The 40th anniversary concert was staged at Munich’s Olympiahalle.
Germany - They were the rock idols of the Munich ‘Schickeria’, and in the 80s and 90s were Bavaria’s hottest rock exports throughout the whole of Europe - step forward, Barny Murphy, Günther Sigl and the Spider Murphy Gang. Their recent 40th anniversary concert showed they had lost none of their fire, and Marc Lorenz from CUE Design provided an appropriate lightshow at the Olympiahalle.
The band and lighting designer are long-time companions. "In the mid-'90s, when I was still at the beginning of my career, I worked in Munich for the first time,” Marc recalls. "Later, at the band's 20th anniversary, I had my second engagement as moving light operator, and at the planning stage for the 40th Anniversary came the request for me to take over the lighting design for the Olympiahalle.
“The band is rock 'n' roll - and should always remain so. But of course, there must also be a modern look - sloping truss fingers above the stage, just as it was in the 80s plus the more modern large LED surfaces, moving lights and strobes in the stage background - as you would see it today.”
He said it was important that Barny and Günther were always in focus, but at the same time the other musicians should not remain in the dark. Something further made the design special, since the band does not like wild effects, blackouts or constant scanner beams. "So, it happened that some songs just had a picture. I was then able to set accents through the brightness, which also greatly benefited the camera image, because in addition to the live show, a DVD was also recorded at the Olympiahalle.”
The show was equipped by Gahrens & Battermann's Munich branch, with a total of 42 GLP impression X4 on stage and 46 GLP impression X4L above the audience. In addition, the lighting crew installed 14 of the new JDC1 hybrid strobes. "The impressions are the perfect workhorses and are already in stock at Gahrens & Battermann,” says Lorenz. “I recently used the JDC1 at a show in Hamburg, and I spontaneously came up with the idea of using these strobes as a gimmick. Strobes are typically rock 'n' roll, but the LED surfaces are currently hip and modern - so the JDC1 fit well into the design. Classic strobes for the 80s, flat LED tiles for the modern age."
(Jim Evans)

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