Hans Zimmer Live • Behind the Scenes • Lighting and Live Audio Design

With the “Hans Zimmer Live“ tour, the famous German film composer impressively brings his Hollywood scores to the stage. Despite the star appeal, the main protagonist remains the musical storytelling. That feeling that automatically gets your head cinema going. Hans Zimmer has teamed up with creatives such as choreographer Barry Lather, stage designer Derek McLane and the passionate lighting design experts from Lightswitch to create an atmospheric show concept that carries his musical oeuvre to the last row of the venue. Together, John Featherstone (show designer/co-founder Lightswitch), his daughter Hailey (lighting director) and Chris Herman (lighting programmer) created a mind-blowing lighting and production design that adapts perfectly to the dramaturgy of the scores. You can see bombastic beam looks for “The Dark Knight”, emotional glows for “Gladiator” or sparkling moments in the audiophile treasure hunt for “Pirates of the Caribbean”. In terms of sound, FOH audio engineer Colin Pink masters the large number of musicians on stage as well as the powerful mix of synthesizer sounds and classical instruments that Hans Zimmer is well known for. EventElevator visited the team at a gig in Germany and found out more about the implementation of the live concept.
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Filmed at Festhalle Frankfurt.
© EventElevator 2023

[@timmetjuh070]

Insane. Respect for the whole production team. Saw this show 3 times, and everytime it blasts me away. I love how Colin talks about the audio part. Especially about the front fills. Btw, Dark Knight, only 15 KS28 per side, and so much low end, wow! insane. Dark Phoenix is IMO the most prettiest light part there is!

[@Mofarocker33]

Many Thanks - for having Hans on your List!

[@nik1128]

I just saw hans live last night and still cannot get over how amazing the show was. Best concert ive ever been to, hands down and lots of that is because of the light show. Everyone needs to see it in person at least once.

[@Stevebnaz]

What a beautiful project. I hope someday soon Hans could make a stop in the USA on tour!

[@ATLAScom]

I've been to the show in Munich with my friends and we loved the technical attention to detail, especially the well balanced PA. An absolute pleasure to listen to and look at.

[@dadjake]

Agreed. Also went to that show, great stuff.

[@EventElevator]

You're absolutely right. 🤗 Time flies when you're watching the show. There's so much variation in it, from extreme beam looks to wonderfully multi-faceted glows. And then it's all perfectly seasoned with the music. An beautiful example where music and visual interpretation go hand in hand. I think this comes from the close collaboration between John Featherstone's team and Colin Pink. And of course Hans Zimmer, who exemplifies this vision.

[@evankeal]

OK, where has this LD been all my life. Can't wait to explore further.

[@johboh]

So much terminology, abbreviation and product names that I know nothing about, but still very fascinating! Light and audio has such an emotional impact.

[@EventElevator]

joboh - thanks for your comment! We're really glad you like the video. Sure, we're a tech channel and it's really a lot about the equipment, but it's also about the vision and the great people who create this breathtaking shows.

[@Merchantmond]

Fantastic video.. very interesting, seen HZ twice and again next year... love the technology

[@dadjake]

It was such a beautiful show, sounded insanely good, looked fantastic, made people cry. The best part for me was the creative use of *one* type of fixture for the whole show, and how creative they got with it. It gave every single performer the spotlight, while also filling the whole room.

[@EventElevator]

You are so right. And it's like John Featherstone says in the video, Hans Zimmer is a storyteller without words and the crew carries his compositions forward with the atmosphere. It's great that the show doesn't work with movie content, but focuses on the feeling of the films and the individual musicians.

[@DarkfireTV]

Saw your comment, immediately knew it'd be the megapointe, bloody amazing fixture

[@dadjake]

@@DarkfireTV agreed. Fantastic fixtures.

[@robertogalli9759]

With the concert l have seen last Saturday in Lyon was my 4th experience looking an Hans Zimmer concert. The unforgettable experience each time I live becomes also from the high technology level of the lights and not only from the amazing orchestra on stage. My deepest thanks for what you can transfer to the spectators!

[@rubengoppel4688]

I am so ready for the 6 Hour extended show! Where can I buy Tickets for one in 2024? 😉

[@Mr007billabond]

very nice documentary. lots of insights and very inspiring. thank you guys, Event Elevator! :-)

[@EventElevator]

Thank you! We wanted to do something about this fantastic show much earlier. Thank God this tour is so successful that it's still on the road and we were able to catch it and give everybody a little tech insight✌️

[@FernandoBermudezLD]

real eye candy, great project 🧿

[@EventElevator]

Thx Fernando, yes that is a really impressive show, a piece of art. And I think it was a great challenge, despite dozens of MegaPointe and the tech arsenal, to build up the tension of the really long pieces of music. John Featherstone and his team have done an incredible job.🌈💥

[@VegasDominic]

Wow! An all Robe rig! 🎉😊 Wondering if one can achieve the beam looks with Fortes 1000w led engines or those beam looks can only be achieved only by strong lamp 470w fixture Megapointes… 🤔 Amazing all Robe rig! J. Valchar must be so happy with this creation. 😀🙏

[@markuskreissl7416]

Great work!

