JOURNAL 2024
In this new, annual edition of our company’s news bulletin, we review a wide range of projects from last year, and bring you other interesting features to keep you up to date with our activities across the STAGECO Group.
ADELE IN MUNICH STAGECO builds the foundations behind an exciting new world record
Major artist residencies in purpose-built venues have transformed the ways in which it is possible to deliver live spectacles to audiences. Already, we have seen some incredible examples, including ABBA’s ‘virtual’ Voyage show and U2’s 40-date run at the extraordinary Sphere in Las Vegas. In August 2024, however, this relatively new genre was taken to another level when 16-times Grammy Award-winning sensation Adele gave 10 unforgettable
sold-out performances at an innovative, 80,000-capacity temporary outdoor arena in Messestadt Riem to the east of Munich, Germany, as STAGECO helped her production team establish a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORD™
No stranger to concert residencies, over the course of a year, the star had played 100 Weekends With Adele shows at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, and this inspired promoters
Over 10 shows, 730,000 people attended Adele In Munich
Outside the arena, Adele World featured an outdoor theme park with a Ferris wheel, a farmer’s market, a Bavarian beer garden, an English pub, several wine bars, numerous merchandise stalls and a second stage of additional entertainment including a karaoke stage, drag acts and a Spice Girls tribute act.
Klaus Leutgeb and Marek Lieberberg to pitch the idea of an “impermanent stadium” in the heart of Central Europe.
Adele In Munich was essentially a collaboration between the pair and Live Nation, production designer Florian Wieder, creative director Matt Askem and Stufish Entertainment Architects. It was Stufish that developed the design for the stage and the well-publicised “big scroll” concept of the super-wide LED video screen.
This visual wonder comprised of 4,625m2 of ROE Carbon 5 Mark II LED panels, ensuring precise visual quality. Spanning no less than 244m in width and 18m in height, and flanked by cylindrical towers to resemble a gigantic analogue film reel, the curved video wall earned the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for the Largest Continuous Outdoor LED Screen (temporary). This honour was presented to Adele by Joanne Brent, the Official Adjudicator for Guinness.
THE BUILD
STAGECO’s involvement – managed by Dirk De Decker and Christof Duarte Da Cruz, in liaison with Adele’s production manager Paul English – was critical to the success of the LED screen, which was supported by a complex foundation system constructed by four STAGECO teams over three weeks, concealing all rigging to present a flawless, infinity-like appearance. The combined crew also laid 3,000m² of stage floor, and built the delay towers and FOH platform.
An innovative custom lifting system was designed to raise and lower the video screen which had to be raised at 96 points. The crew lifted it in sections, each of which had to align perfectly. Christof Duarte Da Cruz explained: “We developed an almost continuous adjustment system to approach this point as accurately as possible. More importantly, it will ensure future flexibility if this point needs to be repositioned for another project – the lifting beams can be moved almost continuously in both directions.”
R&D team member Koen Vandeweerdt added: “This was a stroke of luck because, due to certain circumstances, we had to move a number of beams. It would have been much more complex if we had chosen a welded connection. They start with one panel, which they place on our floor. They lift it using a motor with a long cable that runs over our lifting beams. Lifting it in sections, building the screen up from below until it reaches a height of 18m, the crew start with one panel, which is placed on our floor, then they lift it using a motor with a long cable that runs over our lifting beams.”
In total, 68 trucks arrived on site to deliver materials including approximately 1,800m of black steel, 500m of trussing, 6,000m of staging uprights, and 18,000m of staging beams, which came to Munich from four different countries. “Ensuring all this equipment arrived during the busiest time of the year was our biggest challenge,” said Christof.
Along with Koen, the company’s Gert Hulsmans, Bart Janssen, Carolien De Pauw, Jelte Smet, Daan Van Cauteren and Bart Bleys formed the backbone of the profound R&D effort.
For both the construction and dismantling phases, STAGECO’s work required up to 82 site crew, supervised by Bart Dewolf, Markus Olma, Andreas Deubach and Paul Wurm. The week-long load-out was subject to a tight deadline in order to prepare the site for an international trade fair.
adele.com
THE SHOW
Photography © Daniele, Guinness World Records
WE ALL CAME DOWN TO MONTREUX
STAGECO
Deutschland faces the challenge of accommodating a world-class line-up on the Lake Geneva shoreline
Founded in 1967 by ‘Funky’ Claude Nobs and partners Géo Voumard and René Langel, the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland continues to deliver many of Europe’s greatest summer music highlights.
Immortalised in Deep Purple’s classic ‘Smoke On The Water’, the MJF is traditionally hosted every July at the town’s Convention Centre, but when the building’s renovation made it unavailable for the 2024 festival, the opportunity was seized to take a new approach. This resulted in 15 stages being set along 2km of the Montreux lakefront, with an overall attendance of around 250,000 across the event.
The pièce de résistance, however, was the 35m wide Lake Stage, or Scène du Lac, which was constructed by STAGECO Deutschland.
