STAGECO NEWS Summer 2015

SUMMER 2015 WWW.STAGECO.COM

I N T E R N A T I O N A L N E W S

A WHOLE LOTTA STEEL!AC/DC Return With Rock Or Bust

American Adventureswith Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift,

Rolling Stones & more

Udo LindenbergMission: Impossible Premiére

Guus Meeuwis Festival Action

in Budapest, Eindhoven, Houston,Arras, Weston-Super-Mare & Ibiza

Working With Shimizu Octo

Electric Daisy Carnival

HomeAnd Away

IN THIS ISSUESUMMER 2015

A lot of people in live production will agree that summer is absolutely the wrong time of the year to take a holiday. It is always the busiest period for Stageco and we particularly like the fact that traffic jams in Belgium become relatively scarce. I normally wait until the winter months to take a proper break, by which time I really need it! Summer may be coming to an end but if you saw our project diary, you might doubt it. Some of our major out-door tours, like One Direction and AC/DC, are continuing in America way into September, with the latter going off to Australasia towards the end of the year, and the whole dance scene in the States carries on and keeps us very ac-tive. The fashion world is about to wake up again with shows in Paris that will involve our staging systems and crews. Elsewhere,itisbusinessasusual.OurGermanofficehasenjoyed a lively season and they have a series of jobs com-ing up in the corporate world. Traditionally, the corporates slow down for the summer but pick up again from Septem-ber onwards with a number of sophisticated events that we always look forward to servicing. September is usually a busy month for the local Belgian event market with small festivals in Brussels, while we are also getting ready to work on several indoor shows in Ghent and Antwerp at venues like the Sportpaleis. Asautumngetsunderwayandtheofficestartstorelaxwith some members of staff going away on leave, we take the opportunity to bring our admin up to date, and when the equipment returns home we will begin a maintenance program. There’s always something going on here. TheexhibitionseasonisalsoonthehorizonandIhopetomeet some of you at the PLASA Show,whereI’mdelightedto have been invited to deliver the keynote address at the Rigging Conference on October 5th. Tot binnenkort!

Hedwig De Meyer, Stageco President

SUMMER 2015 STAGECO INTERNATIONAL NEWS

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3 • MISSION: ACCOMPLISHED

4 • ON THE ROAD, OPEN AIRA Dutch Triple

6 • AC/DC... WE SALUTE YOU!

9 • MAIN SQUARE FESTIVAL

10 • AMERICAN ADVENTURESwith Tom Frederickx

14 • BUILDING THEFOUNDATION FOR EDC UK

17 • ON AN ISLAND: SZIGET

18 • FLASHBACK: GENESIS 2007

20 • UDO LINDENBERG

21 • BRUSSELS SUMMER FESTIVAL

22 • EASTERN PROMISE

24 • EVOLUTION IN 11 STAGES

I N T E R N A T I O N A L N E W S

Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, Mission: Im-possible – Rogue Nation is the fifth installment of the American spy movie series and so far it has grossed more than $2 billion at box offices worldwide. PrincipalfilmingbeganduringAugust2014inViennawhere, Tom Cruise’s lead character Ethan Hunt was spotted in scenes on the roof of the city’s State Opera House. Addingcontexttotheproceedings,itwasCruise’swishfortheworldpremiereofthefilmtobeheldinViennaandthe‘redcarpetdate’wassetforJuly23rd2015,withStageco’sGermanofficehiredasoneof the key production con-tractors alongside Chromatic Productions, PRG, Faber Audiovisuals, AEP, AKB and Zeros. The ground-level red carpet in front of the Opera House ended in a circular interview platform, and the stars approached it via two staircases descending from a60metrelong,sixmetrehigh platform that included a cantilever section measuring around20metres.Besidesthe

standard Stageco materials, this job also called for special components, mainly for handrails, columns and façade ele-ments. This project posed a special challenge in that the lead time for planning was a very short three weeks, and space in front oftheOperawasextremelytight–Vienna’sRingstrassehadto be temporarily closed. Live Nation UK, the client, was reportedly delighted with the outcome of an event that proved to be a resounding suc-cess.

Mission: AccomplishedP

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STAGECO INTERNATIONAL NEWS SUMMER 2015

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Business during the first half of the summer has been very good in the Netherlands, according to Stageco Nederland director Eddie Slotboom. And it is partly due to the activities of one of the biggest names on the Dutch music scene, Guus Meeuwis – a regular hitmaker since he first made headlines 20 years ago with his chart-topping band Vagant. Since 2001, Meeuwis has been working as a solo artist and his live shows have consistently earned notorie-ty as major spectacles. Celebratinghis20thanniversaryinthe music business this year, Meeuwis setaboutmakingitextraspecialwitha number of initiatives. The year began with the opening of his own pop-up restaurant, Gustaaf (his real name), in an old Tilburg factory with Michelin chef Dick Middelweerd in the kitchen. InMay,43-year-oldMeeuwisfulfilledhis lifelong dream to perform at Lon-don’s Royal Albert Hall, to an enthusi-asticcrowdofmorethan5,000.Ticketstotheconcertsoldoutextremelyquickly, and demand was so high that anadditionalflightfromEindhovenwasarranged especially for fans travelling

from the Netherlands. The biggest highlight of the year for Meeuwis, however, came at the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven when his ‘summer carnival’ show, Groots Met Een Zachte G (Groots With A Soft G),playedits10thconsecutiveseasonoverfivenightsinJune. Stageco Nederland has been in-volved in all of Meeuwis’ stadium shows since2006whenthecompanysup-pliedsixtrucksofequipment.Thestar’sproduction values have since grown to theextentwhere,in2015,StagecoNLprovided16truckstofulfiltherequire-ments of the set designer and technical producer. Arjan Bettink headed the Stageco crew in Eindhoven, where much of their work was focused on constructing the roof (‘recycled’ from previous Johnny Hallyday tours) and a centre structure basedonStageco’s1036SuperTow-erswith1800trusses,aswellasalargeamount of Layher scaffolding for the stagewings.Outinthefield,thecrewalso built a pair of black steel follow-spot/delay towers. OnJune20th,thelastnightofMeeu-

wis’five-nightrun at the stadium, DutchTVchannelRTL4broadcast the artist’s entireconcertlivetoanestimated1.2million viewers. Meanwhile, tickets for Meeuwis’ return to the Philips Stadion in 2016arebeingsnappedupfast.Here’stoanothersuccessful20years!

