The company S.T.E.P. GmbH was founded in 1997 by Georg Hensel and Walter Gommers. The name S.T.E.P. is an acronym that stands for the core business of every promoter: Shows, Tours, Entertainment and Promotion. The two owners Walter Gommers and Georg Hensel joined the company in 2011 as employees.
Before that they were running Walter Gommers Konzert & Werbeagentur GmbH as executive partners. This company was closed down in 2011, but it was founded in 1974, which means it was in operation for over 37 years. At first, this company was active as the privately liable "Walter Gommers Konzertdirektion". In 1980 it changed its name to "Walter Gommers Konzert- und Werbeagentur" and finally, in 1991, it became a private limited company - a GmbH. In 1993, Georg Hensel became a 50% partner of the company and was responsible for Finances, Contracts and Ticketing since then, while Walter Gommers was responsible for Marketing, Public Relations and Sales. Both partners still take great pride in the fact that this partnership lasted for 18 years, which was unprecedented in the event industry. Continuous employment of the other employees lasted between 12 and 17 years, which also documents solid consistency.
The company was primarily active as a local organiser in North Rhine-Westphalia. Between 1978 and 1989, however, it also carried out a number of different and successful tours for the Irish folk band "The Fureys & Davey Arthur" throughout Europe, Australia and the USA.
Over the years, it has worked together with a large number of world-class artists, including:
AC/DC, Bob Dylan, Pink, Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, Michael Jackson, Genesis, Phil Collins, Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, U2, Sting, David Bowie, Placido Domingo, Peter Maffay, Fury in the Slaughterhouse, Bryan Adams, Udo Jürgens, Monsters of Rock, Howard Carpendale, Tina Turner, Simple Minds, Simply Red, Westernhagen, Die Toten Hosen, BAP, Simon & Garfunkel, Rod Stewart, Wolfgang Petry, R.E.M. and many more, at the following open air arenas:
Esprit Arena (previously LTU-Arena) - Düsseldorf, Müngersdorfer Stadion - Cologne, Parkstadion - Gelsenkirchen, Loreley, Amphitheater Gelsenkirchen, Tanzbrunnen - Cologne, Amphitheater im Archäologischen Park - Xanten, Grugapark (Tummelwiese) - Essen, Georg-Melches-Stadion (Rot-Weiß Essen) - Essen, Ruhrstadion - Bochum, Hülspark Stadion - Kevelaer, Westfalenpark - Dortmund, Neusser Rennbahn, Westfalenstadion – Dortmund, and the former Rheinstadion - Düsseldorf.
In addition to the open air arenas, the company also operated as a local promoter in large, indoor arenas in North Rhine-Westphalia, e.g.:
ISS Dome Düsseldorf, Cologne Lanxess Arena (previously Kölnarena), Oberhausen König-Pilsener-Arena (previously Arena Oberhausen), Düsseldorf Philipshalle (today Mitsubishi Electric Hall), Essen Grugahalle, Dortmund Westfalenhalle. Smaller productions were also held in the cities of the Rhine/Ruhr region. The company staged shows for many bands that toured Germany regularly: Tokio Hotel, Kiss, Robert Plant, Kevin Costner & Modern West, Udo Lindenberg, Kid Rock, AC/DC, Lionel Richie, Metallica, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Maffay, Mark Knopfler, The Who, Grateful Dead, Status Quo, Scorpions, Foreigner, Deep Purple, Santana, Prince, Rory Gallagher, James Last, Bob Dylan, Sasha, Chris de Burgh, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Chris Rea, Elton John, Udo Jürgens, Rod Stewart, Bee Gees, TT Top, Fury in the Slaughterhouse, Roger Whittaker, Patricia Kaas, Modern Talking, David Bowie, Dire Straits, David Copperfield, Ben Becker, Lord Of The Dance. In addition, concerts from the folk music and German pop music genre: Musikantenstadl with Karl Moik from 1990 to 2007, Musikantenstadl with Andy Borg 2008, Lustige Musikanten, Kastelruther Spatzen, Musik liegt in der Luft with D.T. Heck, the ZDF Hit Parade with Uwe Hübner, Brunner & Brunner, Michelle, Claudia Jung, Howard Carpendale and Udo Jürgens.
In the classical music sector, the company collaborated with José Carreras and Placido Domingo. In 1992 it promoted the major opera spectacle, Carmen, over a period of several days. This large opera spectacle drew over 66,000 spectators to the Dortmund Westfalenhalle. The company was involved in the tour of the Chinese National Circus by André Heller in various German cities as well as the tours of the Moscow State Circus with famous clown Oleg Popov. Cirque du Soleil in Düsseldorf and the "Lipizzaner Horse Gala" in Düsseldorf, Dortmund and Cologne round off the various events promoted in this genre.