Built below the Place du Marché, between the quays and the sparkling Lake Geneva, and offering a capacity of 5,000 people, this new stage gave audiences the chance to enjoy the breath-taking scenery alongside world-class performances by Sting, Duran Duran, Raye, Massive Attack and Kraftwerk among other top names.
Arriving on-site with seven equipment trucks, STAGECO rose to the challenge of building a standard Boogdak 1814B (18m x 14m) stage in the actual lake, on a foundation of ramming piles that will remain in place for the 2025 edition.
STAGECO project manager Manuel Billian explained: “Building in the water necessitated a seven-day load-in, because of the risks of wind on the shore and complicated on-site logistics, so this could never have been a quick ‘in and out’ task for our crew chief Levy TichyRács and his team.”
Manuel, who liaised directly with MJF production manager Jyothi Urso, continued: “We first constructed the centre platform in the water to have something to walk on and then craned in all the roof parts that had been preassembled on the land.
“After the towers were set, we finished the floor and railings, and the roof itself was then built in a regular way.”
Among the many artists who expressed positive reactions to STAGECO’s creation was bassist Joe Dart from American funk outfit Vulfpeck. He said: “It’s easily the most beautiful stage I’ve played on... and the crowds here are connoisseurs, real music lovers.”
The 59th Montreux Jazz Festival will be held from the 4th to the 19th of July 2025.
montreuxjazzfestival.com
PWR UP WITH STAGECO
Opposite page, top: A mid-show moment. Below: PM
Stageco crew line up in front of AC/DC’s set at Wembley Stadium.
L-R: Rene Paasch, David Pellion, crew chief Patrik Vonckx, Mark Tamas, Antonio Martinez, Paul McDermott and Gabor Kecskemeti.
Will Keating with Patrik Vonckx.
After some notable personnel changes, veteran hard rockers AC/DC have returned to the road with STAGECO for the first time in eight years with PWR/UP, the latest headlining tour of a spectacular career that now spans more than half a century.
Along with Brian Johnson, Angus Young and Stevie Young, the band have been joined by ex-Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney and drummer Matt Lang, formerly of Alanis Morissette fame. Opening their 24-date European leg at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen on May 17th, AC/ DC are framed by a set designed by Stufish, with heavyweight technical input from Jeremy Lloyd of Wonder Works, and the support of the band’s regular staging partner, STAGECO.
This time out, AC/DC appointed lighting professional Will Keating as Production Manager, with previous PM, Dale ‘Opie’ Skjerseth, now taking an overseeing director’s role while he travels with the Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds tour – another STAGECO project.
Ahead of PWR/UP, Keating wrangled a technical rehearsal at
“Later, rehearsing at LH2 Studios in west London with the stage deck gave the band a feeling of how it was going to be when they played live,” explained Keating. “Obviously, we couldn’t build the whole stage at LH2 but we replicated as much as we could, marking out where the towers would be, and we then loaded into the first venue.”
Two identical STAGECO systems have been touring around Europe, with Tom Frederickx in the front line of planning as the company’s Project Manager. Up to 22 trucks were hired to deliver its equipment at the greenfield sites, which account for most of this leg’s 24 shows and demand as many as 10 delay towers, with 16 crew powering through a 40-hour loadin. Elsewhere, stadium shows, such as the two at Wembley in July that fielded just two delay towers, have required 17 vehicles, and set-up takes around 34 hours.
BRACED FOR ACTION
“The Superroof is exceptionally strong… as Green Day are also aware,” said Crew Chief Patrik
STAGECO in Tildonk. The company built a black steel infrastructure that allowed audio vendor Clair Global to test a new PA system.
Vonckx, referring to the Californian trio’s advance sharing of the AC/DC stage at Wembley on June 29th – a move that made logistical sense. “It’s a fantastic touring roof with good waterproofing, a very large capacity and the potential to modify to suit many applications. It’s a special configuration here at Wembley. AC/DC wanted to hang the PA one metre closer to the audience and the Superroof is ideal for this – you couldn’t do it with a normal roof.”
PWR/UP’s stage is 60m wide and 25m high to the top of the roof. The depth to the front of the B-stage thrust, including a staircase and ramp, is 37m. As the final Wembley show was in motion, Vonckx’s mind was on the following morning’s load-out. He advised: “We’ll start at 5.00am with two 80-ton cranes, and a 40-ton crane will arrive 8.00am to help with the delay towers.”
Specially engineered at STAGECO Belgium by Bart De Kelver and Jelte Smets, an ingenious, quick-release windbracing system was designed for fast lowering in case of high wind conditions, while accommodating the safe movement of a splitting upstage LED screen during the show.
MIXING LOW
Along with the stage structure and delay towers, STAGECO also supplies and builds a new generation of its front of house control riser.
Back at base, International Projects Director, Dirk De Decker saw the need for a structure that was lower in height than the standard model, while featuring improved aesthetics due to the absence of any visible scaffolding.
Realised by STAGECO’s Head of R&D, Gert Hulsmans, with drawings by Carolien De Pauw, the product measures 3m high x 6m wide x 5m deep, although the modular design provides the option to increase the depth up to 11m.
