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BORSATO DE KUIP Dutch megastar, Marco Borsato, makes a landmark return to De Kuip, Rotterdam for five record breaking and visually encapsulating sold-out shows. TPi’s Jacob Waite was onsite to speak to the visual team behind this outlandish production…
Fifteen years ago, one of the most successful and biggest grossing artists in the Netherlands, promised to return to one of the nation’s most iconic stadium venues with a series of concerts that audiences would never forget. True to his word, Marco Borsato transformed the home of Feyenoord Rotterdam into his playground for five nights of visual and sonic revelry; opening the doors to 250,000 friendly faces with guest performances from a plethora of Dutch artists including, André Hazes, Lil Kleine and DI-RECT, Maan, Ali B, Davina Michelle and Armin van Buuren. For Show Designer Carlo Zaenen of Q.be the task was monumental – devise a stadium-filling set that not only fits the music, which is neither pop nor rock, but also showcase pioneers from all corners of the live music and entertainment technology industry. MOJO Concerts’ John Mulder, Marco Borsato’s manager of ten years, explained the rationale behind the five-day spectacular. “Marco has played this historic venue nine times before, six times in a row,” he said. “As soon as he found out that The Rolling Stones had also played De Kuip nine times, he
promised that he would return to beat the record.” Mulder explained the tour’s modus operandi was to create a historic production at an equally historic venue. “Initially, we thought that we would only play a few shows here,” he conceded. “Now, we’ve ended up doing five consecutive, sold-out performances to a quarter of a million fans!” he proudly exclaimed. However, with popularity comes expectation and a box-office budget. “We have had to create something really special to commemorate the occasion,” Mulder said with earnest. “Marco wants to give each fan who has spent their hard-earned money an experience, so they not only go home having witnessed a great show, but they also get their money’s worth.” VIDEO In video village, TPi met Project Manager, Ben Augenbroe, by the team’s backstage ‘Fa-bar’ – a space adorned with tiki posters, beer cans and ROE LED Strips. “Everything was entirely LED,” Augenbroe reflected on the 08
