Electric Daisy Carnival 2015

By far, one of Stageco US most technically challenging pro­jects of the year has been the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas which was just im­mense on every level. Stageco’s work on the main stage in 2014 was a major undertaking on its own but this time we provided three of the seven stages, requiring 56 equipment trailers for the 2015 set up. Logistically, it was difficult because, while loading in, incredible amounts equipment were arriving in Vegas from four different locations – Colorado Springs, Manheim, Houston and Belgium – and then heading back out afterwards to numerous destinations. That was a real adventure! If it hadn’t been possible to plan as well as the team at Stageco US did, there was every chance that some projects would have been declined. There was no way Stageco US was going to risk that, so all the administration skills were very tightly focused on making everything work. The main [Crystal Cathedral] stage was a new design for 2015 and the usual plan is to shrink it down to form a touring version that go around the world for the next year. Last year’s cathedral was intended to be a shrine that presented music in a religious sense, but for 2015 the narrative behind the event was all about the Crystal Village. And, of course, the motif of the owl continued to play a prominent role. Although the festival was open to the public over the three days of June 19-21, it was a three week job for the crew. There was a good mix of US and European crew, the numbers of which grew from 14 to 25 at the peak of activity, with 4 crewchiefs taking their turns to head the teams at various times on Stageco's three custom structures, including the one referred to as either the Pyramid or the Cadillac, because it was orig­inally designed for a Cadillac presentation.