Widely referred to as the ‘Monolith’, the Es Devlin-designed enormous rotating video screen box that takes central place on Beyoncé’s recent Formation World Tour, relies heavily on customised equipment and R&D know-how from Stageco’s international offices. Measuring 22m high x 16m wide x 9m deep, the crucial elements at its core have been custom-manufactured and supplied by Stageco in partnership with Belgian motion control systems provider WIcreations. The Monolith is embedded in a 62m wide x 35m deep stage. Dirk De Decker, Stageco’s International Projects Director, and Mary-Lou Figley, Vice-President of Stageco US, began working together on the project the end of December 2015, leading the eventual first build of the structure April 1st at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, where production rehearsals, programming and adjustments to the stage also took place before moving to Marlins Park in Miami where the tour kicked off on April 27. Four steel systems leapfrog each other on the road, with each requiring 23 trucks and a dedicated crew. Meanwhile, three two-man teams travel with the Monolith structure between the four systems. The system provided by Stageco also include sliding grids on top of the video box and a circular track on which the structure travels 360° in around 4 minutes. “At 22 metres high, this incredible video box is similar in size to a small apartment building but it also needs to completely revolve, and within it, the video screen has to split into two halves at certain moments during the show, leaving a gap of around seven metres. It has been a fascinating process and another technical challenge we have been proud to be a part of” said De Decker. Throughout the tour, Stageco is also supplying towers for the main and side PA hangs, the rear lighting, spot and delay towers, and the front of house risers.
Stageco Worldwide