Among those at Wembley Stadium who gave a ‘thumbs up’ to the new FOH riser was AC/DC’s Head of Sound, Paul ‘Pab’ Boothroyd, who shares the control space with LD Cosmo Wilson. He cited the cleaner appearance as one of benefits of the redesign. “I like it very much... they’ve done a great job,” said the engineer also notable as the man behind Sir Paul McCartney’s touring sound.
The 2024 European leg of PWR/UP ended at Dublin’s Croke Park on August 17th. ACDC.com
The new Stageco FOH control riser design.
METALLICA
A “towering” achievement for the “four musketeers” of rock
Heavy metal powerhouse Metallica are now just over the halfway point of their two-year M72 world tour, which began in Amsterdam in April 2023, with STAGECO continuing its central role in the realisation of a thrilling new show design.
Aside from the band’s “four musketeers” (James Hatfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo), the audience’s eyes are regularly drawn to the show’s iconic eight groundsupported cylindrical towers that encircle the stage and soar at 100 feet in the air, dominated by the LED video screens, PA hangs and lights that they carry. The bold, new stage design now relocates the band’s famous Snake Pit to centre stage, giving fans uninterrupted 360° views.
performance environment for both Metallica and their fans. “Dan knows what he wants and we really appreciated how they spent time and effort to do a full test build at our site in Belgium, because it gave everyone so much more confidence,” said Tom, who was partnered “across the pond” by STAGECO’s European project manager Tom Mariën.
Martin ‘Tinus’ Beckers is the crew chief in charge of a workforce of 16. They worked with one set of Camemberts (the upper round parts of the towers), delivered in up to eight trailers, and two sets of towers and platforms that were tipped off a maximum of 20 trailers.
“The requirement was to be as small as possible at the base [of each tower], but it needed to take all the load. That was where we started the design and then do the engineering and manufacturing,” informed STAGECO’s US project manager, Tom Frederickx.
The in-the-round stage, imagined by creative director and scenic/ production designer Dan Braun, provides an immersive, high-energy
“They really took care on the preparation side. There was a whole cycle of testing and checking that was so appreciated due to the specific design and all the different companies involved. The co-operation was really great.”
SUPPORT
When a tour is in full flow, Dan Braun considers his suppliers as partners rather than vendors. He went on to tell PLSN magazine: “STAGECO… have helped us make the dreams come true. Their support is unbelievable and ongoing. We’re together still trying everyday to make load-ins go better. They stay with us, they don’t stop when the tour starts. That goes for all our partners [in] lighting, video, audio – they are all working with us and doing great work.”
Described by rock magazine Metal Hammer as “the world’s biggest heavy metal party”, the M72 world tour will restart in Syracuse, New York on April 19th 2025, and it is currently scheduled to close with an Australasian leg in November. metallica.com
FOUR FROM FRANCE
It was the start of a busy summer for STAGECO France, with distinctive projects in Lens, Toulouse and Marseille
STAGECO France kicked off its summer season in earnest with a handful of high profile events starting on the last day of May at Stade Bollaert-Delelis, the foremost soccer stadium in Lens, where FrenchCongolese singer/rapper Gims rose to the occasion with a memorable performance.
SLD Productions commissioned services from STAGECO, whose Gilles Bosque led a crew of seven supervisors, 10 stagehands, four climbers and four scaffolders to load in six trucks of equipment and build structures over three days.
The following night, June 1st, saw STAGECO’s constructions redeployed for Totalement 80, a revival pop show starring
Imagination, Samantha Fox, Boney M and other big names from the 1980s.
HIP HOP DUO
Bigflo & Oli and their special guests wowed a packed Stade de Toulouse on June 8th and 9th, repeating the popular hip hop duo’s huge success at the venue five years earlier.
Reporting to production manager Sorriaux Aymeric, STAGECO’s 40-strong crew was managed by Olivier Daulon and STAGECO Deutschland’s Andreas Deubach. Project manager Thierry Nataf commented: “It was a challenge to build a big roof in a small stadium, but we were pleased to have help from our German office and they really made a difference with the roof system.”
COMEDY SPECIAL
On June 22nd, it seemed as if everyone in Marseille descended on the city’s Orange Vélodrome to see their fellow native, comedian Redouane Bougheraba offer a taste of the hilarious improvisations that have made him a star.
STAGECO France was hired by Gilbert Coullier Productions to provide a number of key structures for the show, and Messrs Daulon and Deubach collaborated once again as crew chiefs in charge of tipping nine trucks and wrangling the skills of 42 crew.
Said Thierry: “The Vélodrome is an easy venue in which to work and the German crew who joined us again were very helpful.”
Top: Gims at Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens. Second row: Building the foundations for hip-hoppers Bigflo & Oli at Toulouse’s Stade Ernest-Wallon. Third row: In Marseilles to set up at the Orange Vélodrome for comedian Redouane Bougheraba’s performance; the STAGECO crew enjoyed some well-earned good food after load-out, at a restaurant on the Mediterranean coastline.
