Clouseau - Crescendo

Producer: PSE, Jan Van Esbroeck
Production Manager: Walter D’Haese
Show & Lightning Design: Luc Peumans, Painting With Lights

Face to face with the fans in the stands

For their concert series ‘Clouseau Crescendo’ in the Antwerp sportpaleis in 2008 the successful band Clouseau wanted to get even closer to their fans. The problem is that some of the fans were high up in the stands and therefore far away from the stage. Solution? You make a swivelling bridge (diameter 30 m!) to bring the singer and guitarist to the fans.

The first challenge was to make the bridge strong enough and at the same time not too heavy and cumbersome. WiCreations made the necessary calculations so that the bridge could be constructed with a minimum of material.

The second challenge consisted of enabling both performers to hover smoothly through the air of the Antwerp sportpaleis. For this WiCreations developed a new tracking system that can accelerate the bridge quickly or slowly in every possible direction, can stop just as quickly or slowly and that can be moved without jerking in between. Finally the whole system had to be programmed with razor-sharp accuracy. Koen and Kris Wouters’ (Clouseau) trip through the Antwerp air went off faultlessly, including feather-soft landings.