The free Liberty Island event, attended by fewer than 1,000 invited guests, was the first in Anheuser-Busch’s Monument series of shows leading up to the Budweiser Made In America festival set to take place in Philadelphia over Labor Day weekend.
Blige’s performance at the base of the statue was mirrored via atmospheric projection at a “sister” concert featuring T-Pain, Misterwives, and Big Gigantic that took place the same night at Governors Island, also in New York Harbor. A-B served up burgers and Budweiser at both.
More details from KLAD (www.klad.com):
The Budweiser Made in America Festival, presented in Philadelphia over Labor Day weekend, is sponsored by Anheuser-Busch and produced in partnership with Live Nation. This year, the festival kicked off with the first event in The Monument Series, bringing seminal performances to iconic American locations; a free [by invitation] concert on Liberty Island by Mary J. Blige.
Kathleen McDonough and Kevin Allen of KLAD (Kevin Lee Allen Design) were commissioned to create The Beechwood House as a premium experience for the brand’s VIP guests at the concert. The Beechwood House is a portable, temporary, two-story, 1,600 square foot structure that showcases and reinforces the brand ideal while providing photo and social media opportunities for the guests and VIPs.
The first floor provides a generous, warm and intimate serving area right off of the performance space. The second floor, accessed through a re-purposed shipping container, provides a bird’s eye view of the concert and surrounding event. Of course, bar service is also available on the upper level.
Structural columns, encased in beechwood, support a steel tube super structure and decking. The simple post and beam style structure provides an elegant frame for a beechwood surround.
Working at a National Monument presents a myriad of challenges; the event must be prepared to happen while allowing the park staff to stay focused on their guests. Delivery to the island was by shared barges limited to 24’ trucks with an aisle cleared for dogs and security personnel. Trucks could not be driven directly to the Flag Pole Circle, gear had to be off loaded at the dock and rolled or forked to the site.
Designed by KLAD with entertainment engineer Jay Reichgott and architect Andrew Fethes consulting, The Beechwood House was built by Global Scenic Services.
