On the road in support of the release of their seventh studio album, Clancy, Twenty One Pilots made their much-anticipated return to the touring circuit on 15 August 2024 at Denver’s Ball Arena. Over a year, multiple continents and 73 shows later, the production’s curtain call took place at The O2 arena in London with TPi on site to meet the team powering The Clancy World Tour.
Enlisted by the band in January 2024 to take this new tour on the road, experienced Production Manager, Matt Doherty’s brief was to work with production design collective District 5 to build a show that was going to tour multiple continents, while also being able to scale up for larger audiences with the band’s biggest show of the entire campaign taking place in Mexico City in front of 63,000 people.
“The band are invested in ensuring that every member of the audience experiences the same show. Their primary focus is to entertain,” Doherty said. “I’ve been around for a while, and this tour has reignited ‘the love of the show’ for me with a scalable production while being consistent and commercially viable.”
In Europe, the tour’s vendors included All Access Staging (staging), Beat The Street (crew buses), Clair Global (audio and communications), Coach Services (band buses), Cybermotion (automation), McGuiness Trucking (logistics), Neg Earth Lights (lighting), Nighthawk Video (video), Shockwave Cargo (freighting), and ffp effects (special effects and pyrotechnics). “The vendors in Europe largely share pre-existing relationships with the touring camp and provide excellent service and support on the road. I brought in Nighthawk Video because the quality of their work is premier,” Doherty said, explaining the tour’s choice of suppliers for the continent.
Production Coordinator, Sonja Stevenson; Backstage Coordinator, Laura Proepper; Production Assistant, Gillian Miller; Venue Security, DeMartris Williams and Dan Spohn were key members of the touring party.
The PM further enlisted the support of Head Rigger, Daniel Lowe; Second Rigger, David Ardale; Third Rigger, Florian Jordan; Stage Manager, Brian Kountz and Assistant Stage Manager, Kirk La Rocco and assembled his trusty team of Carpenters, Travis Schilling, Lino Lutke and Piotr Mizik to oversee the load-in, build and break of the show.
With long drives required, Doherty was able to set aside budget for a secondary rigging package. The crew trained in the US with a few late load-ins in preparation for Europe. “You can’t be doing a show this complex while running around before doors – time must be allocated accordingly to achieve the right result,” Doherty underlined. “It costs extra money, but that investment in ensuring the crew eat and sleep well makes touring viable.”
On a typical day, if the team don’t need to do a pre-rig in a unique venue, the rigging team arrive on site between 6am and 7am to chalk. Local crew work with the riggers to hang steel in specification with the design of the building, motors follow, with each department arriving two hours later to set up. “We have 117 points and six safely lines,” explained Head Rigger, Daniel Lowe, who has toured multiple continents with this design. “The venues in Europe are less geared to our industry, as opposed to the US, so it requires a little more effort. Each country also has unique rules, which you must manage around, but it’s not something we’re unfamiliar with.”
The riggers also have their own rigging language, Lowe explained, however he makes a point of learning the basics – such as how to say ‘thank you’ to the local crew and venues – in every country he visits. “Munich was interesting due to the grid, which hangs from a tent, which is more unique,” he recalled. “Some other rigs required a pre-rig like in Bologna – which required me to fly ahead with a team and implement motors ahead of the crew’s arrival.”
With five automated pods in the centre of the rig, there wasn’t much room for changing things on the plot once the tour hit the road, so load cell data during production rehearsals was paramount to ensure the safety of crew.
In closing, Lowe praised rigging and lighting vendor, Neg Earth Lights: “They provide a good package, and the European crew are dedicated to optimising the show,” he added. “Collaboration between carpentry and rigging with the wider departments is essential.”
Read the full story below…
Words: Jacob Waite
Photos: Mason Castillo and TPi
