ON THE ROAD: George Michael Below: Just one of the many examples of powerful visuals used to complement the faultless audio experience.
“One of the biggest challenges is keeping it
all looking tidy, not just what we bring in but the peripheral areas too. It’s not your standard rock ‘n’ roll show where you can have a pile of flight cases against a back wall, you have to keep the lines looking clean because it works around nice curves. This is why we purposefully had everything out of sight and there are no brightly lit monitor desks can be seen by the audience,” said Benbow. According to Benbow, Ahoy is a fantastic
venue due to its easy access and amount of storage space. However, the unusual shape of the rolling stage does present challenges in certain venues. Said Benbow: “If you’re rolling a block, you’ve got four points of access to aim at to put it into the right place. However, when you’re rolling something of this shape, you can only really work on three points of access to get it in so its quite complex to move.” A combination of Upstaging’s Hud Truss
and Thomas Supertruss were chosen for the tour, with all trussing supplied by Neg Earth with the exception of the purpose-built video truss. “Most of the truss is used for lighting and then on the PA side, it is mostly used for cable management to keep all drops and cables hidden and the stage looking tidy,” said Walsh.
A STAGE SENSATION Owner and Group CEO of Total Fabrications, Chris Cronin, supplied Symphonica with his company’s main rolling stage product, the Arena Stage. Total Fabrications, a subsidiary of the Total Solutions Group, enabled the stage to become a fluid part of the tour, and it can be
50 • TPi NOVEMBER 2011
dismantled depending on the venue size and stage criteria required. Cronin said of its main features: “The upper
set is integrated into the rolling stage but can be separated for smaller venues where the rolling stage won’t fit, for instance in the Royal Albert Hall or in Verona. This means the look of the show is preserved in all cases.”
“The set design was driven directly by
George and Ken. We fine-tuned the design with Ken’s guidance to achieve the end result. The Smart LEDs, which were integrated into the horseshoe ramps, formed the final touch.” By using Total Fabrication’s innovative
design, this stage eases the rest of the production. “By using our rolling stage
“With any live performance like this one, the look and feel of the stage, lighting and video play almost an equal role to the music that is being performed.”
Typically, it takes around three hours
with three set crew and eight stagehands to complete the build. When the 41 strong orchestra and band are in full swing, the stage weighs just under 20 tonnes. Michael is in good company; artists who have used this rolling stage for touring designs include Take That, Kylie, Phil Collins, Duran Duran, Peter Gabriel and Muse. Said Cronin: “Many venues around the
world own our Arena Stages and this has saved many touring productions from having to ship parts of their sets to other continents.” And for Symphonica? “The rolling sub-stage is mostly generic but all the upper risers and the horse shoe ramps are bespoke. Within and under the sub-stage there are dressing rooms and tech rooms.
technology, the entire set (and underworld) are assembled out on the venue floor while the lighting, PA and the rest of the production is being rigged,” Cronin added. “Then the stage is finally rolled into position. This procedure allows a production of this magnitude to be up and running within a few hours of arriving at the venue.” For outdoor shows, Watts requested
Stageco’s Super Roof to house audiences in Poland and Italy. Watts commented: “The most interesting show we’ve had so far was the brand new football stadium in Poland to 30,000 people. We were invited to play as part of the events opening it. It was amazing to see the Stageco roof in that kind of environment; it looked great. That was probably the best- looking show I’ve seen this tour.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92