THE MUMFORDS RETURNJust eight days after performing under-neath a Stageco roof this summer at Rock Werchter, English modern folk-rock giants Mumford & Sons played to an open-airaudienceofover40,000atGoffertpark in Nijmegen as part of the band’s latest Gentlemen Of The Road tour. The Mumfords’ current live activity follows the release of Wilder Mind, their third studio album, which was recorded afterafive-monthbreakanddébutedat number one in the UK chart, becom-ing the second fastest-selling album of the year to date.

On The Road, Open AirSTAGEC

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Guus Meeuwis at Philips Stadion in Eindhoven.

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FortheJuly4thshowatGoffert-park–attherequestofpromoterMojoConcerts’ production manager Thijs vanDalen–aStagecoNLcrewledbyGerardBahrtbuilta4-towerroofalongwith copious scaffolding, entrances, lightingandsettowers,amountingto14truckloads of equipment. Presented in association with Dutch broadcaster3FM,theMumford&SonsfeaturedsupportfromEaves,TheVac-cines and Bear’s Den.

SUN, SEA, SAND & SOUNDSThis summer has marked Stageco Ned-erland’s continued involvement with Corona SunSets (right), the famous beer brand’s music festival tour of beach resorts, featuring varied line-ups of live bands and DJs, and presenting a set design by Amsterdam-based Nachtlab. Stageco NL arrived at each venue with two trucks of equipment to build arooflessscaffoldingstructureforthemainstage–thefirstshowbeingonJuly11thalongMarineParadeinWest-on-Super-Mare, UK, where Clean Bandit (with Jess Glynne) and Groove Armada shared the bill with acts including Rob Da Bank and Eton Messy. WithStagecosupplyingvirtuallyiden-tical equipment, Corona SunSets moved

toPortoDiRiminiinItalyonJuly25th,withSteveAngelloandRobinSchulzheadingup the main stage bill. The European legofthetourwrappedonAugust13thas Duke Dumont, Pete Tong, Claptone and other big names appeared on the Sunset main stage at Benimussa Park, San Antonio in the dance capital of the world,Ibiza. Corona SunSets’ technical production wasdrivenbyBackboneInternational,and Stageco’s crew chief was Jelle Has-sink. Eddie Slotboom summarised: “Corona SunSetswaslaunchedin2014andhasalsoappearedinMexico,withfutureplans to play in China and Australia. Itbecameanimmediatehitwiththeaudiences last year, so it was great to be asked back. “Iamsurethatourexperienceofworking on so many international festi-vals has helped to make these events relaxedandenjoyablefortheCoronateam. “It’sbeenanothergreatsummerallround for us, although it is far from over yet with the Lowlands, Mysteryland, Burning Man and Q Base festivals in late August and September, and the cele-brationsofthe200-yearanniversaryofthe Koninkrijk.”


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Mumford & Sons’in Nijmegen.

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With their iconic exploding cannons and a giant inflatable woman named Rosie, AC/DC are back on their latest stadium tour – Rock Or Bust – to reinforce their enduring success as one of rock’s most instantly recognisable riff machines. After headlining the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival inCaliforniainApril,thebandbegantheir28-dateEuropeanleg at Arnhem GelreDome in the Netherlands on May 5th, notablycallingatWembleyStadiumonJuly4thforashowthat was hailed by The Guardian as “rock’n’roll reduced to its purest essence”. Performing under a Stageco arched roof, topped with apairofdevilishhorns,theband–60yearold‘schoolboy’guitar hero Angus Young, singer Brian Johnson and bassist CliffWilliams,withreturningdrummerChrisSladeandrhythmguitarist Stevie Young taking his retired uncle Malcolm’s place –deliveredanon-stoprollercoasterofmonsteranthemsthathavebeenthebackboneofheavyrockfor40years. Their Rock Or Bust stage is based on the curved roof tech-nology that Stageco introduced as the Giant Arch for Pink Floyd’s The Division Belltourin1994,acopyofwhichisbeingdeployed this summer in Andorra for Cirque du Soleil’s show Scalada: Storia. AC/DC’s model is a smaller variation of this arched roof and is similar to that developed for the 2002 Win-ter OlympicsinSaltLakeCity.Itmeasures66.3metreswide;thecentralarchis16metreshighwithawidthof23metres.

Taking care of the tour on behalf of Stageco is project managerBertKustermansandmainR&DengineerDirkVanDe Goor who collaborated with technical consultant Jeremy LloydofWonderWorks.ThethreehaveworkedcloselywithDale ‘Opie’ Skjerseth, the innovative production manager who has played a pivotal role in Stageco’s history. AtWembley,OpieexplainedthatStageco’scontributionsto the tour come under three main categories: quality, service and staff. He said: “As always, they bring everything to the table from when there’s a presentation of the design to them, tofiguringouthowit’sgoingtoworkandwhatit’sgoingtotake. They come to all the meetings and organise the engi-neering to the point of making it happen in such a way that you’renothavingtofightyourwaythroughtheday. “Right off the bat, we all saw that their solutions would make it easy to take this around the world. Stageco go in, build the framework, then we come in with production and in eight hours we can have the show completely ready.” WorkingtoadesignbyRayWinklerofStufish,StagecoandsetfabricatorTaithavepooledtheirindividualexpertisetocreate a set that truly embodies the heart and soul of AC/DC. JeremyLloydcommented:“WhileitwouldbesimpletoexplainthatStagecohaveprovidedthesteelstructuresandTait have focused on the ‘rusted’ corrugated cladding that fixestotheStagecoroof,andthetwohorns,thepartnership


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AC/DC... We Salute You!

An explosive AC/DC at Wembley Stadium on July 4th 2015.

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has been more in depth. For Tait’s rolling B-stage runway, Stageco builds a sub-deck underneath to ensure its founda-tions are level. That’s absolutely key to the moments in the show when Angus Young runs out nearer to the crowd for his famous cameo moments.”

