‘Contributing to the rich visual panorama was a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures’ (photo: Fabio Krämer)
Switzerland - The Zurich Open Air Festival, held over three days in suburban Glattbrugg, features artists from an array of genres, from ballads to electronic beats, and hard rock anthems to indie tunes. Jazz, blues, and folk join the diverse mix for good measure. The artists on stage at this year’s (10th annual) rendition of the festival, included Robbie Williams, Zara Larsson, Bastian Baker, The Killers, The Chainsmokers and Paul Kalkbrenner.
The production design on the 2023 festival’s substantial main stage also embodied a very diverse range of creative inputs. Defined by two high towers, each with a large vertically-oriented video wall at its base, the towers were connected by horizontal rows of lights. Other rows of lights extended from each wall and sloped down to smaller stage left and stage right columns.
Contributing to the rich visual panorama was a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied and installed by FeedBack Show Systems & Service, which provided all video, audio, and lighting services on the main stage.
The spectator area around the main stage at this year’s festival was designed to resemble a rock concert arena. FeedBack Show System & Service’s rig accentuated this mood with its bold towering lighting displays, abundance of blinders for audience lighting, synchronised pixel mapped effects, and linear lighting arrange to extend the impression of the stage.
Key to helping in this effort were the rig’s 24 Color Strike M motorised fixtures. Drawing on the two ultra-bright white tube elements in the centre of the fixture, designers ramped up the excitement level with intense strobing and audience lighting.
Designers were also able to call upon the Color STRIKE M’s pixel mappable RGB face to captivate the crowd with a variety of stunning effects. The IP65 rated fixture’s 180-degree tilt added to the range of looks that were created with the powerful unit.
Also adding an extra level of visual depth to the stage were the rig’s 54 COLORado PXL Bar 16 fixtures with their pixel mappable capabilities, vivid colour output, wide zoom range, and edge-to-edge mounting that helped tie the entire stage together.
Like the Color Strike M, the high output motorised batten COLORado PXL Bar 16 is IP65 rated. That proved to be a good thing, since it rained one day during festival and was very hot overall. The inclement weather didn’t matter much for the 50,000 or so fans in attendance, with the variety of music and engaging looks on stage, there was something for everyone to enjoy.

Latest Issue. . .