tasked satis&fy to provide all the lighting, audio, and video equipment for the performance. Gunther Hecker designed the light show and set, and took his skills as a programmer and operator on the road with the rig. The show’s most striking feature was an over-sized LED ball used to project video content and live images.
Unlike anything ever seen before
Measuring 4.5 meters in diameter, weighing 2.5 tons, and driven by 3 motors, the LED ball hovered mid-stage. In an impressive feat of handicraft, a crew of seven satis&fy staff at Werne covered half of the ball with 18,000 tiny mirrors. The project took 240 man-hours to complete and required 600 meters of adhesive foil and 50 meters of carrier sheets. The other half of the mirror ball was equipped with Element Labs’ Helix P1 series XL Video with 16,896 LED pixels. This ball and various decorative sculptures covered in white fabric provided an eye-catching centerpiece for the stage. These visuals hinted at the tour’s origins. The set design was reminiscent of Söhne Mannheims’ MTV Unplugged show, which took place last year in a historic Rococo theater at Schwetzingen. Called Wettsingen in Schwetzingen, this show sparked the tour with the double billing as solo acts.
An equipment recap
The mirror ball was not the only highlight. The synchronized music, lighting, and video treated the audience to an experience it won’t soon forget. satis&fy certainly rolled out an impressive rig to get the artists’ musical messages across. K1, the new flagship PA from L-Acoustics, the company that invented the line array, featured prominently with 24 K1 ine array units, eight K1 Subs, twenty KUDO units, and 24 SB28 cabinets. An LNet LA8 Amp Controller from Meyer Sound served to control the PA. The tour featured a mighty arsenal of lighting equipment. The conventional lighting systems comprised four Robert Juliat Cyrano 2500 W HMI follow-spots, one 1.2 KW Robert Juliat Manon truss spot, nine PAR 64 six-way bars, and 40 4-Lite DWE. It was augmented by ten Martin Atomic 3000 strobes and other special effects gear. The audience was able to follow the musicians’ every step courtesy of 38 Robe 2500E AT ColorSpots and 38 ColorWash 2500 E AT Moving Lights. An HES Road Hog Full Boar console with a Wholehog III Expansion Wing served to control the lights. A host of video gear was also deployed, including eight Sony cameras, an Avitech Rainier 8d1v multi-image display, and a Barco XLM HD 30 projector. satis&fy had set up a 28-square-meter G-LEC Phantom 30 LED wall for the backdrop.
2 in 1
The musicians had plenty of room to maneuver on a 26-meter, split-level platform. This stage’s three units were assembled inside the venue. It was the first time satis&fy had used a new stage system from the truss manufacturer Litestructures. The new LiteDeck’s greatest benefit is convenience. Mounted onto casters, the individual elements are easily and quickly locked in place with an Allen wrench, which saves time and cuts labor costs.
satis&fy tested the production at Werne using an ESP Vision software model, among other tools, before taking it out on the road and across nations in seven trailers. It took nine hours to set up the stage and three hours to fly the LED ball.
Fotos: Thommy Mardo
satis&fy AG Deutschland has earned a top spot among European providers of event technology with its ability deliver a one-stop solution. This end-to-end offering encompasses lighting, audio, video, presentation, and stagecraft technology and services. The production company also constructs exhibition stands, and offers set, graphic, and 3D animation design services, as well as furniture rentals. Its equipment and materials pool is one of Europe’s largest. The event service provider’s holistic approach and full-service offering, all from a sole source, are among its greatest strengths. Headquartered in Karben, the enterprise employs more than 240 people. It maintains further branches in the Westphalian town of Werne and, since 2006, in Berlin. A subsidiary company operates in the Netherlands.
For more information, contact:
Katrin Fougeray
marketing & communications
phone: +49 (0)6039/9120-983
e-mail: KatrinFougeray@satis-fy.com
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