The iconic Czech rock band Lucie celebrated its 40th anniversary with a series of explosive concerts in four major cities across the Czech Republic: one in Brno, one in Ostrava, two in Prague, and a final show at the LOGSPEED CZ Aréna in Plzeň, all of them sold out.
The technical production was coordinated and managed by SMART Production, headed by Josef ‘Pepa’ Ženíšek. The band’s lighting designer, Lukáš Patzenhauer, deployed a rig featuring 24 iBOLTS, 48 WTF! strobe/wash fixtures and 5 BMFL WashBeams operating through a five-way RoboSpot system.
Lukáš has been lighting the band for 12 years and, for this tour design, worked alongside stage designer Michal Dvořák to create a bold, powerful and spectacular lighting aesthetic, while also focusing on the dynamics of the music and reinforcing them with appropriate lighting.
The lighting equipment was supplied by Ostrava-based High Lite Touring, and it was the first time Lukáš had the opportunity to use both the iBOLT and WTF! fixtures, so he was excited to incorporate them into the rig.
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Part of the iBOLTS fixtures were positioned at floor level: four hidden beneath the stage and revealed through moving grills above, and another five placed on each side of the stage to create side-lighting effects. The remaining eight were installed on a circular truss suspended above the rotating B-stage, also circular in shape, located in the centre of the arena.
The fixtures were used throughout the show for a wide variety of scenes and effects, including powerful rock looks designed to highlight dramatic moments and musical accents within the set.
The WTF! fixtures were distributed across three automated lighting pods positioned in the upstage area, arranged in 3x3 matrices with nine units per pod. The remaining 15 were installed along the front edge of the downstage trusses, aimed directly into the arena to maximise visual impact. The impressive and multifunctional WTF! is a powerful and versatile strobe fixture offering numerous options, movement and wash capabilities for large areas. Lukáš made extensive use of them for strobe effects, blinder looks, pixel mapping and wash applications.
The iBOLTS were perfectly suited to this design and were selected for their incredible brightness and speed, both essential qualities for such a high-energy rock show.
It’s fantastic to be able to use a single fixture for so many different functions,”commented Lukáš about both products.
The stage design featured five large independent LED screen surfaces, making it essential to use bright light sources capable of competing visually with them, and the iBOLTS certainly stood out. “It’s great that on such a large stage with so many LED screens and other lights, iBOLT always stands out”, he noted.
At the front of the stage, four custom-built lift platforms by Gradior elevated four members of the band toward the audience. In addition, the B-stage — connected to the main stage via a runway — incorporated five industrial robotic arms of two different sizes, normally used in the automotive industry, which helped create a truly striking stage design for the show.
The smaller robotic arms were positioned along the downstage edge of the B-stage, while the larger units were located in the upstage area. Each held different scenic elements: circular mirrors or diamond-shaped decorative pieces formed from hemispheres covered with mirrored fragments. As you can imagine, their positioning was perfectly designed to create spectacular visual effects when illuminated by the iBOLTS mounted on the overhead truss. The robotic arms were used during six songs in the set and made a huge visual impact on audiences.
Lukáš has worked with Robe products for many years, and his choice is not simply because the brand is Czech, but because he believes they offer the most suitable fixtures for the type of show and visual aesthetic he wants to create for each artist.
The BMFL fixtures have also been among Lukáš’s favourites for years. For Lucie’s concerts, the five BMFL WashBeams were installed on the front truss, allowing the band to be lit from highly defined and precise angles while avoiding unwanted light spill onto the stage. In addition to offering creative advantages, this configuration removed the need for followspots and operators on the truss, significantly improving both safety and working conditions for the technical crew.
Lukáš programmed the show using an Avolites D7 console. He began his career as a programmer, operator and designer using Avolites 25 years ago and was delighted to reconnect with the brand on this tour. He is enthusiastic about the new generation of Avolites D Series consoles and recently purchased his own T3 Wing. “Avolites has made huge strides in development”, he stated, adding that since the acclaimed brand became part of Robe Business, it has gained renewed energy and momentum for innovation.
For him, one of the most rewarding aspects of working on these major concerts was being able to see the complete show in a real environment and collaborate with the production team after approximately a year of preparation.
Lucie is a landmark Czech rock band and part of the country’s popular music heritage. Active since the mid-1980s, the group achieved enormous popularity throughout the 1990s and early 2000s thanks to its distinctive sound, combining powerful rock guitars with melodic, emotionally charged songs and sophisticated lyrics. Many of their songs became genuine generational anthems during the Czech Republic’s intense post-communist transformation period.
From a production perspective, Pepa explains that one of the greatest challenges for touring Czech bands is creating spectacular productions despite the limited number of venues in the country capable of accommodating them: “The priority is to combine something exceptional with a proposal that is economically sustainable”.
Michal Dvořák played a key role in this process through his stage design, creating a production that maintained the energy and visual surprises throughout the performance, even until the very end, when new scenic elements were still being revealed.
As one of the biggest stars of the contemporary Czech music scene, Lucie joined forces with several technical partners who helped make this project possible and memorable for everyone involved. All of it was coordinated by SMART Production, which brought the collaborators together and managed this landmark tour throughout its run.
Photos: Marco Polasek
