Wincent Weiss Arena Tour 2025
Task
Creative Show Direction / Creative Production
The Wincent Weiss Arena Tour 2025 was German pop’s boldest leap into showmaking at arena scale. Together with ST. ROBO, Berlin’s live entertainment production design powerhouse, I was brought on to translate their creative vision for Wincent Weiss’ new show into a fully realized, high-impact live experience.
We brought to life a striking blend of kinetic staging, layered storytelling, and sharp, dynamic show visuals. The result was a seamless fusion of cutting-edge technology with Wincent’s raw and likeable human energy.
From the earliest creative sessions, the design team brought me into their thinking, allowing us to align our visions for the production and begin sculpting the live stage processes around the stunning visuals. Together with the musical teams, we established clear guiding principles. Our mission: keep Wincent at the center of the story. Every visual, every stunt, and every special effect was designed to serve him as the lead character in his own narrative.
As we developed aerial stunts and special effects, we provided the creative framework to ensure they enhanced—not overshadowed—his performance. I wanted to avoid spectacle for spectacle’s sake, so we shaped musical moments that allowed transitions and aerial effects to feel effortless, integrating them so tightly into the live set that the audience could lose themselves in the flow. No jarring blackouts. No obvious resets. Just continuous, dynamic storytelling.
In the weeks leading up to rehearsals, I led the show direction on the ground. One of my key priorities was creating a show flow that worked with the touring setup—eliminating the need for a traditional show caller. Every cue was designed to respond to stage dynamics in real time, allowing the production team to focus on delivering a fluid, high-energy show without unnecessary complexity at the back of stage.
Rehearsals became an open forum. I brought together the kinetic stage team, lighting designers, aerial technicians, and the band, encouraging direct communication and collaboration. We mapped out cues, tasks, and micro-processes together, building a roadmap that everyone owned. This created a team culture where every member understood the full picture—not just their part in it. We finished with what I like to call Cue Cleaning or Pulse Polishing: the art of refining, cleaning, and synchronizing the human and technical elements to achieve precision without compromising Wincent’s spontaneity.
Process Meets Performance
At the heart of the tour was an ambitious and minimalist stage design, developed by ST. ROBO: entirely white surfaces, transparent LED screens, and pyro features installed behind them. This clean architectural approach gave us a blank canvas to play with light, shadow, and movement. Wincent’s physicality became the driving force of the show, with sleek technology and the sleek and impactful content design by ST. ROBO shaping the world around him in real time.
Pyro and Flame Integration Throughout
We analysed every song for its dynamic potential. While ST. ROBO lead the visual design development, I added the performance timeline: Light effects, pyro and flame effects were woven into the show to heighten key musical moments, delivering the scale and impact expected of an arena tour while staying true to Wincent’s personal, human performance style.
Opening Sequence – “Weit Weg”
Many moments really hit the mark: The show began with Wincent silhouetted behind a towering, transparent LED screen, his figure emerging gradually as the kinetic stage platform lifted in sync with the pulsing intro. This striking reveal set the tone for a night driven by clean visuals and strong narrative imagery.
Levitation and Aerial Moments – “Gut Genug” & “Den letzten beißen die Hunde”
This block commenced with bold aerial choreography. Wincent appeared to levitate above the stage without visible support, blurring the line between raw physicality and technical illusion. Kinetic lighting and precision timing amplified the sense of elevation and weightlessness. In “Den letzten beißen die Hunde”, kinetic lighting and strobe pyro effects in the song’s low part added a ghostly sensation to the bold visual world. – A wonderful collaboration between visual wizards and performance direction.
This tour marked a turning point. Wincent emerged as a true showmaker—delivering performances that stood shoulder to shoulder with global arena productions. The show’s high energy, emotional connection, and feel-good party mood were elevated by spectacular effects and a tightly orchestrated visual world.
Behind the scenes, precision, process, and deep collaboration with his highly committed team made it all possible. The result was a production that pushed the boundaries of German pop performance—praised by critics for its intimacy in large venues, Weiss’s strong stage presence, and a series of unforgettable concert moments.
A special highlight: the live premiere of brand-new songs, with Weiss sharing that fans were the first to hear them. Many already knew the lyrics from social media—singing along and reaffirming the powerful connection between artist and audience.
The 2025 Arena Tour was a high-impact success—uplifting, emotional, and unforgettable. An imprint left not just on the stage, but in the hearts of everyone who witnessed it.
-
Brought on board by ST. ROBO, the visionary production design company behind the tour’s stage, video and lighting concept, to jointly refine the creative direction and aerial integration. Designed a raw, cinematic aerial aesthetic that moved away from traditional circus arts, blending with St. Robo’s smart video content and lighting design to create features like invisible levitation effects, gritty club atmospheres, and stadium visuals.
-
Orchestrated Pyro & Special Effects Integration – Worked closely with ST. ROBO designers to ensure pyro (provided by H4 Stage) and SFX were musically timed and aligned with the emotional arc of the show, heightening impact without overshadowing the artist’s performance.
-
Designed Show Flow & Staging Efficiency – Established a precise and optimized show flow, developing kinetic cue sheets and detailed cue lists for backline, stage management, and technical teams. This ensured smooth transitions and operational clarity, supporting both artistic vision and global touring demands.
- Visceral minimalism: Applied Operatic Sensibilities to Pop Ballads – Introduced a performance-driven, theatrical approach by applying aria-like design methods to ballads and introspective songs, amplifying emotional depth and audience connection.
-
Created Self-Sufficient Show Processes – Designed a show structure that could run without a dedicated caller, ensuring fluid execution across multiple venues while maintaining creative precision.
-
Led Rehearsals from Dry-Tech to General Rehearsal – Directed and fine-tuned the full rehearsal process, ensuring all elements—from staging to effects—were precisely integrated before the tour launched.
-
Continually Refined Show Calls & Processes – Provided ongoing improvements to calling structure and stage operations throughout the tour, ensuring consistency, efficiency, and artistic excellence.
ST. ROBO
Production Design, Creative- & Show Direction
ST. ROBO Team
Philip Hillers
Creative Director
Andy Machals
Creative Producer & Show Director
Nik Evers
Lighting Designer
Hannes Geers
Lighting Director
Marco Kampf
Lighting Operator
Justus Panneck
Disguise Operator
Steve
System Tech
Markus Eibl
Projekt Manager
Koikill, Niklas, Yannick Donzeau, Vallie, Dennis Mertsch, Jan Sommer, Maksim Grebenshchshchikov
Motion Design
Touring Services
Production & Tech
Big Rig Berlin, Brace Productions, BTR, BTA, Coach Service Germany, H4Stage, Rock’n Roll Trucking, Rote Gourmet Fraktion, satis&fi, 4media.biz
Photos by Christoph Koestlin & Antony Molina. Videos by BAFF.