The party was enjoyed by a capacity audience of 20,000 with a production lighting design created by Martin Kuhn. The Robe fixtures were central to the night of action in the Ostfunk, Planet Bass and House Floor arenas.
Berlin and Mexico based Kuhn - a high profile designer with vast experience working across multiple disciplines - was commissioned by event promoter A&P on this occasion to create a fantastic visual ambience for the Summer Rave.
He has used Robe products in his work for some years. He specified the brand on this occasion for its flexibility, reliability and the wide range of creative options that Robe brings to the party and that are ideal for lighting EDM events!
His brief was to make each arena different, interesting and a visual departure from the previous year's event. Each space needed its own distinctive ambience and flavour to reflect the music and hi-energy line ups which included Westbam, Aka Aka, Vitalic and many more.
The Planet Bass Arena features 96 x Robe Robin 100 LEDBeams; on the Ostfunk Stage were 60 x Robin MMX Spots and in the House Floor arena, 48 x Robin 600 LED Washes.
All lighting and other technical elements for the event - sound, video and rigging - was supplied by Black Box Music from Berlin.
In Planet Bass, the LEDBeam 100s were chosen for their unique bright and very tight beams and their speed which is ideal for lighting EDM environments and specifically edgy drum 'n' bass acts. Kuhn has had excellent experiences using large quantities of these units and here they were scattered around on different trussing elements flown in the roof.
The MMX Spots in the Ostfunk arena were selected for their power and the dynamics of the in-air gobo kits which were fitted to all 60 fixtures. Some MMX Spots were rigged on trusses that moved throughout the evening on a Cyberhoist system.
"The MMX 'in-air kit' was definitely invaluable as it gave us the ability to use the gobo features to full capacity" says Kuhn, adding, "Having the new gobo wheel really helped."
Lighting for each stage - which also included other moving lights and LED fixtures - was controlled by grandMA2 consoles run by Tobias Heydthausen and Conrad Neumann in Planet Bass. Patrick Schmelz and Philip Kroll enjoyed the best of Berlin's underground in the Ostfunk arena, while Carl Boese and Thomas Hutzler ensured that the lights made maximum impact on the House Floor.
(Jim Evans)
