Symphony Under the Stars (part 1)
Here's pics from the past two days. Click on the picture for a larger version. The weather on Friday was overcast, but pleasant, until a nasty 20-minute storm blew threw and drenched everything and tossed chairs, stands and percussion equipment all over the place. But we were able to recover for an early evening rehearsal (under clear skies--go figure). Saturday's weather was gorgeous. We had a mid-morning rehearsal, and the breeze was refreshing, but bothersome--blowing the pages of the music. There was a bit of a breeze until about 15 minutes before the concert started, and it was absolutely ideal for the rest of the night. Not a cloud in the sky, temperature in the upper 70s, and very little wind. My estimate of the crowd would be over 6,000, though I could probably be convinced it was 7,000. We ended with the "1812 Overture", complete with fireworks which ended with the final cutoff of the orchestra. The roar that went up afterwards brought chills. Actually, I've got goosebumps just writing about it now! I stuck around for about 45 minutes to supervise some post-concert stage clearing, then left for some food and beer. Well, beer and then food. Finally got to sleep in for the first time in ages, but I'm still tired and unmotivated to do anything. But I'm feelin' really, really good!
The stage comes in looking like an ordinary semi truck. This particular one was in West Virginia last week for a Flaming Lips concert. The incoveniently placed light pole forces us into very few workable stage positions. It's not the best position, but it works quite well!
After the bed of the semi is jacked up and leveled, a self-contained hydraulic system raises the sides of the trailer--these become the roof of the stage.
The floor of the stage is pulled out, and then leveled in all areas (probably the most time consuming function).
Hydraulics extend the roof out from the trailer sides, and roof support towers are added to the corners. We didn't hang a sound system, but if we had, there would be some more support scaffolding along the towers and across the top of the roof.
The truck rolled in at 8:30 AM, and at 11:45, the stage company was essentially done. God bless technology and hydraulics!
See part 2 below!
The stage comes in looking like an ordinary semi truck. This particular one was in West Virginia last week for a Flaming Lips concert. The incoveniently placed light pole forces us into very few workable stage positions. It's not the best position, but it works quite well!
After the bed of the semi is jacked up and leveled, a self-contained hydraulic system raises the sides of the trailer--these become the roof of the stage.
The floor of the stage is pulled out, and then leveled in all areas (probably the most time consuming function). 
Hydraulics extend the roof out from the trailer sides, and roof support towers are added to the corners. We didn't hang a sound system, but if we had, there would be some more support scaffolding along the towers and across the top of the roof.
The truck rolled in at 8:30 AM, and at 11:45, the stage company was essentially done. God bless technology and hydraulics!See part 2 below!
posted by Osbasso at 3:24 PM
2 Comments:
Wow, That's really awesome Osbasso! I didn't realize it was that easy! Of course, it's probably not that easy...I'm sure there's a lot more work that goes into it, but the fact that the majority of the stage is built into a single trailer...that's just cool!
seeing those picts makes me think of the transformers sound when they were transforming :).
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