STEEL AND LABOURThe relationship between AC/DC and Stagecobeganin1991withtheRazors Edge tour, under Jake Berry’s production leadership. Since then, the Belgian com-pany has been responsible for all of its large-scale staging and, for the Rock Or Bust tour, Stageco is leapfrogging three steel systems with crews headed by Ste-faanVandenbosch,HendrikVerdeyenandJohan‘Bellekes’VanEspen. Verdeyen,thecrewchiefatWembleyStadium,explained:“Eachsystemtravelson14truckswithacrewof12,andtheyinclude a carpenter, two scaffolders, climbers and so on. The stage structure includes the nine metre wide PA/video

wings and Tait’s horns, and requires a three-day build using two cranes and eightforklifts,workingfrom8amto7pmwith24localcrew[ShowstarsatWemb-ley]assistingourownguys.It’sawell-oiled machine. “At this moment, one steel system is travelling from our last show at the Aviva StadiuminDublintoImolainItaly,andanother is setting up at the Festivalpark Stenehei in Dessel, Belgium. Another two trucks are reserved for four delay/spot towers and a front-of-house control riser that are set up at each venue by a separate two-man crew. “It’snotoneofourmostcomplexbuilds but you approach each venue in a slightly different way, according to itsspecificattributes.Themainthingistofinishthearchandoncethatisdone,youcanworkontherestofthedetail.It’salso by far not the biggest performance area we’ve ever built but it has a very powerful appearance and because the band members are closer together, it

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gives you the impression that you’re in a more intimate venue –that’snormallyquitedifficulttoachieveinastadium!” Jeremy Lloyd admits that he has worked with Stageco on moreprojectsthanhecanremember–TheRollingStones,RogerWaters,U2,Genesis,RobbieWilliamsand,ofcourse,AC/DC being among them. Many occurred during his four-yeartenureasseniordesigneratStufish.Sinceearly2014,hehas partnered with Piers Shepperd at technical production companyWonderWorks. SaidLloyd:“Wehavethatsharedexperienceofdoingso many jobs together, it makes everything go much more smoothly.WeunderstandhowStagecodotheirCADandtheir engineering, and how their equipment works, but over that time we’ve also built up some very solid relationships which obviously makes for a pleasant working environment, and the results speak for themselves.”

INCLINEInphysicalload-interms,noneofthevenuesposedaprob-lem to date, however, AC/DC’s show at Hockenheimring in GermanyonMay16thwasnotableforotherreasons.“There’sa fairly relatively steep incline from FOH up to the stage at Hockenheim–abouttwometresdifference,”saidOpie.“An-gus must have felt like he was on the end of a cliff when he was on the B-stage.

“Many of us are very familiar with Hockenheim and it was one of the big topics of our planning discussions so we had our solutions in place well before we arrived. For different rea-sons,Italycanbemoreofachallengebecausetheirvenues’rules and regulations are very strict, but everybody has been on top of it.” Opie stressed how important AC/DC’s presentation is to the band members. “This is presentation with a capital ‘P’,” he said.“AC/DChaveaseriouslyloyalfollowingwhoknowex-actly what they want to see, and so the band remain heavily involvedin–andveryparticularlyabout–theproduction. “Everyone loves the familiarity of the band’s visual trade-marks and so we have the bell and the cannons, and a new versionofourinflatableRosie,notforgettingtheiconicwallofMarshalls.It’salookthathasexpandedinsizesincethelasttour and the guys love it. TheMarshallamplifiersarereal,stressedOpie,althoughthey’renotallturnedon.“Ofthe35stacks,24arelive,andobviously we carry a lot of spares!” The current Rock Or BustitineraryrunsuntilDecember15thwhenthebandfinishtheirAustralasianlegatWesternSpringsStadiuminAuckland.However,plansareinmotiontoextendthetourinto2016,saidOpie.“It’sallbeingworkedonandbythe end of the European leg we should have the rest of the dates put together.”

Above, L-R: Production manager Dale ‘Opie’ Skjerseth, technical consultant Jeremy Lloydand Stageco’s Ben Hommers, Mark Van Dyck, Hendrik Verdeyen, Wim Carens & Benny Sterckx.P

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Since 2006, Stageco has been a key supplier to the annual Main Square Festival, which takes place ever first weekend of July in the striking historical site of Citadelle Vauban in Arras, France, just across the border from Belgium. The three-day event was cre-ated two years earlier by France Leduc Productions and currently attractsaround40,000visitorsperday. This year, with the promise ofMuse,LennyKravitz,PharrellWilliams,GeorgeEzra,JamesBay,Kodaline, Rival Sons, The Script andHozier,Main Square sold out forthefirsttimeinitshistory. Commissioned by promoter Live Nation France, a Stageco crewof11,supervisedbyPatrikVonckx,builtaBoogdakXLroofforthemainstageanda3-towerroof for the ‘Green Room’ second stage. Stageco also constructed several other structures around thesite–delayandPAtowers,small platforms and entrance gates,etc.–alongwithascaf-

folding wall between the two stages that was cladded with special acoustic skins to minimise environmental noise. The project manager for Stage-co was Tom Bilsen (the divisional director of Stageco France) while the company’s lead R&D contact was Luc Dardenne.

RELAXEDInatwistoffate,FooFighterDave Grohl’s leg injury in June madeforaslightlymorerelaxedload-in at Main Square. Part of the equipment was scheduled to be shipped in immediately after a Foos show in Edinburgh. Once the show was cancelled due to Grohl’s on-stage accident in Gothenburg, Stageco suddenly had plenty of time to ship the gear to Arras. After rearranging their touring plans, Foo Fighters will be return-ing to the UK in early September for shows at Milton Keynes Nation-al Bowl and Edinburgh’s Murray-fieldStadium.


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The Main EventSTAG

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STAGEC

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Stageco US project manager Tom Frederickx talks about the wide range of activities that have dominated this summer.

Time really flies. It’s really hard to believe that nearly two and a half years have passed since I came over from Belgium to join Stageco’s Colorado Springs office, having already worked for the company as a structural engineer since 2000. Obviously, the sheer size of the country makes doing business much more of a challenge compared to Europe. If you are sending equipment out on a job that has a tight deadline, like most of our jobs, it needs to be right because the distances involved do not allow for mistakes. It’s the kind of realisation that nurtures tough self-discipline. Most of us connected with the company know the back story.StagecoUSwasincorporatedinJune1992afteraseriesof events and mutual contacts brought Hedwig De Meyer and our vice-president Mary Lou Figley together. Some things haven’tchangedtoomuch;otheraspectsofthebusinesshave altered beyond recognition. Mary Lou, myself and the rest of our team have a lot of complementaryexperienceandskillsthatslottogetherlikejigsaw pieces. That team also includes project managers

Casey Ross and recent recruit Jonathan Hawkins, draftsmen Nick Rivas and Patrick Herron, Beth Benson who looks after crew logistics and travel, equipment manager Keith Ray and ouraccountantVeronicaDix. Onanaveragedayintheoffice,whileMaryLou[whoalsoworks as a project manager] handles most of the client com-munications because of her close relationships with so many ofthem,Iwillfocusonmoreofthetechnicalaspectsoftheprojects. Sofar,inourbusiestperiodof2015,wehavesimultaneouslyhadeightEuropeancrewsworkinghereinAmerica.Itbeganto ease off a little in early August but from the third week everything was very busy once again with some more dance festivals[Nocturnal Wonderland’s20thanniversaryeventandBeyond Wonderland], Made In America in Philadelphia and Global Citizen Festival in New York’s Central Park, which will then take us through to the end of September. Our summer season started very early this year, thanks to Kenny Chesney, whose tour began for us at the end of April, P

