LONDON — Summit Steel provided motors, rigging and a Kinesys K2 automation system for the U.K. pop band, Take That, and their recent Circus stadium tour, plus a custom-designed lifting system for a key movement cue involving a set piece weighing 6.5 tonnes. Summit senior project manager Chris Walker worked closely with production manager Chris Vaughan from The Production Office and with the tour’s head rigger, Phil Broad. “This element was easily the biggest challenge for us,” says Walker, who was involved from the early design and concept stages starting last September.
The band started the show on the B stage, while a large circus tent set piece was in place on the main stage. Built by Brilliant Stages, the eaves of the tent were formed by a 15-meter diameter circular truss with fins reaching down, finishing just before the ground. The back of the circle was attached to two large hydraulic hinges, each weighing 2.5 tonnes, while the rest was supported by four 16mm steel wires run off at 45 degree angles to four of the upstage StageCo towers.
Each of the four wires was fed through a diverter pully rigged in the towers, all double-purchased. Each wire was then pulled by a rocker-beam attached to the pulley. Beneath each rocker beam were two quad-reeved CM Lodestar model LL hoists, all wired for the Kinesys Elevation motion control system.
At the cue point, the covering cloth was speedily removed from the tent structure. The eight hoists all pulled together to lift the circle – (complete with integral lights rigged in the trussing) as it hinged out and up, transforming into a vertically orientated frame for the large upstage center LED screen. The set was designed by Es Devlin, based on an idea conceived by the show’s artistic director, Kim Gavin.
This smoothly-progressing action took place over a five-minute time frame. “We’re used the system in a somewhat idiosyncratic set up,” said Walker, “and once again it’s proved dynamic and versatile, enabling us to achieve the desired results.” He added that being involved in the design process from the start made a huge difference in how efficiently Summit was able to produce the solution.
The whole system was built and tech’d in Hangar 1 at Cardington Airfield while performer rehearsals took place simultaneously on the George Lucas Stage at Elstree Studios. Full rehearsals then took place at Cardington before moving to Sunderland’s City of Light Stadium.
Gareth Williams operated the Kinesys K2 system. Summit also used its new Kinesys Libra load cell system, linked directly to K2 to monitor the lifting operation.
Summit also supplied over 100 Lodestar hoists to the tour — a combination of half, 1 and 2 tonne versions — which were utilised for rigging PA (Capital Sound) and video (XL Video & CT).
Summit has been involved with Take That’s ambitious rigging requirements since the band first rose to fame in the 1990s, and has continued to supply rigging, automation and ideas for all the subsequent tours since 2006.
For more information, please visit www.summit-steel.co.uk.
