One of the more pressing questions our industry has had throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is how can we safely present a staged event to a live audience. DRIVE.IN Concerts of Monheim, Germany has come up with one concept, a solution that allows music fans of the area to attend a live concert again.

DRIVE.IN Concerts Monheim is a pioneering series of events in which the crowd park their cars in front of the stage just like at a drive-in movie. Running throughout May and into June, with a variety of live acts and DJs performing, the concert series features an impressive stage setup that relies on Elation Professional and ADJ lighting fixtures.

DRIVE.IN Concerts Monheim kicked off in early May with a live performance by Cologne-based rock band Kasalla as part of their 'Et Jitt Car-Salla' tour of drive-in concerts. Since then, most weekends have seen two or three concerts taking place at the outdoor site, featuring DJ´s such as Mousse T., Moksi, Jebroer, Lost Identity, YouNotUs, Plastik Funk, FRDY, Moguai, Puentez, The Disco Boys and Bands like Glasperlenspiel, Cat Ballou, Miljö, Klüngelköpp, Fiasko. Currently, dates are planned running up to end of June, with future performers set to include electronic acts Fiasko and YouNotUs, as well as local folk band Klüngelköpp.

The spectacular festival-style light show, supplied by local audio/visual production company LaserFrame, consists of Elation fixtures, alongside others from sister-brand ADJ. The on-stage wash moving head chosen for the rig is Elation's compact Rayzor 360Z LED beam/wash moving effect with three 60W RGBW LEDs, 8 to 77-degree zoom and continuous pan and tilt rotation. The front of the stage is lined with a combination of Elation Chorus Line 16 motorized pixel bars and Proteus Rayzor 760 IP65-rated wash fixtures that feature Elation's proprietary SparkLED™ background sparkle illumination system. Finally, blinder duties are taken care of by Elation Cuepix Blinder WW2s.

A like number of ADJ lights populate the rig including Focus Spot 4Z spot luminaires hung from the roof of the stage for gobo projections and mid-air effects; compact Vizi Beam RXONE fixtures on floor-standing truss for super narrow beams; award-winning Hydro Wash X7 moving head wash fixtures downstage for tight beams, washes or eye candy effects; and Encore FR150 wash fixtures for illumination of performers. The lighting is enhanced by an even coverage of dispersed fog generated by portable ADJ Entour Faze Jr machines.

Event Series
DRIVE.IN Concerts Monheim
Monheimer Kulturwerke (www.monheimer-kulturwerke.de)

Audio & Lighting Production Company
LaserFrame (www.laserframe.koeln)

Photography
Julian Huke (www.julianhukephotography.com)

Gear List
16 x Elation Rayzor 360Z
8 x Elation CUEPIX Blinder WW2
6 x Elation Proteus Rayzor 760
4 x Elation Chorus Line 16
16 x ADJ Focus Spot 4Z
12 x ADJ Vizi Beam RXONE
6 x ADJ Hydro Wash X7
6 x ADJ Encore FR150Z
3 x ADJ Entour Faze Jr