BON JOVI'S VENETIAN BLINDER

U.S.-based Tait Towers, one of the world’s most successful set and staging design companies, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, fabricated and delivered a state-of-the-art rock’n’roll stage system to Bon Jovi’s 2008 world tour.
    The Lost Highway tour kicked off at the Qwest Center in Omaha on February 18, London’s Twickenham Stadium on June 27-28, and climaxed at New York’s Madison Square Garden on July 15.
    Over more than 60 dates, the fully-customised stage, designed by Doug ‘Spike’ Brant of the Performance Environment Design Group (a.k.a. Artfag), has afforded audiences a unique and cutting edge concert experience. The Tait Towers signature creation featured four Venetian blind video screens, suspended from an elaborate track truss system, encompassing the stage in a horseshoe shape for maximum impact and flexibility.
    Both the track truss and under upstage was constructed of Chromalloy steel which is much lighter and four times stronger than normal steel. In addition, 18 two tonne chain motors held the track truss and 16,000lbs of automation and scenery in the air.
    Tait’s Venetian blind video screens were comprised of double-sided video monitors allowing fans to see the projected images (a mix of live camera and pre-recorded content) from every possible angle. The blinds expanded from a 10' x 10' screen to a 10' x 30', showing the concert in 360°. When the screens were expanded, the audience viewed the performance through the blinds.
    Each Venetian screen had four axes of motion and comprised of 28 Venetian sticks with 1570 V9 high resolution video tiles, designed and supplied by Nocturne Productions. It required 4,500 parts to fabricate and assemble, with all parts designed by Tait’s technical designers.
    Bon Jovi’s upstage deck moved in tandem with the Venetian blind video screens. Two techs — one responsible for the stage deck, the other responsible for the Venetian blind video screens — worked together throughout the live performance to ensure a seamless choreography of stage movement and video imaging.
    Marcia Kapustin and Marcus Lyall from Kosher Pixels played a major role in developing the video content treatments, while video director Tony Bongiovi created a range of footage on a daily basis to be ‘spliced’ into the mix, along with material submitted by fans as part of an online competition.
    Playback required Hippotizer V3 media servers, a Grass Valley Turbo digital disk recorder and a Control Freak Systems custom Auto Tracker HD server. The hardware also included Barco Folsom Image Pro-HDs, Encore video processors, and a Control Freak Encore-DMX bridge to adjust the dimensions of the Encore’s image windows.
    The back section of the stage was constructed from 62 custom deck panels using Martin Professional LC Series 1140 LED panels with the capability to rotate from 180° to 90°. The set design includes a unique hydraulic LED floor/wall, namely 64 Martin LC Series™ 1140 LED panels located at the rear of the stage that angle up hydraulically.
    Show director Justin Collie explained: “The LC Series panels are mounted into a hydraulic ramp — it acts as the upstage area and then can elevate so that the artist can walk on top of it. The panels are laid into the stage surface and are hinged at the downstage edge, right behind the band. It stays attached at stage level and the upstage edge rises up to form a platform for Jon Bon Jovi to stand on or ride in on.”
    The semi-transparent, modular system of LED panels — universally praised for its brightness and set-up ease — created a stunning background and one-of-a-kind set piece.
    “They fit quite well into what we are trying to do,” continued Collie, who recently used the LC panels on a Beastie Boys tour. “We chose them for their modularity and brightness. It’s working out fine so far with no issues.
    The LC panels use standard Prolyte CCS6 conical truss connectors, so linking the lightweight panels together is simple, and with no external power supplies or drivers, each unit comes with everything it needs built in, which reduces logistical costs and set-up time.
    
THE GREAT WASHED
The equipment supplied by Ed and Ted’s Excellent Lighting (crew chiefed by Storm Sollars) included Martin’s new MAC 2000 Wash XB in one of its first major outings. The 1500W moving head luminaire kicks out over 60,000 lumens of power and houses a host of new features including new fans, ballast and starter that combine with the proven MAC 2000 modularity, optics and effects.
    Performance Environment Design incorporated the MAC 2000 Wash XBs into the lighting rig on stadium dates when an extra punch of power is required. Besides the fact that the new luminaires were immediately available, Collie said that they were chosen because “they were our brightest option”.
    The rig also featured Vari-Lite VL3000s and VL500Ts, Elation Impressions and 18 High End Systems Showguns.
    Lighting director Pat Brannon presided over three grandMA consoles — one ran the show, the others were for back-up — and six MA Lighting NSPs that were networked via MA-Net protocol.

UNDER THREE ROOFS
This summer also saw a new stage roof make its debut on several Bon Jovi dates. The Boogdak XL is a new variation on Stageco’s existing range, combining the capacity of the company’s classical four tower system with the elegance and convenience of the smaller Boogdak arch roof.
    “In response to modern production specifications, we decided we wanted to bring a new roof to the market,” said Stageco president Hedwig de Meyer. “Bon Jovi needed three roofs and approached us for a standard roof type. We told them we wanted to invest in a new roof type and offered them the new, original product.”
    Overseen by Stageco’s project manager, Bert Kustermans, the three roofs were in operation on the European leg of the tour, for which the production was reconfigured. The roofs later had their first festival outing at July’s T In The Park in Scotland.
TPi
www.taittowers.com •
www.martin.com • www.stageco.com
Photography by Steve Jennings
& Steve Gerrard