Interviewer : Matthias Mineur
Published on : November 2002
BEHIND BARS
The loudest Rock Band in the world takes off to a Germany Tour by the end of the year and presents the costiest light show they ever shined with on european stages. HAMMER watched, how here in Germany a stage for Joey DeMaio & Co. has been designed and finally assembled.
He said: "Hello, here is Joey DeMaio from Manowar. I would like to talk with a genius about the new stage for my band.", remembers the stage designer Jojo Tillmann, smiling, the first call he received from Manowar. In summer 2002, few days before the fateful phone call, the American True Metal-Warrior watched the video recording of the A-ha concert in the Royal Albert Hall in London and admired the fabulous stage construction and the impressive light design. Therefore he wanted to include the person responsible for that stage design into the plannings for the upcoming European Tour. And as it sometimes happens: already few days before Joey saw the video Tillman was invited by Manowar's manager Hinrich Stuerken to a showcase of the band in Cologne. Of course, Tillmann felt flattered after Joey's compliment. But: "Before I started to work for a band like Manowar I had to meet Joey to find if we are on the same wave-length. In addition I needed more information about the band. Their self-conception, their attitude, their philosphy.
At the first meeting in Frankfurt on June 2002 DeMaio showed him some videos of the band, to show Tillman what it's about. "We harmonized great", the designer remembers. "Besides, the determinedness, with wich the band has been working for years, impressed me a lot. That's how I got the fundamental idea: "Manowar have a clear and earpiercing sound. So I thought their speakers should be locked in cages to underline their ferrocity. I also liked the classical influence you can sometimes recognize in their songs. I imagined a kind of light portal that relates to the monumental gates in classic history."
Manowar gave the stage designer four weeks to present his first plot. On the second of july they met again in the Atlantic Hotel in Hamburg. This time Tillmann brought a computer controlled animation which he presented to DeMaio. From this point on it was, at least theoratically, clear what the stage design would look like. For Tillmann the work was over for the moment and he passed it to Jan Freitag, who took care of logistical and constructional questions.
Jan Freitag's facts: 100m long aluminum traverses, 45 vari-lights, 6 follower spots (3 on stage and 3 in front of it), 40 blinders that beam the light directly into the crowd and 100 free brandishing light points and a 240 channel light matrices. And aluminum cages to lock the 8 marshall speakers on each side. A lightspot will be placed in the middle of the eight speakers. It will transform the sound pressure in energy and in light to optically increase the movements on stage. Between the speakers a drum riser will be placed with Scott Columbus' drums on it.
The company Alutec H.O.F in Mettingen, near Osnabrück, was chosen to produce the stage components. All material was delivered to them and they put it together. It was not a usual job: Although he already worked with the biggest in the business (among others Westernhagen, BAP, Bryan Adams and A-ha), the MANOWAR stage was a special challenge. Most of all the from both stage sides passable ramp which will be used for the Harleys , needs a lot of attention: "The problem is that the stage will have to be sometimes higher and sometimes lower, depending on the circumstances the crew will have to face at the different locations. So the ramp must be adjustable in height and has to be solid enough to carry the Harleys. And the stage must not take much room when transported" explains the logician Freitag.
A look in the halls of the company shows how much material is needed to construct the cages for the speackers. This special construction was not only built for the show in Germany but also for the shows next year in America and Asia. "The Manowar management will buy the cages and lend the lights", Freitag explains. We will have no specific MANOWAR use for it after the shows."
The Countdown to the Manowar-Shows in Germany is running: The parts of the construction were controlled at the beginning of October in Mettingen and three weeks later they will run a test of the complete show in Prague. HAMMER will be there and write an exclusive report.
WHO IS JOJO TILLMANN?
The light and stage designer Jojo Tillmann (36) is born in Adenau in the Eifel. The independent working artist played during his teenager time in a school-band and worked as a roadie after he finished school, besides he worked at the "Rock am Ring" - Festival at the Nürburgring. The constructions of the light shows fascinated him most. As 1989 the first scanners were used (that are variable light spots with motors, with which you can change the light beam) he decided what his job is going to be:
He wanted to become a light designer. Because at that time you could only lend vari-lights, not buy them, they were not
available for small shows. Then the market changed and so Tillmann got the chance to create stage settings which could be presented by movable light spots.
"In the middle of the 90s I focused more on the artistic side of light design and less on the technical", Tillmann explains a fundamental change in his field of functions. Because of his regular work at the E-Werk in Cologne he got in contact with concert agencies. In 1994 Peter Maffay called him and Tillmann was now responsible for the Tabaluga Children Opera. Then he worked for Gianna Nannini. Tillmann says his breakthrough was the "Wetten dass...?" show in 1996 where Michael Jackson presented his "Earth Song" for the first time. Tillmann made the light show concept and from this time on everybody knew him. In 1997 he created the whole stage design for the German folk music-rocker "Die Schürzenjaeger" where he integrated all his experience from small theater works. In 1999 he worked at the "Theater des Westens" for the show "Rent", before he got hired by the norwegian superstars A-ha. The contact with Manowar was incidental. Last spring he was invited to a Manowar concert by his old acquaintance Hinrich Stürken - and he left the show quite impressed. "The most interesting thing for me was that the sound of Manowar was clear and extreme loud. That fascinated me. It was also tantalizing to see the fans of this band, their ardor and abandonment. A few weeks later Jojo Tillmann's phone rang and Mr.DeMaio wanted to talk to him...
MATTHIAS MINEUR
