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 STAGECO’s site in Tildonk. The company built a black steel infrastructure that allowed audio vendor Clair Global to test a new PA system. “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 load-in. 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 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 bracing system was designed to enable the main upstage LED screens to move safely during the show with TÜV approval. Vonckx explained: “Due to the outdoor wind load factor, we needed to develop the bracing to keep the screens in place. That was a big challenge for our engineering staff but we would not be granted this important approval for touring the world without it.” 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 riser 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 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 European leg is scheduled to end at Dublin’s Croke Park on August 17th. The rest of the world awaits! Pics © Andrew Bryant
Stageco Worldwide