Electric Love festival heralds #NewEra with IP lighting from GLP

The Electric Love electronic music festival promised music, spirit, adventure and community. A top line-up with over 200 artists (including Scooter, Armin van Buuren and Timmy Trumpet) on a total of six stages and 180,000 visitors from 70 nations made the Salzburgring shake again at the beginning of July. GLP contributed to the power of the spectacle with 180 impression X5 IP Bars and 60 JDC2 IP on the main stage, having been used extensively for the elaborately staged 16-minute opening ceremony. Another 30 GLP impression X5 Wash were equally impressive in Club Circus.

Gigantic stage constructions, embracing a lot of technology and attention to detail, shaped the look of the festival. Equipped with 1,200 fixtures and weighing a massive 200 tons, the design of the main stage remains true to tradition on the one hand and yet reinterprets it in keeping with the festival’s 2024 motto, #NewEra. The cubic design characteristic of the Electric Love festival creates both continuity and a new beginning in that the typical cubes are used in an inverted form for the first time, so the view is directed into the interior of the structures. Elaborately equipped with around 800 wooden panels, the organic-looking construction, without visible steel construction elements, fits wonderfully into the natural surroundings of the Salzburgring.

This year, the main stage was characterised by honeycomb-like constructions made from inverted cubes, which were extended axially upwards by vertically installed impression X5 IP Bars. Arranged both vertically and in depth, this created a kind of matrix that was wonderful to play with: “With the zoom and tilt function of the X5 IP Bars, breathtaking fan effects could be achieved across the entire width of the stage, and the individual pixel control of the lamps enabled a variety of dimmer and colour effects,” said Matthias Hochwimmer of Full Scope GmbH, who assisted the festival organiser throughout the technical planning process. “Thanks to the high light output of the Bars, an impressive blinder or strobe effect with a high impact could also be achieved.”

In contrast, GLP’s new JDC2 IP weatherproof hybrid strobes were preferred to classic strobes on the so-called crowns at the upper edge of the stage construction. Here they functioned as an extension of the LED walls, which were also located on the crowns, and “harmonised perfectly with the video content generated specifically for this purpose,” added Hochwimmer.

All 60 of the video-capable hybrid devices were integrated into the video system via NDI. However, guest LDs worked in DigiFX mode to ensure compatibility with their show files. The dual-cortex CPU with graphics processing integrated into the JDC2 IP allows video-like digital effects, known as GLP DigiFX, to be created on the devices. The JDC2 IP offers over 100 of these elaborately designed DigiFX, which can also be manipulated in real time via special DigiFX channels.

Hochwimmer is entirely satisfied with the performance of the GLP fixtures: “The GLP impression X5 IP Bar 1000 was hugely impressive with its very fast tilt, as well as the large zoom range and high light intensity. Thanks to the outdoor capability of the fixtures, we can manage without the visually disturbing rain covers, which also significantly reduces installation time. The effect achieved, especially when you use the vertically mounted Bars as compartments, was impressive with this number of fixtures.”

In addition to the very good colour mixing with a significantly expanded colour spectrum, Hochwimmer highlights a small mechanical gimmick: “When installing the various Bars, we noticed the arrangement of the connections and the spring-loaded powerCON TRUE1 top lids.

“Especially in installations with such a high number of devices and difficult accessibility for service purposes, it has happened that improperly closed powerCON TRUE1 covers have disabled a whole series of fixtures. GLP obviously came up with something here that was particularly helpful to us when it came to vertically mounting the lamps and shows how much the manufacturer cares in detail about the products and their intended uses.”

The show producer is also very pleased with the JDC2 IP: “The device’s redesigned pixel engine brought a completely new design dimension and was particularly impressive in its interaction with the content on the LED surfaces. Thanks to DigiFX, guest lighting designers can also quickly integrate the product into their existing tour show file, which is particularly crucial given the short pre-programming times for fly-in acts. The brightness of the white light engine was also completely effective, even in brighter lighting conditions. The devices are of high quality and robustly manufactured, which is something we as technical producers pay particular attention to. The JDC2 IP is certainly a first-class tool for outdoor events and festivals thanks to its high reliability, impressive light output and flexible integration.”