Sarah Connor is one of the most successful German-language artists of her generation. Her current chart-topping album Freigeistin has taken her to major venues across Germany, Austria and Switzerland this spring. The production will continue throughout the summer with the Wilde Nächte open-air concert series.
The lighting and production design is once again in the hands of Bertil Mark, who has worked alongside Sarah Connor for many years. For this tour, the production features 12 GLP TWYN and 57 GLP WildBar 16 fixtures as key elements of the visual design.
The show’s visual concept is built around a carefully controlled reveal. It begins with a large semi-circular LED screen flanked by two side IMAG screens, while the lighting rig remains largely hidden from view. Sarah Connor appears alone on stage, and the energy of the opening songs comes from her presence and voice rather than the scale of the production.
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We wanted all attention to be focused solely on Sarah at the beginning of the show. That is why the large lighting setup remains hidden during the opening moments. The power of this first section comes not from technology, but from her stage presence and performance, says Mark.
The show’s dramaturgy mirrors the broader narrative of the production, following Sarah Connor’s journey from her earliest steps as an artist to a full-scale arena spectacle. The turning point comes when the central LED wall rises to reveal the band, dancers and backing vocalists on a two-tier riser. From that moment on, lighting shifts from an intimate, image-driven role to a layered spatial experience where depth, structure and movement take centre stage.
The 12 TWYN fixtures are distributed across the side ramps and the raised platform occupied by the musicians, helping to create depth and visual dimension on stage. This dual-face moving head combines a 3x3 RGBL wash array with nine 40W LEDs on one side and a hybrid strobe featuring 36 white LEDs and 480 RGBW LEDs on the other. Its greatest strength lies in the ability to use both faces simultaneously: while one side provides illumination for performers, scenery or backdrops, the other delivers strobe effects and visual accents, enriching the stage picture without the need for additional fixtures.
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I’m not looking for the largest possible number of fixtures. What matters is achieving the greatest possible impact from every position. TWYN allows me to combine surface illumination, visual structure and dynamic effects within a single fixture: one face handles the washes, while the other simultaneously adds energy and graphic elements. This enables me to create richer, more powerful visuals without overcrowding the stage, explains Mark.
In a show that constantly moves between intimate moments and large-scale pop sequences, this dual functionality is used throughout. The TWYN fixtures not only create different looks across the set but, by operating both faces simultaneously, also add visual layers that would otherwise require additional fixture types.
Colour consistency throughout the rig is maintained thanks to GLP’s iQ.Gamut technology, shared by both TWYN and WildBar 16. Working alongside large-format LED content, reliable reproduction of pastel tones, saturated colours and white light across different fixture types is essential to maintaining a coherent visual environment.
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While the TWYN fixtures add depth and energy at the rear of the stage, the 57 WildBar 16 units define its architecture at the front. They run along the edge of the main stage, extend the full length of the catwalk and outline the perimeter of the circular B-stage, drawing the performance area as one continuous line of light.
The WildBar 16 was the ideal tool for emphasising the shape of the stage. It allows us to precisely outline the main stage, the catwalk and the circular B-stage. But it does much more than create a line of light; it also generates surfaces, volume and visual effects. That versatility was exactly what the design required, says Mark.
Featuring 16 RGBL LEDs rated at 40W each, a motorised 190-degree tilt and a zoom range from 4° to 44°, the WildBar 16 can create anything from tightly focused beams to broad washes of colour. In addition, the consistent pixel spacing both within each fixture and between adjacent units enables seamless lines of light and uniform visual effects across the main stage edge, catwalk and B-stage.
Both fixtures feature an IP65 rating, ensuring reliable performance in both indoor and outdoor environments. This allows the production to transition seamlessly to the open-air dates of the Wilde Nächte series, which runs from May through the end of August 2026.
Photo credits: Paul Gärtner
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