On 28th April 2024, The Rolling Stones kicked off their Hackney Diamonds tour in Houston Texas, which will see them visit 16 cities across North America. Once again, Wonder Works joined the long-serving creative team, including Stufish, Woodroffe Bassett Design, and Dale “Opie” Skjerseth to deliver a super slick production that uses more video than ever before.
With digital content being high on the agenda for this show, the team chose to use a giant 55m wide LED screen that spans the full width of the stage and wraps around the sides. A step on from the graphic emblazoned aluminium fascia that was used on the Stones’ SIXTY tour two years earlier, the screen creates a clean silhouette that hides the stage structure and provides an ever-evolving digital canvas for storytelling.
Working closely with the creative team, Wonder Works’ Jeremy Lloyd was tasked with bringing the ambitious stage design to life. This involved the design and integration of all technical elements, as well as the coordination of lighting, audio and video. With a lot of heavy equipment downstage including LED, PA and lights, one of the biggest challenges was managing the rigging loads. Jeremy worked with Lighting Designer Terry Cook, Stage Co Head Rigger Antoin Patten and video HOD Ben Rader to come up with some creative rigging solutions to transfer some of the loads and added some additional structure to wind brace the video header.
Adding to the architectural geometry of this design, lights were embedded within the screen and also between the upstage and downstage screens to create a multi-layered setting that merges the digital and the physical. Immersive overlaid visuals were also created using real time graphic software, Notch. This elegant video concept enables video director Roland Greil and camera director Mike Duque to track the band live on stage and then manipulate and overlay in real time onto the screens. The cut-out footage integrates seamlessly with the content on the screens, creating a cohesive one-off performance experience for each show.
Jeremy Lloyd: “It was great to work with Dale and his team once again, to deliver this visually clean show. The design concept with LED screen wrap, provides an immersive canvas which enables the stage to be transformed throughout the show to mirror the pace and narrative of the set list.”
The Rolling Stone’s modern and multi-layered Hackney Diamonds stage will wow crowds across North America, ending in Ridgedale Missouri on 21 July 2024.
CREDITS:
Creative Director Patrick Woodroffe WBD Lighting Design Terry Cook WBD Stage Design STUFISH Content Creation Treatment Studio Tour Director Paul Gongaware Production Director Dale Skjerseth Lighting Director Ethan Weber Video Screens Director Roland Greil Tour Creative Think Farm Technical Design Wonder Works
