GLP tackles a production that changes venue for every show with Creos and impression X5

Peter Maffay stepped away from conventional touring after his farewell tour in 2023. Since then, and again in 2026, he has returned each summer with a series of individual concerts under the Love Places banner, performing at venues that either hold personal significance for him or bring a special atmosphere to each show.

For the 2026 concerts, lighting designer Günter Jäckle used 16 Creos and 80 GLP impression X5 wash fixtures.

Jäckle is once again responsible for the lighting design. Maffay's long-standing designer has worked with the artist for many years and is one of Germany's most experienced live lighting professionals. The Love Places concerts present a different challenge from a continuous tour with a fixed equipment package. Each venue has its own structural conditions, sightlines and distances. A compact core of equipment travels with the production, while additional equipment is added locally depending on the characteristics of each location.

For Jäckle, this means that the main tools need to be powerful, quick to integrate and predictable in terms of colour. This is precisely why he builds the open-air rigs around a strong GLP presence.

On productions like these, a setup has to work in very different places. The fewer difficulties I have between different systems, the faster I can achieve a clean result. With GLP, I know the colour mixing and I know the colours will be where I want them, says Günter Jäckle, lighting designer. 

Before a lighting design can take on any dramatic function, it has to solve a much more practical problem: the people on stage need to be visible. That may sound obvious, but it becomes a real challenge in open-air productions. Front positions are often located quite far away, truss heights and angles depend on what each location allows, and the stage has to work not only for the audience in front of it, but also for the camera feeds shown on the large screens.

In Peter Maffay's case, there is an additional challenge. Rather than a compact rock line-up, there is a 14-piece band on stage, and every member needs to be lit outdoors in a way that not only provides sufficient brightness, but also models the performers, clearly separates them and delivers a camera-ready image.

This is where GLP Creos comes into play. Jäckle uses this IP-rated fixture as a multifunctional lighting tool with a strong visual presence, covering wash duties, side accents and side-stage positions, while also becoming part of the stage picture itself.

With Maffay, the first thing you have to do is make sure 14 people are properly lit on an open-air stage. It sounds trivial, but it is often the decisive factor. At open-air concerts, the front truss is often further back than you would like. You need fixtures that genuinely help you. I can use the Creos conventionally as a flood. I can use them as side light. And on top of that, they have a strong visual presence. I get a great deal of function and design in very little space, which is valuable on productions like these, explains Jäckle. 

The Love Places concerts do not take Maffay to standardised arenas, but to venues with a character of their own. The lighting design therefore needs to remain recognisable without overpowering the venue, adapting flexibly to different staging and rigging situations while maintaining a high-quality show every night.

Jäckle approaches this challenge with a clear system logic. Rather than combining as many different fixtures and manufacturers as possible, he works from a consistent GLP core. The 80 impression X5 wash fixtures provide a familiar, colour-rich component within the setup. The Creos extend this core as a tool that handles key front, side and wash lighting duties, particularly under open-air conditions.

I try to work with as few different manufacturers as possible. Not as a matter of principle, but because it makes the work simpler and cleaner. When colour mixing, dimming behaviour and basic character all match, I can achieve a good, reproducible result more quickly. With GLP, I know my own colours and I know I can get where I want to be very quickly, says Jäckle. 

This also influences how the concerts look on screen. As is common in large open-air productions, a significant part of the action on stage reaches the audience through cameras. The lighting needs to work throughout the venue while also delivering a clean, balanced and chromatically controlled image on camera.

"These days, as a lighting designer, you automatically think about the camera", explains Jäckle. "You can immediately see when colours do not work together or when faces are not clearly visible. With GLP, I take my palette, adapt it and can rely on it working".

Despite all the planning and technical demands, Jäckle sees light, above all, as part of the musical dramaturgy.

"At the end of the day, what I want is to play the lights along with a good band", he says. "I do not want to spend my time dealing with technical issues because the colours do not work together or the fixtures behave differently from what I expected. I need tools that give me freedom".

At the Love Places open-air dates, Creos fulfils exactly that role. These fixtures handle essential lighting tasks under demanding outdoor conditions, bring a distinctive visual presence to the stage picture and integrate chromatically within a GLP system that Jäckle has known for years. Together with impression X5, they form a compact and versatile core for concerts that are presented differently at each location but need to maintain an unmistakably Peter Maffay look every night.

I feel a strong connection to GLP, and Olli Schwendke always gives me exceptional support. The equipment has proved itself across numerous productions. When you are working with a large band in special locations, that trust is what you need. Then you can concentrate on what matters: the music, the atmosphere and the moment, concludes Jäckle.