Lighting designer Tino Weinhardt from Dessauer based rental company i:TECS Germany recently lit two high profile gala fundraiser events - in Munich and Vienna - for the "Ronald McDonald Kinderhilfe".
Together, these raised nearly 2 million Euros for the Ronald McDonald House Charities.
The events – staged at the Albert Schultz Ice Hall in Vienna and the Postpalast in Munich - were attended by a glittering guest list of leading business people, politicians, celebrities and sports personalities, and featured a wide variety of live performers.
Robe SRO and Swiss distributors Signal also contributed directly to both events, with the provision of 12 additional ROBIN LEDBeam 100 fixtures for both concerts.
Weinhardt’s designs varied slightly to take into account the different venues, but the essence was to be as adaptable as possible to make sure that all the acts looked fabulous and had their own exclusive looks.
In addition to the music and entertainment, the rooms were set up for dinner which also needed careful illumination. The Vienna show included an ice performance, so part of the ice rink in the auditorium was left exposed.
Weinhardt used a variety of Robe moving fixtures including the new ROBIN DLX Spots – i:TECS were the first company in Germany to take delivery of these - together with ROBIN LEDBeam 100s, plus ROBIN 600 LEDWashes, ROBIN 600E Spots, ColorSpot 1200E ATs and ColorWash 575E ATs – around 140 units in total.
The main act in Vienna was the Earth Wind & Fire Experience featuring the Al McKay Allstars, and also on the bill were popular illusionists, The Ehrlich Brothers. In Munich the special guests included an unplugged performance by German pop / electronic act "Unheilig".
In Vienna, the client wanted the stage and the room to have a fairy-tale setting. The technical challenges included it being the first time that the venue had been used for such a combined dinner / live entertainment event ….. and one with its own live ice show!
The Munich venue is a large round space, and in both cases Weinhardt worked closely with i:TECS’ Technical Director Lutz Paetzold to create the appropriate environment.
In Vienna, Robe LEDWash 600s illuminated the tables with gobos and texturing from the ROBIN 600E Spots layered over the top. More LEDWash 600s washed up the back of the stage.
The ColorSpot 1200s were used specifically for the illusionists and the ROBIN 600 Beams for the ice performers and as effects for VT stings and jingles played out in between the speeches and introductions.
The LEDBeam 100s and the DLX Spots were used extensively as effects lighting for the live bands, backed up by standard washes from a selection of PARs. Weinhardt found that the diminutive LEDBeam 100s emulated the power and distinction of classic ACL beams very efficiently at the back of the stage.
For Munich, they again followed the successful formula of using LEDWash 600s and 600E Spots to light the dining area.
Over the stage a 33 metre wide circular truss provided lighting positions for all the other relevant fixtures. Only LED sources were used for the stage lighting in the form of 34 LEDWash 600s, and for general room lighting, they used another 34 ROBIN 600E Spots, 17 x LEDBeam 100s and eight DLX Spots.
Weinhardt, who has used Robe products for 10 years, says of the DLX Spot, “It’s a fantastic light! We have used ours solidly for the last six months and they have been completely reliable”.
He likes the bright output, light weight and low power consumption, coupled with the very fast colour changing and the option to continuously trim the colour temperature.
Of the new ‘handbag’ sized LEDBeam 100 that weighs just 4Kg and is super-bright, he comments, “It’s totally unique!”
He programmed and ran the two shows using a Chamsys MQ200 Pro console and a PC version / MQ Wing as backup.