Stageco played a central role throughout the tour as the supplier and builder of a set of eight ground-supported cylindrical towers that encircled the stage. Standing at 100 feet tall, these iconic towers were dominated by the three 50- x 30-foot LED video screens, loudspeaker hangs and lights that they carried. They were part of a bold scenic design by the band’s creative director Dan Braun, that relocated Metallica’s famous Snake Pit to centre stage, giving fans uninterrupted 360° views while providing an immersive, high-energy performance environment for musicians James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo. During the final leg, which began in Athens on May 9 and was managed for Stageco from its Belgian headquarters, each of the two identical, leapfrogging systems travelled in 25 trailers from Dutch transport company Saan Trucking. These were unloaded by a crew of 15. Stageco’s crew chiefs were Frank Lucas, who took over from Martin ‘Tinus’ Beckers, and Antonio Monteiro. European project manager Tom Mariën stated that the main challenge of the design, engineering and manufacturing began with enabling each tower to accommodate the load while remaining as small as possible at the base. This allowed every full house to enjoy the show without any sightline obstructions. Reviewing M72, Mariën commented: “Our client, Live Nation, is very happy with how everything went. For Stageco, I think that this was a fine project and good for us. None of the legs were particularly long, which meant that all the crew could return to other summer jobs easily, having made a significant contribution to another fantastic Metallica tour. Photo credits: Brett Murray & Stageco Group
Stageco Worldwide