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Kenny Chesney on his Big Revival tour.

with Taylor Swift’s 1989tourfollowinginlateMay.Verysoonafterwards, we were given very short notice that the Rolling Stones were springing back into live action with their Zip Code tour. There had been some rumours about it but you can’t planabusinessschedulearoundgossip.Whenwefinallygotthecall,wehadtomakeitall work very quickly. It’sgoodtohaveaseasonbeginwith multiple systems out on the road for long runs with all hands ondeck.Whiletheywereoutthere,backintheofficewehadsome time to concentrate on the new festivals that had come our way, such as the Free Press Summer Festival in Houston, as well as planning how to meet the greater demands of ourservicesfortheflagshipElectric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas,whichdrawsaround150,000people,threedaysina row. So, all in all, April, May and June were unusually hectic months for us, and here are some of the highlights...

THE CHESNEY-SWIFT EFFECTKenny Chesney’s The Big Revival tour is a huge success [grossinginexcessof$80millionover56shows]thatlaunchedinstadiumsjustbeforeTaylorandjustendedonAugust29th.Mary Lou was account manager for this one and she liaised directlywithproductionmanagerEdWannabe.ItwasaMikeSwinford design and our crew boss, James ‘Jimbo’ Ramacus, lookedafterateamof11. TheChesneystagehadaregularStageco4-towerroofsys-tem–25mwideand20mdeep–withcustomrotateddoublePA wings, video portals, spot/delay towers and a FOH riser

addedtothe12-trailerpackage.Oneofthebigmomentsinhisshowwasaflygag.Therewerecablesconnectedbetweenthestageandthetwodelaytowers,andKennyflewoutonthemintothemiddleoftheaudience.It’sagagthatthe crowd really loved, night after night. DesignedbyBarry‘Baz’Halpin,the1989tourhasdefinitelyincreasedTaylorSwift’sstarstatus.I’mproudtosaythatthisisoneofmyownprojectsandI’vebeenworkingwithAr-

thur Kemish (production manager) and David Lanosga (Stageco crew chief) on the

schedule. This current North American tour,

which is set to close at the end of October,requires13trailersofgearand12crew.Foralmostallshowsweusedthesametypeof4-towerroof as with Chesney, but with two extraportalstodealwithriggingca-

pacity.Inthemiddleoftheschedule.Taylor did some arena shows and then,

in July, when she had more stadium shows, weneededasecondsystem–aSuperRoof–fortwodates.Wehavealsoprovidedtwo12mwideand5mdeepPAwings.

ZIPPED FOR ACTIONLastingfromMay24thuntilJuly15th,TheRollingStones’Zip CodetourofNorthAmericawasanotherhugeboxofficetriumph for the band. Zip Code is a clever name that, as wellasreferencingtheziponthecoverofSticky Fingers, the Stones’ classic album that was recently re-released, the area zipcodesthatwerelocaltoeachvenueonthetourwerefeatured on the video screens as part of the pre-show enter-tainment.


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Top row: Bird’s eye views of the Kenny Chesney and (right) Taylor Swift stages. Above: Ms Swift – on stage and pre-show.Below: Stageco US’s Mary Lou Figley and Tom Frederickx.

There wasn’t really much difference from a staging per-spective compared to last year’s 14 On Fire European dates. The SuperRoof was essentially the same as the one used in 2014,butdresseddifferentlyandslightlysimplifiedtoenableafasterbuild.Wehadtwo15-trailersystemsleapfroggingontheroadwithPatrickMartensandAntonioDuarteDaCruzeachleadingaEuropeancrewof14.Theyalsoerectedspotand delay towers, as well as the FOH riser. Certain similarities have also been present on One Direc-tion’s On The Road Againtourof22AmericancitieswhichbeganinSanDiegoonJuly9thandcontinuesthroughtomid-September. They are essentially touring with a design thattheypreviouslyhadoutinAustralia.It’satourthatcarriesthreeStageco4-towerroofsystems,customrotateddoublePA wing and a pair of spot/delay towers, with each system

builtbya10-strongteamheadedbyavarietyofcrewchiefsincluding Bart Dewolf and Stephane Angelis.

HOUSTON CALLINGLaunchedin2009,theannualFree Press Summer Festival (FPSF) is an annual two-day music festival held in downtown Houston,TexasatBuffaloBayou’sEleanorTinsleyPark.FPSF 2015,heldonJune6-7,presentedsuchleadingactsasTearsForFears,Skrillex,RKelly,BenHarper,WeezerandBandOfHorsesamongstitsextraordinarylargebill. Organised by the local independent newspaper Free Press Houston in partnership with concert promoter Pegstar.net Pre-sents, FPSF 2015witnessedStagecoUS’sfirstassociationwiththefestival.WithFarleyGrossleadingafive-mancrew,wetookcareofthemain[Mars]stageandbroughtinsixtrailers


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Fifty-three years and counting, and still no sign of stopping: The Rolling Stones. Below: FPSF 2015 in downtown Houston with Tears For Fears (Roland Orzabal pictured) amongst the artist highlights.

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tobuildan18metrewide,14metredeepBoogdak roof with seven metre wide PA/vid-eo wings, a front of house control platform and one spot/delay tower.

CRYSTAL MAGICBy far, our most technically challenging pro-ject of the year has been the Electric Daisy Carnival inLasVegaswhichwasjustim-mense on every level. Our work on the main stagein2014wasamajorundertakingonitsown but this time we provided three of the seven stages, requiring 56 equipment trailers. Jake Berry, the EDCVegasproductionmanager, was constantly requesting quotes fornewelementsoftheshow,andthesizeof our order was growing by the day to include items like video screen portals that appeared in various parts of the site. Logistically,itwasdifficultbecause,whenwe were loading in, incredible amounts equipmentwerearrivinginVegasfromfourdifferentlocations–ColoradoSprings,Manheim,HoustonandBelgium–andthenheading back out afterwards to numerous destinations.Thatwasarealadventure!Ifwe hadn’t been able to plan that as well as

we did, there was every chance that some projects would have been declined. There was no way we were going to risk that, so all our administration skills were very tightly focused on making everything work. Themain[CrystalCathedral]stagewasanewdesignfor2015andtheusualplanistoshrink it down to form a touring version that goaroundtheworldforthenextyear.Lastyear’s cathedral was intended to be a shrine that presented music in a religious sense, but for2015thenarrativebehindtheeventwasallabouttheCrystalVillage.And,ofcourse,the motif of the owl continued to play a prominent role. Although the festival was open to the publicoverthethreedaysofJune19-21,itwasathreeweekjobforourcrew.WehadagoodmixofUSandEuropeancrew,thenumbersofwhichgrewfrom14to25atthe peak of activity, with Farley Gross, Paul VanBelle,JohanVanEspenandMarkVanGorp taking their turns to head the teams at various times on our three custom structures, including the one referred to as either the Pyramid or the Cadillac, because it was orig-inally designed for a Cadillac presentation.

