Maintaining the artistic expectations of concert-goers while maintaining safety and functionality for construction can be a complex and rewarding job when even 100 pounds can significantly affect a mechanism and structure.

Stage assemblies for concert tours are never simple to engineer. There is no instruction manual on how to take ideas and concepts and shape them into a stage that is not only structurally and mechanically sound but aesthetically pleasing as well. The engineer, working in conjunction with the staging and rigging contractors, is tasked with simplifying a complicated system so the audience’s appreciation for the artistry and special effects is not diminished by the technical aspects of the operation.

Two recent concert tours illustrate some of the challenges involved in pushing technical limits in stage assembly while maintaining the “wow” factor for...read more