Perfect illumination for this top-class music spectacle, from combination of impression X5 and FUSION Stick FS16 Z

Ever since 1994, the rather tranquil Baden-Württemberg state capital of Stuttgart has been transformed into a quivering music metropolis for a few days every year (notwithstanding the city’s never-ending railway station construction drama).

The Jazzopen music festival – which, contrary to what the name suggests, has been open to artists of all musical genres since the beginning – has developed into an extremely high-calibre, world-class concert event. This year, around 50,000 visitors experienced great performances by Melody Gardot, Deep Purple, Grace Jones, Die Fantastischen Vier, Joss Stone, Simply Red and many others over the festival’s 11 days.

Event technology specialist, Sound & Light Veranstaltungstechnik from Leonberg, has consistently supported Jazzopen as a technology partner in recent years and has been a permanent service provider for sound, light and video technology on the main stage since 2022. None other than Jerry Appelt is responsible for the lighting design on the main stage, which is spectacularly located in the courtyard of the Old Castle. For the lighting of the main stage, he again relied principally on solutions from GLP, specifying over 220 fixtures from the German manufacturer.

In addition to 54 GLP HIGHLANDER Washes, 102 FUSION FS16 Z LED sticks and 40 JDC1 hybrid strobes, Appelt also specified 32 of the new GLP impression X5 wash lights – all supplied by Sound & Light Veranstaltungstechnik.

The tried-and-tested lighting design has hardly changed from last year. Only the impression X4 L, which was used in 2022, has been replaced by the new impression X5.

A first-class festival such as this, which is also partly broadcast live on television, places high demands on the lighting equipment, as Karl-Heinz Jagusch, managing director of Sound & Light Veranstaltungstechnik, explains: “On the one hand, the lighting system must meet the requirements of all international artists that appear on the main stage. Since some concerts are also broadcast live on ARTE, the light must be fully camera-compatible and meet the very high quality standards of the event overall. Last but not least, it is always helpful and cost-efficient if the lighting system can work as multifunctionally as possible.”

With the weatherproof FUSION Sticks FS16 Z, Jerry Appelt created a central perspective lighting architecture on the stage, but also used the versatile devices to create light matrix and blinder effects. The special halo ring around the front lenses improved the visibility of the individual pixels in the camera image and further enhanced the look.

With the 54 HIGHLANDER Wash, the designer created powerful, colourful stage washes that were effective even in the remaining daylight, while with the JDC1 he primarily achieved variable effects with highly assertive effects and graduated stage depth.

For the public lighting, the designer chose the impression X5, with iQ.Gamut colour algorithm and unrivalled precise colour mixing, in preference to the X4 L this year. The impression X5 is already inspiring designers worldwide.

Reviewing the impression X5, Jagusch says: “It is the perfected development of the already very strong X4 Series. We were immediately convinced when we saw the impression X5 for the first time. When it came to Jazzopen, Jerry chose them because of their high light output, truly outstanding colour quality and large zoom range [3.5°–60°]. Thanks to these features, the X5 impressed as an extremely efficient and high-quality solution at Jazzopen.”

After Sound & Light Veranstaltungstechnik had successfully worked with devices from GLP's impression X4 Series for many years, the company decided early on to invest in the X5 Series.

“While we have been very happy with the X4 over the years, the impression X5 promises a service life that is equally as long, and is therefore also a good choice economically,” concludes Jagusch. “Last but not least, they are in great demand on the market and are also doing very well in dry hire. We have been using our impression X5 for a year now. So far there hasn't been a single failure or any problems with the fixture. And even if that were the case, we know we can always rely on the perfect service and support from GLP.”