Stage set

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JIMBO
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Stage set

Post by JIMBO »

I'm curious as to why Orbital have made their new LED stage set smaller for all these essentially bigger festival gigs? The big X set up from the UK tour was pretty ace. Is it rig time? Or what? Loopz?
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legspin
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Re: Stage set

Post by legspin »

It's not so much rig time as space on stage. At a festival you can have a large number of bands trying to get set up at the one time. Sheer physical room is at a premium. Having your full set-up may not be actually possible due to space restrictions in this regard.
Generally it would only be a major band that would even attempt to do this but the promoter would probably try and warn them off. It does happen that they will come in with a full production (minus PA but they'll bring lights, video, set and monitors) but the sort of band that does this has never had to put up their own gear and will very often have an ego to match their lack of consideration and talent (mentioning no names but Muse and The Killers are a bunch of....). A festival worth it's salt would have enough lights, PA and monitors to tackle most situations, particularly on the main stages.

Time is a consideration but not as much as you would think.
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JIMBO
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Re: Stage set

Post by JIMBO »

legspin wrote:It's not so much rig time as space on stage. At a festival you can have a large number of bands trying to get set up at the one time. Sheer physical room is at a premium. Having your full set-up may not be actually possible due to space restrictions in this regard.
Generally it would only be a major band that would even attempt to do this but the promoter would probably try and warn them off. It does happen that they will come in with a full production (minus PA but they'll bring lights, video, set and monitors) but the sort of band that does this has never had to put up their own gear and will very often have an ego to match their lack of consideration and talent (mentioning no names but Muse and The Killers are a bunch of....). A festival worth it's salt would have enough lights, PA and monitors to tackle most situations, particularly on the main stages.

Time is a consideration but not as much as you would think.
Fairplay. I couldn't believe how quick the riggers put up the full blown set for Glasto in 2010. It was FAST. It's possible that support bracketing used for the full rig is too large or unwieldy but I'm surprised though, given that they are generally the headliners of whatever stage. I can't imagine it takes up that much more space than the triple squares. Maybe it's a compromise. Shame as the festivals aren't quite getting the 'full show'. In the past the festival rigs have been larger and grander than the normal tours, so it's oddly reversed.
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Re: Stage set

Post by legspin »

The chances are the techies have been there all day preping it a bit at a time as space becomes available on the stage. I know when I worked with the Lads' crew at the Picnic in '09 that was the case. They had actually come in the night beforehand to pre-rig as much as they could but some of it was left until the very early acts had done their bit and buggered off.

Now, as headliners they would be given a little leeway as to the amount they can bring and the time to set it up. Some bands though do take the piss.
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