zactrack mini with Deine Freunde und Stüba Philharmonie in Erfurt

Germany’s coolest children’s band, Deine Freunde, successfully wrapped up their latest tour, Deine Freunde und Stüba Philharmonie Tour 2025. zactrack mini joined the Erfurt concert, enhancing the new orchestral concept with innovative lighting effects.

April 17, 2025, Erfurt, Germany: The three main performers of Deine Freunde take center stage, energised and in sync, with the Stüba Philharmonie orchestra forming a dramatic backdrop. Photo @ Michael Kremer

Deine Freunde are a German band redefining children's music with clever lyrics, hip-hop beats, and a sense of humor that resonates with both kids and adults. Since their debut in 2012, they have released over 100 songs across six studio albums, and garnered more than 150 million Spotify streams.

After twelve years as a band, they decided to reinvent their sound — embarking on their first-ever orchestral tour in collaboration with the Stüba Philharmonie.

Orchestral tour meets modern tech

Deine Freunde und Stüba Philharmonie Tour 2025 kicked off on April 4 in Cologne and included 10 stops across Germany. To match the classical concept, the concerts were held in carefully selected, modern concert halls, such as the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. For their show in Erfurt on April 17, lighting designer Philipp Menzel chose to deploy a zactrack mini system to complement and elevate the existing show and lighting design.

To enable tracking across the 16 ×15 m stage, Philipp used the zactrack mini kit with all six anchors, along with 18 fixtures. Messehalle Erfurt proved to be a technically straightforward venue for deploying zactrack mini. As a first-time user, Philipp reflects on the intuitive setup process: "Once the basic setup is in place and you’ve got the hang of it, the configuration comes together surprisingly quickly."

Deine Freunde lit up on stage by zactrack mini, with vibrant colors and precision lighting by designer Philipp in a stunning tour moment. Photo @ Michael Kremer

zactrack mini at the Messehalle Erfurt

The six zactrack anchors were positioned on the left and right outer edges of the stage, with three anchors on each side. They were mounted on lighting dollies approximately 1.5 meters high, spaced about 2.5 meters apart, starting at the front edge of the stage and continuing towards the back.

The orchestra featured three main acts, with a total of 82 musicians on stage. Each of the three lead performers from Deine Freunde was tracked using three trackers—one placed in the front pocket and one in each back pocket. For tracking itself, Philipp used 11 Ayrton Diablo fixtures on the front truss and 7 Ayrton Diablo fixtures on the back truss.

Philipp on how zactrack unlocks new creative possibilities

In response to a question from zactrack, Philipp highlighted the advantages of integrating zactrack into a touring setup: "What I find particularly exciting is that with real-time data, you can control not only the tracking itself but also many other show elements. This opens up numerous new creative possibilities. It’s also genuinely fun to be able to spontaneously assign 18 moving heads to one or multiple performers, add movement or dimming effects, and watch the lights almost anticipate their every move." This newfound creative freedom offers designers and programmers remarkable flexibility and inspiration in crafting dynamic live shows.

Deine Freunde will resume touring in October this year with their Alle in die Halle Tour, which includes over 25 stops from October until mid-December 2025.

All quotes have been translated from German.