CREAMFIELDS
final names and numbers set by May.” On site Murray, Haswell and Stead oversaw the running of the stages and all technical aspects of the main stage with Strickland overseeing the rest of the site ensure all the crews had everything they needed. “We have a schedule at the start of everyday where we can work out the movement of crew throughout the day and when and where they are needed - we stay operational in some arenas until 4am.” For the biggest looks from the weekend, you need not look any further than CF01 and CF02 with headline sets from Tiesto, Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia, but it was the later that really laid down the gauntlet in terms special effects deployment. “Our house rig was already in place on Main Stages, consisting of Confetti Stadium Blasters, DMX PsyCO2 Jets, Xtreme Stadium Streamer Shots, G-Flames, Wave Flames, Chameleon Flames and Stage Pyro with big pyro display endings for the Main Stage headliners. The Swedish House Mafia’s rider just kept getting bigger in the weeks leading up to the festival and the bespoke flame rig alone was one of the biggest we’ve ever done.” Another highlight for the special effects specialist was over in the Steel Yard for Eric Prydz on the Friday night. “That venue was very heavy on lasers!” enthused Strickland. Included in the laser package were one of BPM’s latest offering to the live community – namely 18w lasers mounted on Wahlberg DMX winches offering increased options to change the look of already malleable stages thanks to an extensive Movecat system hung over the audience. SHOWFORCE This year, the number of Showforce crew leap from 788 to 1,051, including 38 by licenced telehandler and cherry picker drivers. Over the course of the project, the Showforce crew amassed almost 10,000-man hours, with crew deployed from Showforce’s national network of offices in Liverpool,
Manchester, Coventry and London. Showforce provided stagehands, backline crew, plant operators, crew chiefs and a site boss. The team were responsible for the load-in of all equipment for every stage around the site, supporting the rest of the contractors. Showforce Operations Director, Chris Martelly, commented: “We’re very proud of our reputation with Creamfields. It’s a large event which grows in stature year on year and the requirement for our services has been in step with that. Many of the crew supplied have experience of working on large festival sites and have worked for Showforce at Creamfields for the last four or five years. “Creamfields is a large site and the set-up is always gruelling for the crew, inclement weather conditions in the days leading up to this year’s event made it particularly challenging. However, using their experience and initiative our crew got through it and delivered with their usual good humour and high spirits.” TPi Photos courtesy of Geoffrey Hubbel and Anthony Mooney www.creamfields.com www.larmaclive.com www.acorn-events.com www.britanniarow.com www.capital-sound.co.uk www.adlib.co.uk www.vanguardia.co.uk www.coloursound.com www.christielites.com www.prg.com www.bpm-sfx.com www.showforce.com 48