For many years, Gommers GmbH was working for Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur for the 3-day "Rock am Ring" Open Air Festival at the Nürburgring.
For 11 years, the company organized the "Holiday on Ice" shows at Grugahalle in Essen, together with the former GM of the building, Claus Kleyboldt, who was also in charge of the Bremen Arena and who today is the GM of the Musical Theatre of Bremen. Walter Gommers still says that Claus Kleyboldt (for the indoor arena business) and Fritz Rau (for the promoter business) were his mentors and he continues to be very grateful to these gentlemen for their extremely positive cooperation. Gommers GmbH has also been working for Feld Entertainment Inc. since 1993, and a nationwide 10-year contract was signed for the show “Disney on Ice”, with an option to extend the contract further. In 2013 Walter Gommers and Georg Hensel will be celebrating 20 years of co-operation with “Disney on Ice”.
Feld Entertainment Inc., operating in 55 countries worldwide, is or was the production company for Siegfried & Roy, the huge and famous American circus Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, other entertainment shows such as Barnum’s Kaleidescape, as well as various musicals and "non-Disney" ice shows, Disney stage shows, Monster Jam and ArenaCross, just to name a few.
Feld Entertainment is the largest family live entertainment company in the world, with around 400 employees in Vienna, Virginia and the USA. Around 2,000 skaters are under contract. Each year, at least 6-8 Disney on Ice shows are on tour simultaneously in 55 countries worldwide. In addition, 3 Disney Live stage shows are on the road, as well as 3 units of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (Gold, Red and Blue Unit). Every year 5,000 Feld Entertainment, Inc. shows take place worldwide, and they sell approx. 34 million tickets.
In Germany, Feld Entertainment was cooperating with Gommers Konzert- & Werbe GmbH every year on a regular basis as part of their European tours. Since 1994, more than 400 Disney on Ice shows were presented in the following German cities: Frankfurt - Festhalle, Mannheim - Maimarkthalle, Cologne - Sporthalle, Dortmund - Westfalenhalle, Hamburg – Color Line Arena (today’s o2 World in Hamburg), Bremen – Bremen Arena (previously Stadthalle), Oberhausen - König-Pilsener-Arena, Arena - Nürnberg, Volkswagenhalle - Braunschweig, Berlin - Velodrom. In February 2009, Disney on Ice performed in the new o2 World in Berlin for the first time.
Since 1999, Gommers GmbH has been organising the tours of the internationally successful Canadian "comedy soprano" Natalie Choquette in German-speaking countries. Natalie Choquette has been receiving standing ovations since then in Germany and Europe, for example, at the "Nokia Night of the Proms". Gommers GmbH organised her first solo concerts in Germany in 2000 and in 2002 at Alte Oper in Frankfurt, at Philharmonie in Munich, and at Philharmonie in Cologne. In 2000 she also performed at the world-famous Donauinselfestival in Vienna in front of 80,000 spectators. Once again, Choquette received standing ovations from the respective audiences and the press. Together with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, she has so far performed twice at the sold-out Vienna Konzerthaus, as well as in Graz and Salzburg. She was able to repeat this success with her second solo tour in Germany in May 2001, and played at large extraordinary festivals in Bad Reichenhall and at KulturPur in Siegen-Wittgenstein in 2002.
In addition to many worldwide projects, she has been working on the Circus Roncalli projects “Circus meets Classic” and “Clowns and Classic”. The highlight of this collaboration was 5 (!!!) successive sold-out concerts at Konzerthaus in Dortmund in 2008.
Today S.T.E.P. is profiting greatly from all the above mentioned diverse activities of the Gommers GmbH as well as from the experience gained by Georg Hensel and Walter Gommers. The company’s General Manager is Manuela Gommers, who has been in charge since 1997. Famous artists such as Howard Carpendale and Udo Jürgens including their managers and tour organizers have trusted S.T.E.P. GmbH, and in fact the company organized the last concerts of Udo Jürgens’ 2012 tour. In addition, Sascha Grammel has been working with S.T.E.P GmbH since 2011, and his 3-year tour “Hetz mich nicht” will end on December 14, 2012 in Dortmund. In 2012 the company started promoting shows for Sascha Grammel for 2013, and these have already been sold out. More shows for 2014 are already being planned. “Disney on Ice” was collaborating with S.T.E.P. GmbH in 2011, and more shows have been confirmed for the upcoming season. It looks like they will go into the 21st year of cooperation with Georg Hensel and Walter Gommers. In 2012 large concert venues as well as trade fair companies approached S.T.E.P. GmbH for consulting services, and the company is more than willing to carry out these tasks and provide long-standing expertise.