EXCITING TIMES AT THE HEDCO SITE
Although Hedwig De Meyer officially retired at the end of 2023, he remains actively involved as STAGECO’s Chairman of the Board of Directors. One of his last major projects as CEO was purchasing a 16-hectare site of a former steel factory for development as the Belgian headquarters’ magnificent new complex of offices (named the Center Stage), lounges and hubs, surrounded by nature – and just a short walk from the company’s previous base.
The site was effectively wasteland, therefore, during the Covid pandemic, Hedwig organised its clean-up and renovation. An early stage of the project was the building of a 15,000m2 hangar in which to house black steel, the welding shop and a skin cleaning facility.
Part of Hedwig’s vision was to bring together the company’s variety of services under one roof, to collaborate more efficiently within an inspirational 1,100m2 space.
FOR THE FUTURE
Sustainability concerns led to the warehouse roof being fitted with 3,400 solar panels that generate sufficient power to run the whole operation.
Inside the airy and spacious open-plan style office block, the design affords refreshing garden and wildlife views, and unrestricted sight of fellow staff, allowing for improved access, communication and collaboration.
A GREEN MINDSET
3,400 solar panels on the warehouse roof generate sufficient power to run the whole operation.
INSPIRATIONAL OFFICES
Collaborating more efficiently within a 1,100m2 space.
An airy and spacious working environment.
A BIG WELCOME FOR WOUTER
In August 2024, STAGECO Belgium was delighted to welcome Wouter Van Mierloo to his new post as Chief Operating Officer. A highly skilled business executive, Wouter joined STAGECO after many years in general management, HR, financial and technical management. He also has a long history of working in construction and real estate.
Wouter commented: “As a structural engineer, it was a dream to be able to work at STAGECO. The speed of the projects, the challenging locations, the necessary engineering and the
large-scale international logistics were important deciding elements for me coming onboard.
“There’s so much knowledge and experience within the company, so it’s not surprising that STAGECO is still able to bring the world’s biggest projects to a successful conclusion. I also note the need for further rejuvenation and digitalisation, and the positioning of STAGECO in the market should be followed up.
“I often hear in the workplace: ‘There’s never a dull moment at STAGECO’. How true that is!”
DIAMOND VISIONS
When The Rolling Stones returned to the road, STAGECO was ready to rock
Hackney Diamonds, The Rolling Stones tour named after their first album to be recorded since the sad passing of drummer Charlie Watts, marked another chapter in the colourful history that STAGECO has shared with the band over multiple decades. A well documented relationship, the collaboration has resulted in numerous electrifying stages that have made a lasting impact on the stage-building industry.
Contrasting with the mammoth itineraries endured by the band at their touring peak, the veterans elected to play just 20 shows across North America. Mindful of the relatively short run, while proposing a contemporary styled production, Patrick Woodroffe, the Stones’ creative director, chose to major in the virtual possibilities of LED instead of expensive scenery, and settle on a standard STAGECO roof, so that the design team at Stufish had “very specific geometry” with which to generate an architectural feel.
So it was that for each date, up to 26 STAGECO US crew led by Jesse Winn and Ryan Barry built a 25m roof system, a 62m wide, six-portal stage with a considerable thrust addition, angled PA wings, four spot/ delay towers, a pair of FOH risers, and miscellaneous other scaffolding structures. Two complete systems leapfrogged throughout the run of shows, with all of STAGECO’s materials travelling in 30 trucks.
STAGECO US project manager Tom Frederickx worked closely with technical design specialist Jeremy Lloyd of Wonder Works – and the Stones’ production manager Dale ‘Opie’ Skjerseth – to develop a structural solution that wind braced the video header, when it was identified that rigging loads posed an issue.
Patrick Woodroffe commented: “The Rolling Stones’ stage in 2024 feels as fresh and as modern as ever – a contemporary take for a band who feel as current today as they were 60 years ago.”
rollingstones.com
BRUGES TURNS UP THE HEAT
STAGECO helped to raise the temperature in ’t Zand Square in the week leading up to Christmas
STAGECO toils as Taylor’s Swifties grab the hottest ticket of the summer!
Bruges became the warmest city in Belgium during the week before Christmas, and with STAGECO providing towers and structures, the annual solidarity initiative De Warmste Week (The Warmest Week) was equipped for success.
Organised by public television channel VRT Max, Studio Brussel and MNM Radio, with non-stop live broadcast for seven days, the theme for 2024 was ‘Flaming Together Against Loneliness’.
STAGECO’s structures included the central front of house tower, scaffolding towers at the entrance gates, an accessible platform for the disabled, the backstage load-in ramp and artist staircase, and a variety of security barriers.
Held in Bruges’ ’t Zand Square from December 18th through to Christmas Eve, the free-to-attend event encouraged the public to soak up the atmosphere and
enjoy up to five live performances each day, from acts
The organisers behind De
were proud to report that due to overwhelming support, over €8 million was raised through the event to assist various related initiatives. dewarmsteweek.be
such as Franz Ferdinand (above), Sam De Bruyn, Amber Brooks, Kids With Buns and Dimitri Vegas.
Warmste Week
Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand drew a big crowd on the night of Saturday 21st.