Scenes from EDC Vegas in June. Top left: Building the structures. Top right and above: The Crystal Cathedral, Cadillac/Pyramid and Wasteland stagesBelow, right: Coming soon... some of the last projects of summer ‘15 for Stageco US.

S E E O V E R L E A F F O R A R E P O R T O N T H E U K ’ S 2 0 1 5 E L E C T R I C D A I S Y C A R N I V A L

Over 35,000 revellers flocked to Milton Keynes National Bowl on Saturday 11th July to be a part of the Electric Daisy Carnival UK, the British edition of the phenomenally success-ful dance music event brand that has been taking America by storm since the late ‘90s. Hosted in the UK for the third time, this year’s bill featured sets from dance legends Tiësto, Paul van Dyk, Hardwell, Ferry Corsten and Steve Aoki. ToweringoverMiltonKeynesataround28metrestallandnearly100metreswide,thesheerexpanseofthekineticCATHEDRALmainstage at the Electric Daisy Carnival UK (EDC UK) was enough to incite a stare of jaw-drop-ping disbelief from the average onlooker. But sizewasonlyoneoftheattributesofadazzlingscenic achievement that once again saw Stageco working alongside some of live pro-duction’s greatest innovators. Thekineticenergy-themedsensoryfeast–with giant owls bookending the stage, larger-than-life art installations and a diverse range ofspecialeffectsincludingaround3,000

pyrotechnicsequences–gaveBritishraversaflavourofthestunningpanoramicscenery that American audiences have beenexperiencinginrecentyears. EDC was originated in the US by Los Angeles-based production compa-nyInsomniac,whichrecentlyan-nouncedplanstoexpandtheElectric Daisy CarnivalexperiencetoBrazilandJapan. Insomniac’smainplayersontheground at the UK show were production directorAlyxzanderBearandfestivalexpe-rience director Conor Bowes, while produc-tion manager Neil McDonald and project manager Jen-e Jones handled the local aspects on behalf of promoter Festival Republic. McDonaldobserved:“Withrespectto the acts, this is one of the few eventsthatyoucanconfidentlysayis more about the audience and the spectaclethananythingelse.It’soneof the hottest events out there right now.

Building The FoundationFor EDC UK


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Right: Production manager Neil McDonald with project manager Jen-e Jones, and (bottom) Stageco’s head of technicians for the event, Paul Van Belle.


“EDC’s approach to creativity is more familiar to America and Europe than the UK.Idon’tthinktheUKhadpreviouslyseen a dance event with such a creative drive to it and, of course, that impacts tremendously on the design of the stages and the site, and the whole approach to the event. “Here at Milton Keynes, they’ve bor-rowed from a model that has been a tremendoussuccessinAmerica[whereInsomniacpresentedthelargeststageintheworldatLasVegasMotorSpeed-way].InconsultancywithStageco’steam,InsomniacworkedouthowthatStageco structure would accommo-date all of the scenic elements, such as theowls.Whatwe’vedonehereistoeffectively mimic what they’ve achieved in America, using as much Europe-

an-based production as was feasible, althoughitstillentailedsixcontainersof equipment coming over from the States.”

CREWDirk De Decker managed the project for Stageco with Gert Hulsmans looking after theR&Daspects.Ledon-sitebyWiesBaaten,Stageco’screwof12arrivedthree days before the show to unload 17trailersofequipmentandbeginthestagebuild,withassistancefrom12localclimbersand10stagehandsfromShowstars. “Having worked on EDC’sLasVegasedition, the Milton Keynes stage has been quite easy to build, particularly because the climate allows us to work during the day, which isn’t the case in

LasVegas,”commentedPaulVanBelle,Stageco’s head of technicians at the event. “It’saverybeautifulstructureandwhatIparticularlylikeistheabsenceofskins–it’scompletelyopen.Soit’sallabout our black steel, the scaffolding and decking, although we also assist with other aspects of the set such as Jora Entertainment’s cladding, the video screens, the DJ booth with its scaffolding, PRG’s stage lighting and Britannia Row’s PA system hangs. “Ourfirstconcernisthebasestructure–ifyoudon’tdoitproperly,especiallywith a stage design like this, you’ll run into serious trouble. These days, we work with a theodolite that helps us to ensure wearecompletelylevel.It’sverytimeconsuming but essential.

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“Theonlysignificantissueforusistimepressure–tohavethegrids up in the air, ready for production after the second day, and then have the entire structure completed within three days.It’sabitofapushbutwegetthere.Untilourstructureisinplace, everyone is just waiting around.” Inthemiddleofabusysummer,NeilMcDonaldparticular-ly looked forward to working at Milton Keynes Bowl this year. “From my perspective as a production manager, it’s the best greenfieldsitetoworkonintheUK,”hesaid,“butitisalsogreat for the audience because it was purpose designed to meet all the criteria.”

POST-MORTEMAfter the event, McDonald voiced his personal appreciation of Stageco’s vital contributions, which also included the supply

and build of the front-of-house control structure, and four de-lay/spot towers. “ThishasbeenthemostseamlessshowI’veworkedoninalong time,” McDonald commented. “There was a long pre-pro-duction period of nearly a year that involved a lot of com-munication and detailed organisation, to the point that when wegoton-site,althoughweexpectedafewnipsandtucks,everythingcameinandwentupjustasitlookedonpaper.It’sall in the preparation and that, amongst so many other quali-ties,isStageco’sstrength.I’mgladtoreportthatitwasremark-ably uneventful backstage!” PasqualeRotella,thefounderandCEOofInsomniac,wasequally happy. He said: “This year’s EDC UKhasbeenanamaz-ing celebration of music, art and individuality. The festival has truly found a home across the Atlantic.”

