Jands  is a major distributor of professional lighting, sound and stage equipment in Australia.  

Lighting designer Marcus Krömer specified 330 Chroma-Q Color Block 2 LED light fixtures to provide backlighting for stage scenic elements at a large corporate event featuring some of Germany’s most popular bands.  

The event was held at Cologne’s state-of-the-art LANXESS arena, one of Europe’s largest all-purpose venues and host to concerts by an impressive range of international music stars.  

Production management for the event was by Placet Die Veranstaltungsgesellschaft mbH while stage lighting, audio and video supply was by PRG Cologne with set design by John Stillwell.  

For the third year running, Marcus Krömer and Marcus Bossdorf provided the lighting and video content design for the all-day event, which featured a conference in the morning, an awards show in the afternoon and a concert in the evening.  

Programming was required 24/7 for a whole week in the arena.  

Marcus needed a fixture that was bright enough to uplight a curved wall onstage reaching up to 5m high at its centre, while being compact enough to fit inside and follow the curvature of the 32m span.  

The fixture also needed to feature built-in dimming, provide smooth colour changing effects and look good on camera as the whole event was being filmed in high definition.  

Chroma-Q Color Block 2 LED fixtures were recommended to the set designer as only they could meet the multiple requirements.  

Marcus had successfully tested these LED fixtures while building the set offsite.  

Marcus used 330 Color Block 2 LED fixtures mounted at the top and bottom of the wall to light a bounce at the back.  

In addition to providing ample light output for the 5m height and smooth dimming, the fixture’s soft, asymmetrical beam optics produced an immediate perfect colour blend for uplighting the surface.  

Additionally, the unit’s RGBA single colour diffused optics provided camera-friendly output and a wider colour palette for achieving the set lighting’s broad range of bold and subtle colour changes.   

The wall was used in two different configurations with an entrance opening for the daytime conference and awards, and then fully closed off for the evening concert.  

Marcus used soft colour static looks for the daytime events while bold colour looks synchronised with the surrounding video panels and other effects lighting at the evening concert, which featured well known German bands Die Höhner, Drum Café and Pur.  

Summarising his experience with the Color Block 2 LED fixtures, Marcus said that the LED lights looked great at the show and were still bright enough to compete with all the movers on stage. The range of colours also suited the different events while the configuration offered superior flexibility and ease of installation.