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Roger Waters 2018

Concerts & Touring

WICreations

We were involved in the design and manufacturing of 3 bespoke set elements - all optimized for air freight - to be used on a series of epic outdoor shows on Roger Waters’ current “Us + Them” world tour, which launched with 2 seminal shows in Rome and Lucca, Italy.

WISTRUCTURES

A pair of elegant 16,6 meters high circular PA towers grace the stage, complete with integral tracking systems on the onstage side for the rigging of 10 moving light fixtures, and on the downstage side for the sound cluster’s wind brace.

The second WI object is an industrial style stage roof – ‘roofette’ as it’s known on the tour – comprising a set of imposing cantilevered steel beams which can be fitted with clear roof skins in case of rain.

The third area in which WI is involved is a truss and beam rigging system, devixed to securely rig and retain in place the impressive 65m wide upstage LED screen.

AUTOMATED RIGGING

The third area in which WI is involved is a truss and beam rigging system, devized to securely rig and retain in place the impressive 65 meters wide upstage LED screen.

The touring crew used the AUTOMATED RIGGING function built into WIMOTION to assure a safe build and break. 

PA TOWERS

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These sleek PA towers are completely different to anything expected at a standard gig. Each one is a half meter diameter, matt black coated round steel tube, for a fully streamlined and modern aesthetic.

The PA rigging cradles holding the slim Clair Brothers arrays are rigged to the towers via an i-beam hoist system. The HOISTS are at the base of the tower and the arrays are built and raised up until complete. Then an adjustable stabilising arm is attached to a trolley riding up the mast while the whole assembly is flown up to trim height.

Another 1 ton HOIST is attached to the base of the tower with its steel travelling up the offstage side of the mast, hoisting a stack of 10 moving lights up along the integrated PA mast track.

Individual transparent rain shields offer clean looking and effective weather protection for the moving lights. When in position, these form a perfect perpendicular line of downstage lights each side.

The masts have been constructed in 3 meter sections to allow for packing and air freighting, in particular for the final three ‘fly-away’ gigs at the end of the Latin American leg of the tour in October.

The brackets into which the moving lights are clamped and pulled up the masts will also accommodate different types of moving lights.

THE ROOF

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Seven identical cantilevered heavy-duty steel roof beams mark out the 18m wide by 12m deep stage space which constitutes the band performance area, all keeping with the industrial vibe of the overall stage design. Variants on this theme have been a characteristic of Roger Waters’ live looks over the years.

Each roof beam features eight integral Martin Mac Aura LED wash moving lights and all the cabling required which is enclosed in the beams. The Auras plug in with a short 25cm tail maintaining the tidy, high-quality finish prevalent throughout the whole stage area.

The roof beams are pinned to a sub-frame structure below stage that hold them rigid and rock solidly in place.

The roof beams are pinned to a sub-frame structure below stage that hold them rigid and rock solidly in place.

On the end of each roof arm is an SGM Q7 LED strobe / flood fixture.

Transparent roof skins – 6 identical sections and two side ‘batwings’ - can be slotted in to the channels along the tops of the roof beams if the weather is looking dodgy forming a esthaetic roofette to provide shelter to the band.

LED WALL RIGGING

Video and visuals have always been an essential part of Roger Waters live shows which are a cerebral mix of music, activism and thought-provoking juxtapositions.

The 65-metre-wide by 12-metre-high video wall is being supplied to the tour by UniPix from the UK and is built in situ in 7.5-metre-wide sections.

Each section is guided into place via two vertical beams which are attached to the upstage scaffolding structure, which is locally supplied to the tour’s spec. The WI team come to site and prepare the trussing supports with integrated diverter beams, then fly the completed truss in sections on top of the scaff wall. Each screen section has several carrier wagons rolling along the vertical tracks, allowing the screen to be built from the ground up.

This methodology ensures that each 7.5-metre-wide x 12-metre-high section - and indeed the whole screen - is held firmly in place and wind-braced right from the start of the build process to the final moments of dismantling during the get out. This reduces the risk that the screen sections can rapidly turn into giant sails if the wind gets up.

Each screen section weighs 4.5 tonnes and is lifted into place via the tracks with two 2.5 tonne motion-controlled hoists. The hoists sit upstage in dedicated dollies, also part of the WI package, and they travel with the universal production set.

A 40 mm gap is left between the screens whilst they are brought up to trim height to avoid scraping and grinding during the build, and are then moved sideways and interlocked precisely and seamlessly together with the next section.

CREDITS

WI’s account and project manager Koen Peeters was overseeing all the WI elements, after being approached by Jeremy Lloyd of Wonder Works, the tour’s production designer. The creative director is Sean Evans and Chris Kansy is the Us+Them tour’s production manager.

WICreations
WICreations
WICreations