This desire to be close-up with more of the audience drove the band to experiment with playing in-the-round for the first time. Thus, we created a stage that straddles the full width of the arena and extends right into the seats of the bowl. The material of the stage looks like a concrete slab with copper metallic grill border trim. These materials were chosen to reflect the light and make the structure feel more of a piece of architecture rather than a traditional stage.

A series of instruments and microphones were positioned around the stage to allow the band to move freely and engage with each section of the audience. The show is split into five acts: three music sets on the main stage and two acts on the alternate ‘screamer’ stages in the seats. These separate acts combined with the multiple instrument set ups, allowed the band to move and connect with their audience freely.

The stage is the home for not only the four band members but also five additional musicians and a whole host of back line technicians and monitor engineers. We created two bunker spaces at each end of the stage that house the technical equipment, multiple instruments and the opposing drum kits that are played throughout the show. The stage steps up and covers over the audience egress and continues into the seats. Lighting and pyrotechnics speakers are integrated into these stages to create a very clean onstage look.

Complimenting the stage design are 22 kinetic lighting structures that hang from a complex automation grid over the stage. Integrated with the in-the-round PA system the lighting rig continually transforms creating a sculpture of light over the heads of the band. The two-sided design of the stage is mirrored in the way the rig bends, twists, and folds through the different songs.