Stage Roll

[bassace]

Just got this from Mark Knopfler’s gig at Gdansk yesterday. They’re touring with five trucks, two busses and a private jet for the band.

[tauzero]

Couldn't they have put the stage in the right place in the first place?

[paul_c2]

I'm not an expert, but I think what they do is have 2 (or maybe more) stages, on wheels. When, for example, another event is in the main hall the previous day/night they can set up stuff on another stage, then do a quick swap which takes about 10 mins, rather than having to pull down everything off the stage, then set everything up for the next show?

I know my old uni had a rotating drum platform (so they could set up the next set of drums while the one facing the audience had a band performing) and make swaps between bands much quicker. So its like a scaled-up version of that?

No doubt someone can confirm.....

[BassTractor]

4 minutes ago, tauzero said:

Couldn't they have put the stage in the right place in the first place?

They rolled it from Gdynia to Gdansk, saving a lot of man hours that way. Fact.

[Ricky 4000]

5 minutes ago, BassTractor said:

They rolled it from Gdynia to Gdansk, saving a lot of man hours that way. Fact.

I google that at 36km by road. 😀

[tauzero]

16 minutes ago, paul_c2 said:

I'm not an expert, but I think what they do is have 2 (or maybe more) stages, on wheels. When, for example, another event is in the main hall the previous day/night they can set up stuff on another stage, then do a quick swap which takes about 10 mins, rather than having to pull down everything off the stage, then set everything up for the next show?

I know my old uni had a rotating drum platform (so they could set up the next set of drums while the one facing the audience had a band performing) and make swaps between bands much quicker. So its like a scaled-up version of that?

No doubt someone can confirm.....

That makes sense. I did briefly wonder if, with the PA being swept as they moved it, they were finding the acoustic sweet spot (anyone familiar with The Big Bang Theory may remember Sheldon Cooper's quest for the ideal listening position in a cinema). Only briefly, though.

[bassace]

The trucks were held up for three hours and the drivers fined for a non-motoring offence that nobody’s quite figured yet. So to make up time the riggers went to work  overhead while the backline and stage stuff was set up out of the way and rolled in.