Above and opposite page, bottom: The scene at ’t Zand Square in Bruges as STAGECO built a variety of structures for De Warmste Week
STAGECO BRINGS THE PARTY TO LITITZ
Since its successful launch in 2022, THE Conference: Live at Lititz has embedded itself on the calendar as the live production industry’s must-attend annual “homecoming” event.
Hosted at the world famous Rock Lititz in Philadelphia, this year’s three-day programme (December 3rd-5th 2024) welcomed 1,000+ event professionals of all levels and more than 150 crews, and presented opportunities to engage in deep conversation, dynamic content and the hottest topics.
This latest event attracted sponsorship from 80 organisations, including STAGECO, which has proudly sponsored since year one. For 2024, however, the company extended its support as the exclusive host of the Finale Party – a huge, “end of term” celebration of community.
OPPORTUNITY
STAGECO US CEO Micah Catterson expressed how thrilled he and his colleagues were with the opportunity. “It was an incredible experience for us!” he said. “With over 1,000 attendees from around the world eager to learn from industry leaders, the event was truly remarkable. We enjoyed reconnecting with
fellow professionals who share a common goal: nurturing the next generation of touring and live event specialists. Our industry is constantly evolving, and having a conference and community like this makes it the best in the world.
“As many of our experienced touring veterans often say, ‘Let’s make the industry better than we found it.’ This conference plays a crucial role in helping us continue that mission. Thank you to everyone who organised and contributed to the success of the conference.”
theconferenceliveatlititz.com
All together at Rock Lititz: (L-R) Mike Latham, Nick Rivas, Randy Ellson, Micah Catterson, Dirk De Decker, Lies Rombouts, Wouter Van Mierloo (STAGECO Belgium’s new COO), Tom Frederickx and Hans Willems.
MORE FROM THE LITITZ FINALE PARTY
TAKE IT TO THE BRIDGE
Dutch office delivers public infrastructure solution following damaged bridge in Groningen
Away from the live entertainment scene that made STAGECO’s name, the company’s Dutch office in Lochem, has been working on a major public infrastructure, notably the Gerrit Krolbrug pontoon bridge in Groningen.
Following a traffic collision in May 2021 that damaged the bridge, STAGECO Nederland built shallow zigzag ramps using Layher scaffolding and non-slip plastic sheets, enhancing access for cyclists and less mobile individuals.
The project, led by Dennis de Graaf and Henk-Jan Luesink, with on-site management by Jorrit van de Kolk and Remco Hakkert, and R&D headed by Marco Vochtelo and Ronald Jonkman, involved transporting over 30,000 items and constructing four hairpin bends for smoother cycling access. The ramps will be in use until a new bridge is constructed in mid-2026.
The materials contained within 45 trailers included over 2,100 standard items and 1,700+ diagonals. Part of the job required 91 screw foundations that were buried up to 14 metres into the ground. Around 30,500 items were used over 1,800m2 of surface area.
Overall, the project went through a whole year of intense preparations prior to the six-week construction phase, which was undertaken a crew of between 15 and 20 labourers each day.
Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour was nothing short of a global phenomenon, earning accolade after accolade, and breaking achievement records as it spanned five continents. With its 149th show completing the two and a half year run in Vancouver on December 8th 2024, Eras is currently the Highest-Grossing Tour of All Time, according to Pollstar, and the first-ever
tour to surpass one billion US dollars in revenue.
If this was not enough, the artist’s selfproduced concert movie, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, also beat off strong competition to become the most successful live performance film in history. The figures are simply staggering.
STAGECO is proud to have been a key partner in the ambitious production of The Eras Tour. Due to NDA agreements with the production, however, no details concerning specific activities on this tour are to be released.
tstheerastour.taylorswift.com
Poster
STAGING DE TOCHT
How STAGECO contributed to a unique theatre production
Hosted in all 11 historical cities of the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands, the Elfstedentocht is the biggest ice-skating tour in the world. Traditionally, the tour was held once a year, though only when the natural ice along the entire course is at least 15cm thick. There are fears, however, that the Elfstedentocht is in danger of permanently becoming a thing of the past due to the effects of climate change. In fact, during the past 50 years, the tour has taken place only three times, most recently in 1997.
In honour of this off-beat contribution to Dutch national history, De Tocht, a rock musical based on the tour, was written and produced to run from October 1st 2023 through until June 30th 2024 in its own bespoke venue, The Friso Theater.
Built on the Zwette in Leeuwarden with a major contribution from STAGECO Nederland, the theatre venue featured a 360º ice floor of 2,000m2 and the latest meterological and theatrical technologies that enabled a capacity audience of
1,460 spectators to experience all the extremes of the Elfstedentocht at each performance.
A huge project that required around 10 months of preparation, STAGECO Nederland designed and built the public stand, the public bridges and the ice floor stage. Another two months were designated to the manufacturing of special equipment at STAGECO’s Dutch premises in Lochem, before 15 trailers delivered the company’s complete set of materials to Leeuwarden, where a 10-person crew built the structures over a two-week timespan.
“We had to build it in June which is a busy time for us in the middle of the festival season.”