[@Bart134]

Finally!! 🎉

[@EventElevator]

Thx Bart! We are also so happy to show everyone a short technical insight. It was so great to meet the team from Lightswitch in person who have created a masterpiece with the maestro Hans Zimmer. It's great that the tour is now getting new dates again.

[@torchbox]

I just went to the Seattle show few days ago (Oct 5) and loved the show and I’ll admit it was overall one of the best concerts I’ve been to except for one major problem: We were on 7th row on the floor and there was just a very large sound hole where I was sitting. The line array speaker were hanging high and angled outwards and I’m sure it sounded great for those sitting middle/back, but for me sitting in front of the floor - there was huge hole. All the sound came from high up and was disorienting watching the performers right front of you with sound coming from up and far away. Never experienced anything like this on the countless other concerts I’ve been to where I’ve b been even closer - 2nd and 3rd row on the floor. 😢

[@ruditapper4225]

Looks amazing, 6 hours would definitely be a bit too long for me 😄

[@EventElevator]

Maybe not 6 hours 🤓 But the show concept is so great and Hans Zimmer's oeuvre is so vast. An extended version would certainly be possible without any problems - without it getting boring for a second.

[@micinum]

Now the question remains, where will be another Hans Zimmer live tour like this one. There are tickets for sale now but bot for this kind of show

[@adamlittlefield6257]

How many inputs are there in this show?

[@EventElevator]

Hey Adam, Colin Pink manages a total of around 240 channels via the console. Around 150 of these are signals from the musicians on stage. The rest are special playback tracks and other stuff.

[@Elemental_Earth_Sounds]

What does Hans Zimmer plays in live events?

[@Elisa_krck]

hey guys, can someone please explain to me shortly what hypercadioid means? Google wont tell me anything 😅

[@EventElevator]

Hey Elisa, if your question is about line arrays…the new L2 and of course the L2D feature four low cardioid (LC) loudspeakers on the sides, allowing a standard array to exhibit a broadband cardioid pattern that minimizes rear SPL at low frequencies. With the appropriate presets, the line array hangs can alternatively exhibit a “supercardioid“ pattern that minimizes side SPL at low frequencies. With that you don't have so much noise or lower sub frequencies on the stage that could disturb the performers. You can also reduce the risk for feedback if you have a lot of very sensitive mic setups on stage. There are also cardioid arrangements for the subwoofers. Creating a cardioid stack with L-Acoustics SB28 subwoofers usually involves setting up the subwoofers in a specific configuration to achieve a more directional control of the very low sound radiation. Of course, this expression also exists in relation to microphones. In terms for mics a hypercardioid microphone features a much more directional pickup pattern that is more focused than the “standard“ cardioid microphone. It's designed to capture sound primarily from the front while offering greater rejection of off-axis sounds from the sides and rear. For example, boom mics in film production.

[@antoinemontmory]

If the music is good, lighting effects are unnecessary. I think that light should only enhance musicians and instruments. And create an atmosphere where musicians feel comfortable giving their best to people. Also a little light on the crowd so the musicians can see them and feel the presence is very important for live music. I think there are too many spotlights. When I went to the concert, the lighting effects interfered with the music, putting a curtain on it. So I closed my eyes and appreciated Hans Zimmer's music much better.

[@daleplatino]

What's the price of the tickets?

[@Konsti8082]

Was really surprised not to see Carsten Kümmel on foh

[@EventElevator]

Colin Pink and Carsten Kümmel are both masters of their craft. FYI - Carsten Kümmel will be back on our channel soon with another exciting project.

[@MartinSteringer]

As someone speaking german i was confused of "Han Simmer" 🤔

[@dwaynecarroll6098]

Looks like a lot of Divas on THAT stage. Ouch!

[@clarenceoveur9497]

They should call this show "Remote Control Live" cause let's be real, Zimmer barely wrote any of "his" music, when in fact was his team of composers doing all the heavy lifting.

[@EventElevator]

It's quite clear that every great composer and top music producer works with and in teams. We think that being a great team leader, a musical visionary, requires even higher qualities, just like a top director who doesn't film himself. It's about working out the musical feeling of the movie, translating it and adapting the scores to the cinematic concept in a magical way. And the Hans Zimmer Live tour shows the same qualities of Hans Zimmer. Zimmer motivates every technician and every member of staff in a wonderful way to give their best in teamwork for the overall work of art of his show. And he forms a breathtaking unit with all the soloists such as Lisa Gerrad, Pedro Eustache, Rusanda Panfili and so many more.

[@TheRockinBK]

Anyone who still believes “Zimmer doesn’t write his own music” knows nothing about film scoring in general let alone what Hans does.