Showphotography:BennettSell-KlineforInsomniac


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Held on Óbudai-sziget (Old Buda Island), a 266-acre island on the River Danube in northern Budapest, Hun-gary, the annual Sziget Fesztivál was originally founded in 1993 as Diáksziget (Students’ Island) by a group led by Müller Péter Sziámi and Károly Gerendai after the fall of Communism. Currentlyattractingover440,000peoplefrom95countries, Sziget reinforced its reputation as one of Eu-rope’s largest and most successful summer music events with a line-up that featured Florence And The Machine, Alt-J,Kasabian,TheScript,KingsOfLeon,LimpBizkit,EllieGoulding, Paloma Faith, Rudimental, the controversial PussyRiot,NewYorkpost-punkersInterpolandRobbieWilliamswho,alone,attracted80,000visitorstothemainstage. Stageco Germany, together with its local partner B.L. Crew KFT, was responsible for the main stage and count-less other constructions. The staging material, including thatforthe4-towerstagewithultralargePAwings,wasdeliveredon40trucks.The5,500m2VIPplatformonitsown was quite possibly unparalleled in Europe. Sziget’s unique line-up also included several German artists such as Cro, Kraftclub and Milky Chance, along with the Bavarian brass/ska band LaBrassBanda.

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Turning It On For

The first tour by Genesis in 15 years proved to be one of the most commercially successful periods of the legendary prog rock band’s career... and Stageco was there all the way.

Reunions come and go in the rock world, but few have been as potent as the one that brought Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks and their sidemen Daryl Stuermer and Chester Thompson back together for a wildly successful 48-show stadium tour in 2007. ItwasthefirsttimeGenesishadsteppedoutas a single unit since their We Can’t Dance tour

of1992–theband’ssecondencounterwithStagecothatwas notable for the company’s touring debut in the United States.Previously,in1986,StagecohadworkedonGenesis’

Invisible Touch tour, providing a tower system for the stage based on crane technology and leaving behind the tradi-tionalscaffoldingapproach.Itwasasinfluentialinthestagingworld as the band’s sophisticated music was to progressive rock. Twenty-one years later, that spirit of partnership was very evident when Stageco leapfrogged four stages around an intense schedule for the Turn It On Again tour of Europe and North America that was run by joint production managers Ste-ve‘Pud’JonesandHowardHopkins,withWobRobertsandGary Currier taking care of the advance work.

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ThetourbeganonJune112007inpouringrainatHelskini’sOlympicStadium.Dominatedbya250ftwidecurvedLEDscreen,andfeaturingseven110fithighsteel‘ribs’linkedbysil-ver cargo netting, the elegant, regal-looking set was concep-tualised by the late Mark Fisher, design engineered by Jeremy Lloyd and custom-built by Stageco. Backin2007,MarkFishersaid:“Genesiswantedtheirstagetohaveananti-industrial,organicqualitythatcouldreflectthe understated Englishness of their music. At the same time, the stadium the tour was booked through Europe in blocks of threeandfournights,‘backtoback’.Whilstthisisnormalforan arena show, it was unprecedented for a bespoke stadium tourtravellingwithacustom-builtstage.Thefinaldesignwasanefficientstructurethatconcealedtherectilinearprimarystructurebeneathexpressivecurvilinearsurfaces.” “The organic shapes were designed in AutoCAD and we alsousedaprogrammeforstructuralcalculations,”explainedDirk de Decker, Stageco’s project manager for the tour. “As with all our most challenging jobs, this Genesis stage was very technical and we had to draw on all our resources to deliver theservice.Ithinkeverybodywaspleasedwiththeresult.” Roberts, a self-confessed fan of the prog legends, said at the time that Genesis were the most rehearsed band with whomhehadworked.“Theyliketoknowexactlywhat’shap-pening when they leave production rehearsals,” he said, “so for the last two weeks in Brussels, they would play a set every day, then review a video recording of that set with Patrick Woodroffe[lightingdesigner]andDaveHill[lightingprogram-mer/director], and talk to the video crew. They were very involved with every aspect of the presentation.”

Thelateconfirmationofthetourmeantthatthedelayedgo-ahead to suppliers and crew pushed everything to the wire.SaidRoberts:”Wedidn’tactuallycommissionthestageuntilFebruary.Itwasallabitpanickyrightupuntilwewentto Tildonk in Belgium for two weeks at the end of April where thesetwasassembledforthefirsttimeonapatchoflandadjacent to Stageco’s headquarters. “Ilookedafterallthetestbuildingthereandranthepro-ductionrehearsalsforthreeweeksinHall5atBrusselsExpo.AttheendofthatthreeweekperiodIeffectivelyhandedtheproject over to Pud and Howard.” The steel was manned by Stageco’s four low steel rigging teamsandthreeforthehighsteel.InEurope,therewere55steel trucks on the road and Dirk de Decker worked hard with Roberts to ensure that the right steel and crew were in the right place on time. “Jeremy Lloyd has to be congratulated for designing a stage that can go into venues within a tiny set-up window, commented Roberts. “He did all the engineering work along with Koon Peeters at Stageco to enable universal production torollupwith22trucksat8.00amonshowdayandhaveeverything in place for a show that evening.” Stageco’sworkonthetourisbrieflycoveredin‘ComeRainOrShine’,adocumentaryfilmincludedinthetripleDVDset,When In Rome–filmedatthecity’sCircoMassimo. Since the tour, Genesis have been inducted into the Rock AndRollHallOfFameandcametogetherin2014toappearin the BBC’s career-length documentary, Genesis: Together And Apart. Sadly, despite the rekindled public interest in the band,theyarenotexpectedtoreturntotheconcertstage.

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Forty-six years after forming his first band, German music leg-end Udo Lindenberg continues to pack out venues whenever he steps out to perform. The drummer-turned-singer’s last al-bum – Live Aus Dem Hotel Atlantic, part of the MTV Unplugged series – went straight to number one in Germany and earned platinum status within a fortnight. Lastyear,withhisprofilehigherthanithasbeeninyears,Lindenbergfollowedthealbumwithhisfirst-everstadiumtour,playingtomorethan200,000peopleoverahandfulofdates. Encouraged by the response, the artist returned this July to playapairofshowsatHannover’sHDIArenaaswellastheBerlinOlympiastadionandFrankfurt’sCommerzbank-Arena,

withspecialguestsEricBurdon,JanDelay,OttoWaalkes,Clueso and Josephin Busch. A21-truckproduction,StagecoGermanysuppliedan11-truckcustom-madestagesystem,whichwasbasedonStageco’s3-towerdesignwitha400m²performingareaforLindenberg’s Panikorchester (his on-stage musical ‘family’), guests, choir and dancers. The successful project also includ-edtheinstallationof600m²ofLEDscreenwithinthetiltedPAwings and the stage header. The production manager on the tour was Pat Buhre. Stageco’s project manager was Dirk Lauenstein and the crew chiefs were Stefan Stadelmann and Sven ‘Jimmy’ Lange.