CONCEPT
De Tocht told the impressive story of five former skating friends who had lost sight of each other over the years. In their youth, they made a promise to each other: if De Tocht (‘The Tour’) ever happened again, they will ride it out together. The musical followed a tale of suffering, passion, friendship and making choices, with the Elfstedentocht itself representing a metaphor for life.
A spokesperson for the production said at the time of the launch: “The main goal of De Tocht is to let the magic of the Elfstedentocht live on in the memories of coming generations, because it is more than a rare skating competition – it is part of our Dutch identity. It makes a small part of who we are and how we are connected. That must be experienced and remembered.”
Henk-Jan Luesink, STAGECO’s lead project manager on De Tocht, commented: “The challenge of this project was the fact that the construction of the new Friso Theater was delayed. That’s why we had to build it in June which is, of course, a busy time for us in the middle of the festival season. Still, we managed to deliver on time.”
Tickets sold well throughout the run and at the annual Musical Awards gala, held in April at the AFAS Theater in Leusden, De Tocht was voted the winner in two categories: ‘Best Set/Stage Design or Projections’ and the coveted ‘Friends Lottery Audience Award Best Musical 2024’.
STAGECO Nederland’s role at Paris 24 goes swimmingly
OLYMPIC LEVEL PRECISION
Famous for its reputation as a leading live music and sports event venue, the exceptional La Défense Arena in Nanterre hosted competitive swimming events for the prestigious Paris 2024 Summer Olympics… and it was all made possible with the help and teamwork of STAGECO.
For the 33rd Games, held in the French capital from July 26 to August 11, STAGECO constructed
the areas accommodating two 50m temporary pools at La Défense Arena. While the main pool was created at one end of the arena, a warm-up pool was located behind a large Grandstand with temporary rooms/offices dividing the facility in half.
Commissioned by the Arena Group, STAGECO built not only the grandstand, but also the floor
around the pools, totalling 10,000m2 between them. Additionally, STAGECO assembled several large camera platforms in the existing stands, as well as huge temporary cable bridges outside the arena.
CO-OPERATION
After the company’s Belgian headquarters initiated communications with the client,
STAGECO Nederland’s Michel Wiefferink took everything forward as the overall project manager.
Describing the challenge as “a beautiful honour,” Michel went on to say: “The co-operation we shared between the two offices was very fulfilling. Together, we worked very hard for months to make this project a great success.
“The Grandstand was very complex and it required a lot [400 tons] of steel. Inside the construction, space had to be found for an anti-doping control office, competition management, dressing rooms, broadcasting and more, complete with multiple staircases and ramps to make everywhere accessible.
“One of our bigger challenges was getting the structure statically calculated, taking into account not only the arena’s maximum floor loads, but also French regulations for this kind of construction. Pim van Rijthoven, Paul Schijfsma and Jan Claes in our R&D department did a fantastic job to get all this done.”
LOAD-OUT / LOAD-IN
STAGECO also devised a number of ‘special’ items for the project. Michel advised: “To give a couple of examples, we made custom railings for the ramps that could be attached at various angles, and we also made special glass railing systems for the TV broadcasts. These products will obviously now be put to good use on a range of future projects.”
This page: Various stages of the construction phase, including views of a staircase and office space.
Opposite: STAGECO helped to turn the venue from its usual rugby stadium set-up for local team Racing 92, into a full scale Olympic water sports destination in just six weeks.
Last spring, the Dutch office enjoyed its involvement at the start of the European leg of Taylor Swift’s phenomenal Eras tour, which was launched with four sold-out shows at La Défense Arena on May 9-12.
“Immediately after the load-out, we began building the Olympics project on a tight schedule of six weeks, using 45 trailers of equipment and a crew that averaged 15 to 20 people each day,” stated Michel.
At the end of June, STAGECO delivered the project to The Arena Group and preparations for the competitions began. Besides swimming, the
finals of the water polo tournament were also held in La Défense, as well as the Paralympics in August.
STAGECO’s crew started the intense, three-week task of dismantling their constructions in early September. A proud Michel Wiefferink reacted: “I want to say a big thank you to our crew and on-site project managers Bram Brouwer and Remco Hakkert. Under sometimes difficult circumstances, they did a great job.” olympics.com
Photography © Michiel Zijp & Michel Wiefferink
VINTAGE LOOK FOR VUITTON SHOW
Building the foundations of an ingenious moving catwalk at Paris Fashion Week
STAGECO was proud to play a central role when Louis Vuitton presented its Women’s Spring-Summer 2025 Collection at the majestic Cour Carrée du Louvre in Paris on October 1st, the final day of Paris Fashion Week. A line-up of layered looks with short, flouncy skirts and puffy-sleeved jackets epitomised the flair of the label’s womenswear designer Nicolas Ghesquière, presented in a reflective Neptunus tent within a courtyard of the Louvre Museum.
Aside from the elegant models, the unique catwalk was the focus of the event, the creation of which was the fruit of a collaboration between STAGECO and WICREATIONS.
While the latter was responsible for the automated movement of La Mode en Images’ four-segment catwalk concept, STAGECO supplied and built the foundation of a platform, the sides of which have been
entirely covered in a mosaic of over 1,000 vintage Vuitton trunks of different styles.
