Interviews with LDs Jerry Appelt (Festival Lighting Design) and Danny Nolan (LD Sting)

For 30 years now, Stuttgart, the state capital of Baden-Württemberg, has been home to an exceptional festival, the Jazzopen. Year after year, music reigns supreme in the city for eleven days. The ambience: unique, historic, beautiful. The audience: grateful and enthusiastic.

The line-up: A sometimes seemingly wild mix of established jazz giants and top international rock and pop acts.

Over the years, BB King, Dave Brubeck, Jamie Cullum and Lang Lang have all had a taste of the Jazzopen atmosphere, as have Grace Jones, Sting, Christina Aguilera, Kraftwerk, Liam Gallagher and Jamiroquai. The list could go on for quite a while without losing any of its glamour.

For many years, lighting designer Jerry Appelt and his team have been responsible for the lighting design of the stage and the surrounding historical setting, which, alongside the music, is part of the Jazzopen magic. And always on hand: plenty of GLP fixtures!

Sound & Light Veranstaltungstechnik GmbH from Leonberg has also repeatedly supported the Jazzopen as a technology partner in recent years and has been a permanent service provider for sound, lighting and video technology on the main stage since 2022. The company has invested in HIGHLANDER Wash, FUSION FS16Z and X5 Wash especially for the Jazzopen.

In the anniversary year 2024, Jerry Appelt integrated impression X5 IP Maxx, JDC2 IP, FUSION X-PAR 12Z, FUSION Sticks FS 16Z and HIGHLANDER Wash into the gigantic lighting concept - over 200 devices in total.

In this video, Jerry reveals what is important in terms of lighting at this special festival, how GLP products contribute to its success and which artist the designer was most looking forward to this year.

We also managed to lure Sting's long-time lighting designer Danny Nolan in front of our camera to chat briefly about the festival and his experiences with the GLP products used. He also explains why it's so easy to light Sting on stage. Watch the video - and then off to the gym, friends!