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Stageco Belgium made its debut at the 10-day cross-cultural Brussels Summer Festival this August, providing structures at two locations: the Paleizenplein/Place Des Palais stage (in front of the Royal Palace) – featuring star names including Im-elda May, Flogging Molly, Basement Jaxx and Belgium’s The Subs – and the Mont Des Arts/Kunstberg stage, where Douglas Firs, Elvis Black Stars and Sarah Carlier were among the native acts. Guided by project managers Lies Rombouts and Tom Bilsen (andBartDekelverandWimDewolfwhoprovidedR&Dsup-port), crews from Stageco’s local and international divisions worked together to install both stages. A brief to provide thelargeststagepossiblewithina27metrespaceresultedinaBoogdakbeingchosenforthePaleizenplein,thehomeof the Royal Palace, although the stage’s right shed had to

beremovedtoenableittofit,withadditionalstorageareacreated upstage to compensate. Two delay towers, a load-ing dock and a custom-made header were also part of the job. Close to the Place de l’Alber-tine, the Mont Des Arts/Kunstberg stage was constructed from one of Stageco’s smaller stage sys-tems that has repeatedly proven to be very popular among small-scalefestivals.Astandard25x10stage, it came equipped with additional ramps, a loading dock and a front of house structure.

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Founded in 1932, Tokyo-based Shimizu Octo began life as the company that introduced profession-al baseball to Japan, and is today one of its country’s leading event production vendors, providing a 360° range of services from design and planning to audio, lighting and staging in venues of all sizes. Some years ago, after becoming ac-quainted through a number of international tours,MrTakujiShimizu,thecompany’schair-man, got in contact with Stageco Belgium to

enquire about purchasing staging equipment to service the Japanese/Asian market.

“That’s how the partnership began to grow betweenStagecoBelgiumandShimizuOcto,”says Hedwig De Meyer. “Forus,Japanisadifficultmarkettoservice,butwithShimizubuyingandrentingoutourstage systems makes it possible for touring bandslikeU2andMötleyCrüetohavethe

same equipment when passing through Japan. “BusinessseemstobegoingwellforShimizu,

Eastern PromiseJapan has long been a highly respected part of the global event market and, thanks to a valued relationship, the land of the rising sun is benefitting from Stageco’s technology and expertise.

An example of one of Shimizu Octo’s SuperRoofs from Stageco.

If you have witnessed any tours, festivals or other events over the last year that have featured the

involvement of Stageco Staging Group and been suitably impressed by quality of the company’s stages, temporary structures and support crew,

we humbly encourage you to vote for us in the Favourite Staging Company category

of the 15th annual TPi Awards.

The results will be announced inLondon on Monday 22nd February 2016.

Please visit www.tpiawards.com/enter-nowwhere voting is open until September 30th 2015.

The procedure is very straightforward and we also hope to see you on the big night. THANK YOU!


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andinthelastfewyearsithasexpandeditsstockwiththreemore SuperRoofs, and an assortment of spot and delay tow-ers.”

SPECIALISEDShimizuhasitsownspecialisedcrewtoinstallanddismantlestages, always within a very tight time schedule that takes into consideration the very limited availability of Japanese stadium venues that are inevitably booked up all year round. stadia in Japan. “They only need half the time for load-in as we do,” De Meyer continues, “and although they do use higher numbers ofcrew,theyalsoseemtobeorganisedmoreefficiently. “Every once in a while we have crew going over to Japan to help with maintenance or instruct them on technical updates. Evenforourexperienced,globetrottingcrewwhohaveseenitall, this is always a refreshing opportunity because the cultural differences are so huge and it always makes for a fascinating visit.” ShimzuOcto’scurrentportfolioofclientsincludesstadiumrockers Mr. Children and superstar musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actor and avid guitar collector Masaharu

“Even for our experienced, globetrotting crew who

have seen it all, [meeting the Shimizu Octo team] is always a refreshing

opportunity because the cultural differences are so huge and it always makes

for a fascinating visit.”HEDWIG DE MEYER

Fukuyama (above), whose recent, sold-out Big Summer Festival 2015showsincludedapairofdatesatInasayamaParkinhisNagasakihometown.Markingthe25thanniversaryofFukuy-ama’sdebutrecord,theAugust30thconcertwasalsoshownlive in cinemas throughout Japan, Hong Kong and in Taiwan.

www.shimizu-global.com

IT’S TIMETO VOTE!

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1... EUREKA! Stageco’sfirstEurekamomentcameatthebeginningofthe1980swhen,throughexperimenting,HedwigDeMeyerandhiscolleagues found that a combination of framework beams, also known as a tower, was far more convenient for building stages than a scaffolding tower, and thus became a standard part of the stage. More fundamental choices were soon made–theyincludedbuildingthefloorand towers separately, using water as counterweight, and building the roof structure on the ground before raising it.

2... CREATING THE ‘750’Thefirstfully-fledgedStagecotowerstagewasbuiltin1983onthefestivalgroundsatWerchter.Afunctionalblackboxconsist-ing of all standard elements, it was easily built,dismantledandtransported–thestandardforthenext30years. In1983,thetowershada1mx1mbase.From1986onwards,theyweremadeofhigh-gradesteelwitha750mmx750mmbase,hencethename‘750Stage’.Inthedesignphase,theap-proachwaspurelypragmatic;theap-pearance was not taken into considera-tion. Gradually, a number of variants were developed:3-tower,4-tower…withwidthsrangingfrom15to26metres.

3... PA TOWERSThe tower stage inspired Stageco to createmoreinnovations.Inthe1980s,PAwings were scaffolding towers with two to three levels upon which loudspeakers were placed. DirkVandeGoor:“That’sthewaywedid it every year at the Werchter festival, yetwewerethefirsttocastasidethatprinciple.Wesuggestedhangingthespeakersinthescaffolding,to‘fly’them,aswesaid.WediditlikethisforPinkFloydin1988andusedtowersforthison,forexample,DavidBowiein1990andDireStraitsin1992.” The tower principle became more than asurefirewayofdeliveringvalue–‘hang-ing’issomuchmoreefficientandsaferthan ‘stacking’.

4... CUSTOM SPECIALSRock bands wanted more. Smart design-ers brought the robust but ‘sterile’ stand-ard stage to life. They did it by adding ele-mentsthatwerespecificallydesignedfor

the show. The objective of this approach was two-fold: maintaining a high func-tionality and adding a personal touch. Stagecofulfilledbothwishes. Dirk De Decker: “Stageco was con-stantlybeingchallenged–in1992byGenesisandin1994bybothPinkFloydand The Rolling Stones. Mark Fisher came up with eye-catching stage designs. For Stageco,theseweretheveryfirst‘spe-cials’.”