UNDERDECK
Managed by Jonathan Steukens, STAGECO’s work on the project included building over the fountain of the Cour Carré Louvre a 91m x 26m raised floor as an underdeck for the tent structure. This platform opened in the middle to accommodate WICREATIONS’ 70m x 4m moving floor whose height ranged between 2.50m and 3.10m. As well as a built-in staircase provided for the models, STAGECO built four sets of stairs backstage.
The total structural weight was 138,963kg. It was built in five days with a crew of 20, using 10 trailer loads of materials. fhcm.paris
CHESNEY AT SUNDOWN
STAGECO US goes all the way for a country icon
If there’s anyone who knows how to throw summer into high gear, it’s country music icon Kenny Chesney. A loyal customer of STAGECO US, the artist – with 30m worldwide album sales to his name – has relied on the Colorado-based branch to supply his stadium expeditions every other year.
Led by Ed Wannebo, the Chesney production team has consistently used a 2520T roof for each of those tours, while the PA wings have evolved over the years with various designs.
Said STAGECO US CEO Micah Catterson: “The strong relationship built over the past decade has made our stage the standard design for Kenny’s stadium shows. Naturally, we were more than happy to
assist when the call came to supply the structures for his 20-city Sun Goes Down tour in 2024.”
Also starring the Zac Brown Band, Megan Moroney and Uncle Kracker, Sun Goes Down opened at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium in April and made its way across the States until the end of August.
STAGECO US’s Mike Latham managed the project that saw the delivery of two systems, with James “Jimbo” Ramacu heading the 11 crew that tipped 15 trailers. The package included a 58m (W) x 27m (D) x 24m (H) stage with an added 13m thrust, delay towers, camera platforms and two FOH risers. kennychesney.com
U2’s SPHERICAL PURSUITS
The Irish rock legends prepared for their Vegas residency with a little help from STAGECO
According to Billboard magazine, by the time U2 opened their U2:UV Achtung Baby Live show at Sphere in Las Vegas on September 29th 2023, the project had attained the prestigious feat of becoming “the fastest grossing residency” ever recorded in live entertainment.
The band’s 14m wide stage was notable for its minimalist design in the shape of a record player, a concept borrowed from Brian Eno’s colour-changing art piece ‘Turntable’. A month before the band arrived at Sphere for
production rehearsals, however, STAGECO was commissioned to build and supply a full-size replica of the creation to assist the band in their preparations at the Studios de la Victorine, a major film studio complex in Nice, in the South of France.
Dirk De Decker, who managed the project for STAGECO, commented: “Although it was a small job for us, it was interesting because it was so out of the ordinary. It needed to be an exact mock-up of the stage so that it gave them a feeling of performing on the
kind of traditional rake that was common with old Italian theatres. It was also important that we copied the stairs in almost the exact configuration, using Layher scaffolding.”
STAGECO’s long-time clients went on to play 40 sold-out shows at Sphere – a stunning run that finally ended on March 2nd 2024. It was filmed for the immersive concert film V-U2, which began screening in September.
U2.com thesphere.com
CELEBRATING THIS LIFE WITH TAKE THAT
BARLOW, OWEN & DONALD SHINE BRIGHTLY ON LATEST TOUR
From the ticker-tape snowstorm that accompanied opening number ‘Keep Your Head Up’, to the emotion-packed finale of ‘Rule The World’, Take That wowed their audiences to fever pitch on their 12th concert tour, This Life.
STAGECO was delighted to supply the UK football stadium dates with a version of its classic Black Box structure with the roof set higher than the usual set-ups to create a large open space, enabling spectators to fully enjoy Stufish’s wonderful set design from all angles, especially the magnificent LED-lit staircases, whose automated motion was made possible by WICREATIONS.
As former STAGECO CEO Hans Willems observed: “This was a perfect example of how the maximum can be squeezed from a standard construction to meet the complex needs of a production.”
The grown-up British boyband’s crew was headed by production duo Chris Vaughan and Richard ‘Wez’ Wearing, with Kim Gavin excelling once again as creative director. Meanwhile, STAGECO fielded project manager Dirk De Decker and crew chiefs Filip Vandenbruwane, Paul Van Belle & Frank Bohme (from STAGECO Deutschland) among its dedicated personnel. takethat.com
Photography © Hans Willems & Koen Peeters
CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE
Germany’s largest EURO fan zone is a winner for STAGECO Deutschland
UEFA EURO 2024 was Europe’s biggest football tournament of the year. For supporters not blessed with match tickets, organisers arranged for a number of Fan Zones to be built in major German cities, and STAGECO’s local branch was delighted to help bring the action live and direct to fans in Berlin.
STAGECO supplied the substructure for the huge, 24m x 12m video wall on which selected football games between the qualifying 24 nations were broadcast. The six individual segments of the video wall could be also swivelled and moved laterally on rails to enable a view of the historic Brandenburg Gate during broadcast-free periods. The metre-high substructure could be increased to 1.5m and adapted as a full-surface playing area if necessary.
