Prominent on the lighting rig are 50 Robe BMFL Spots - the brand's new multi-functional signature fixture - which are supported by another 180 Robe moving lights - 40 Robin Pointes, 60 Robin LEDWash 800s, 68 Robe ColorWash 2500E ATs and 12 x ColorSpot 2500E ATs.
Gunther is working closely with lighting director and FOH systems engineer Marc Lorenz on this tour, with the Fanta Four celebrating 25 years at the top of a massively successful career.
Robe's busy reporting team caught up with the tour in Stuttgart's 15,500 capacity Schleyer Halle where the band played three show-stopping homecoming gigs which were also recorded for a forthcoming DVD and live 4K streamed to selected ARRI cinemas as well as Sky television - allowing thousands more fans to enjoy the spectacle.
The tour's design concept originated from five major European festivals headlined by the Fanta Four in summer 2014, which worked very well and was developed by Gunther into a full touring version for Record. The set started off on a raw, bare stage with whatever the venue happened to have as a backdrop at the back, which was transformed about half way through as three mirrored 'walls' rose up from nowhere - on a Cyberhoist system - to line the stage in golden mirror material.
This is a complete surprise, and is adeptly used as a bounce and refraction surface for the various light and video sources.
Another visually striking element is the 4m square six-sided LED video cube floating above centre stage which can move on all axes - up, down, left, right and rotate. Populated with Radiant 18 Hybrid LED screen - a standard medium 18 mm pitch tile with 32 x 32 pixels per panel, and 4 x 4 higher brightness (7700nit) low resolution pixels embedded in the same panel. This is used for some 'conventional' video playback and IMAG footage other material enables it to work as a lightsource in its own right.
The 50 x BMFLs are fundamental to the show and dotted around the over-stage trusses, together with the 68 x ColorWash 2500E ATs. The 12 x ColorSpot 2500E ATs are used above the B-Stage which is immediately behind the FOH area and where the band make their entrance at the start of the show.
The 60 x LEDWash 800s were rigged on a series of audience trusses brought in as additional lighting for Stuttgart, primarily for the DVD shoot.
The 40 x Pointes are used - sparingly but with maximum impact - to frame the video cube during strategic moments. Their high-clarity beams were also used as very effective bounce-sources fired off the mirrored walls creating some cool and quirky aberrations with the light, very much in Gunther's imaginative oeuvre.
Gunter operates the lighting from a Hog 4 console.
Video is played back using a custom combination of Quartz Composer and Resolume Arena developed by Marc and Gunther, where the Quartz Composer parts had been programmed from band member And.Ypsilon.
All lighting equipment is being supplied by leading international technical solutions provider Satis&Fy, co-ordinated through their Werne office in Germany.
(Jim Evans)