5... CANTILEVERTheevolutiondidn’tstopthere.DirkVandeGoor:“BonJovi’s[These Days]1995tour was another pivotal moment. Jon wanted a larger roof with a bigger free span at the front of the stage so that, in larger stadiums, the band could move furtherforwardonthestage.Itmadeit possible for people to see them from the sides, which in turn allowed for more tickets to be sold. “To solve this on the technical side, we worked with roof trusses with a strong anchorage at the back of the stage. And later, we combined this with a pitched roof. Technically, it’s all very subtle, because you need to support the large overhanging part of the roof.” The result was called the cantilever roof. The technology was later optimised in the SuperRoof.

6... ARCHED ELEGANCEThe Romans already knew it when they built aqueducts, and the Romanesque or even Gothic architecture was based on the same principle. The arch shape has a high bearing capacity and Stageco ap-plied that shape in its Arch product line. Incombinationwithlightweightalumin-iumprofiles,itresultsinanelegantandrobust stage. Although not suitable for heavy loads in the roof, it became much sought after when the aesthetic aspect of the event is important, such as at classical music concerts and daytime events in urban settings, especially when combined with transparent skins.

7... SUPERROOF / SUPER TINAAttheendofthe1990s,thecallforbiggerand stronger stages became louder and louder. Productions grew with increased sound,lighting,videoanddécor.Butnotevery artist could afford to tour with a custom-made stage.

Evolution In Eleven Stages


Withthisinmind,Stagecodevelopedthe SuperRoof: a majestic structure with more useful performance space and a roof with a higher bearing capacity. The newdesignhada1,034mmx1,034mmtower base and a roof structure with 1.80metrehightrusses,andforthefirsttime it was lifted with winches. Inearly2000,theSuperRoofwasgroundbreaking and rock-solid with ‘everything under one roof’. Tina Turner deployed it for her 24/7 world tour.

8... FREE-STANDING TOWERSThe free-standing tower is to Stageco what the wheel is to the bicycle: simple, ingeniousandvital.Itspossibilitiesarenumerous.Inthelate’90s,free-standingtowers were already in use, but only very occasionally for hanging PA speak-ers or spotlights, as was the case on the Rolling Stones’ Bridges To Babylon tour in 1997,andCélineDion’sLet’s Talk About Lovetourof1999. Butonlywhen,in2002,JakeBerryidentifiedthemanyadvantagesofthefree-standing tower, did Stageco focus more attention on the one-tower con-struction.ItbecameprominentontheStones’ Licks tour along with many other concerts and festivals as a delay tower, spotlight tower or an ‘eagle’s nest’ for production.

9... ENTER BOOGDAKWhilstonthesubjectofelegance,theBoogdak is just as functional as a tower stage, but it primarily serves an aesthet-icpurpose.Itwasoriginallydestinedfor the French market, where style and appearance are very important. ThefirstBoogdakmadeitsdébutin2004inthewatersoftheMediterraneanfor a special concert during the Cannes Film Festival.In2008,ithadasimilarim-pact when it travelled around the world withIronMaiden. Whilstnotatechnicalwonder,theBoogdakremainsanidealbrandprofilerfor clients who are looking for something different without necessarily requiring a custom-made stage. Hedwig: “The development of the Boogdak proves we are trendsetters.

Wekeeponestepaheadbylaunchingnew lines and offering a better service because that global picture still is our core business.”

10... U2’s MILESTONEForU2’srecord-breaking360° tour, all existingknowledgeaboutstagingfor-mats, construction techniques, equip-ment and transport had to be ques-tioned. Hedwig:“Inourworldweoftenspeakof‘beforeandafterU2’–year‘zero’sotospeak.U2’s360° ‘Claw’ was not so much a milestone because of the shape, but mostly because of the technology used, which was new to rock’n’roll–high-qualitysteel,towerswitha2,200mmx2,200mmbase,newlifting techniques.” DirkDeDecker:“Weturnedthetradi-tional conventions upside-down. Almost every element in the construction was brandnew;designedandspeciallymadeforthetour.Wereachednewlimits and broke new grounds.”

11... XXL STAGETheendwasnotyetinsight.In2012,Stageco responded to a growing mar-ket demand for a stage that was attrac-tiveonalargescale.Forthefirsttime,the starting point was a purely archi-tectural approach. Mark Fisher created a new look and Stageco turned it into a construction that complied with the highest comfort standards of the artists who wanted to use it. TheresultwastheXXLstage:arevo-lutionary, rock solid design, with an oval roof,a38metrefrontandaclearanceof20metres.Theroofweighs160tonsandcanbearnolessthan70tonsofequipment.Itrestsonanewgenerationoftowerswitha2,200mmx2,200mmbase. Hedwig:“TherealityisthattheXXLstage makes full use of the technol-ogy that was developed for the 360° ‘Claw’.Atthetime,wemadea99%custom-made monster commissioned byoneartist;wecannowofferastand-ard stage to every band or festival that wants to go big as well as beautiful.”

Adapted from Geert Vandenbon’s acclaimed hardback book ‘Stageco: 30 Years – From Werchter To The World’, available now in

Dutch and English versions from boek.pinguinproductions.be

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INTERNATIONALOFFICES

StagecoBelgiumN.V.Kapelleweg 63150Tildonk

Tel:+3216608471Fax:[email protected]

Stageco France sarl158,LePetitPalais

84800L’IslesurSorgueTel:+33490209090Fax:+33490209031

[email protected]

Stageco Deutschland GmbHSchäfflerstrasse1386343KönigsbrunnTel:+49821440220Fax:+498214402222

[email protected]

Stageco Nederland b.v.Aalsvoort14

7241MALochemTel:+31573256302Fax:+31573256062

[email protected]

Stageco AustriaHeigerleinstraße23/31

A-1160WienTel:+4314811513

Fax:[email protected]

Stageco Deutschland GmbHHerzbergstrasse120

10365BerlinTel:+493054987240Fax:+493054987244

[email protected]

StagecoU.S.Inc8755VollmerRoad

ColoradoSpringsCO80908Tel:+17194959497Fax:+17194959098

[email protected]

StagecoU.S.IncManheim181E.StiegelSt.

Manheim,PA17545Tel:+18667824326

[email protected]

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Edited and designed by Mark Cunningham / Liveculture Group for and on behalf of Stageco Staging Group

STAGECO NEWS Summer 2015

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