The stage was complemented by 10 delay towers as supporting structures for sound and lighting, and two large stands for VIP guests and media representatives, among others. With an installation consisting of a 63m wide and 21m high gate, and 24,000m2 of artificial turf on the Straße des
17. Juni, the Fan Zone at Brandenburg Gate became a striking backdrop. In collaboration with Kulturprojekte Berlin and the host city, there was also a diverse entertainment and cultural programme including concerts and open-air cinema. For this purpose, STAGECO Deutschland’s crew of up to 26 – led by Thorsten Friedrich – erected various structures in front of the famous landmark.
[Thanks to Michael Herbst for the project info.]
On behalf of the Herzbergstraße, Berlin-based branch of STAGECO, project manager Michael Herbst was able to react precisely and flexibly to changes of requests that arose over the year-long planning period. To give one example, the roof of one of the two stands was completely redesigned and manufactured especially for the events, according to the client’s exact wishes.
On July 14th, Berlin’s Olympiastadion hosted the EURO 2024 Final, where 65,600 spectators inside the venue – and 10,000 within the Fan Zone –watched Spain lift the trophy, beating England 2-1.
@kulturprojekteberlin @berlin.uefaeuro2024
This page: The Berlin Fan Zone at various points during STAGECO’s construction.
Photography © Andreas Binz, Michael Herbst, Katrin Schlegel & Tortsen Friedrich
Sin City’s Speedway track came alive with an explosion of sound, light, colour and architectural extravagance
THRILLED TO THE CORE
Recognised as the largest electronic dance music festival in North America, the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) has been steadily growing in popularity, sophistication and global spread since its first incarnation in 1991. Owned by promoter Insomniac, its flagship event is the annual EDC Las Vegas which, on May 17th-19th 2024, drew no less than 525,000 visitors from around the world.
Insomniac went further than ever with its production. Kinetic Field’s main stage highlighted a theme of giant cathedral organ pipes with pyrotechnics. Instead of featuring the traditional EDC owl centrepiece, there was a main LED cathedral window and many more side windows displaying graphics. The results were typically stunning.
Once again, STAGECO US was in the thick of the action as the builder of this and other stages at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Project manager Tom Frederickx presided over the 74 equipment trailers that arrived from the Manheim and Colorado Springs branches, while another 48 truck loads were stored locally.
Farley Gross managed the crew during the construction of the main stage, and for stages 2, 5 and 6, Fred Einhorn and Bart Dewolf were the crew chiefs. Meanwhile, Marco Pieter Van De Panne headed the team constructing pylons and bridges. In total, all of the building work was completed within a fortnight, and load-out lasted five days. edclasvegas.com
MORE STAGECO PROJECT
A HELPING HAND ALL THE WAY
It probably goes without saying that STAGECO’s workload during 2024 far exceeded the content we have managed to select for this annual review. In other news, STAGECO has played a supporting role at numerous festivals including Pukkelpop in Hasselt, where our crewperson climbed the steel tower in the top photo.
Pop star P!nk’s Summer Carnival tour landed at Leipzig’s Red Bull Arena in July when STAGECO Deutschland provided a Superroof to
cover production needs regarding trim-height and load-capacity. In August, it was over to northern Germany for Wacken, arguably one of the world’s largest metal festivals, where regulars partake in four days of high quality heavy rock, beer, camping and partying with 100,000 fans from around the globe.
Finally, the company was available to lend a hand when Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds announced The Wild God Tour, their first headlining jaunt of the UK and Europe since 2017. Cave is pictured above, far right, in full flow at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp last October.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2024
STAGECO TAKES TO THE RING... FROM PHILLY TO JEDDAH
STAGECO was proud to continue its association with the sport of professional wrestling across two continents in the spring of 2024, providing support structures and specialist staging expertise in both cases. In April, the 40th annual WrestleMania, produced by WWE. was a two-night event at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
RAMMSTEIN — BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE WORLD STADIUM TOUR 2019-2024
Currently showing on Rammstein’s official YouTube channel is a fascinating, new ‘backstage’ documentary charting the incredible creative and artistic merits of the outfit’s World Stadium Tour, which benefitted from STAGECO’s know-how from beginning to end.
Featuring on-camera interviews with key production crew, including STAGECO crew chief Hendrik Verdeyen, the hour-long film follows the
A month later, STAGECO was at the Superdome in Jeddah where WWE’s biggest superstars – both male and female – fought in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia fought for the first time under the event banner of WWE Presents King & Queen Of The Ring
Both events were extravagantly designed with world-class production values that are synonymous with STAGECO’s involvement.
five-year journey that spanned 135 concerts, and attracted no less than six million ticket buyers.
From 2019 onwards, a video team followed the production, focusing on the impressive efforts of the crew and vendors, and highlighting the tireless dedication of all departments that went towards close collaboration powers behind the intricate stage construction and lighting design to pyrotechnics, logistics, and countless other tasks. It highlights the expertise and tireless dedication essential to creating a show of this magnitude.
Photography: © World Wrestling Entertainment, LLC; Rammstein Official
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