AC/DC - Rock or Bust World Tour '15-'16

With their iconic exploding cannons and a giant inflatable woman named Rosie, AC/DC are back on their latest stadium tour – Rock Or Bust – to reinforce their enduring success as one of rock’s most instantly recognisable riff machines. Performing under a Stageco arched roof, topped with a pair of devilish horns, the band deliver a non-stop rollercoaster of monster anthems that have been the backbone of heavy rock for 40 years. Their Rock Or Bust stage is based on the curved roof tech­nology that Stageco introduced as the Giant Arch for Pink Floyd’s The Division Bell tour in 1994, a copy of which is being deployed this summer in Andorra for Cirque du Soleil’s show Scalada: Storia. AC/DC’s model is a smaller variation of this arched roof and is similar to that developed for the 2002 Win­ter Olympics in Salt Lake City. It measures 66.3 metres wide; the central arch is 16 metres high with a width of 23 metres. Working to a design by Ray Winkler of Stufish, Stageco and set fabricator Tait have pooled their individual expertise to create a set that truly embodies the heart and soul of AC/DC. While it would be simple to explain that Stageco have provided the steel structures and Tait have focused on the ‘rusted’ corrugated cladding that fixes to the Stageco roof, and the two horns, the partnership has been more in depth. For Tait’s rolling B-stage runway, Stageco builds a sub-deck underneath to ensure its founda­tions are level. That’s absolutely key to the moments in the show when Angus Young runs out nearer to the crowd for his famous cameo moments. The relationship between AC/DC and Stageco began in 1991 with the Razors Edge tour. Since then, Stageco has been responsible for all of its large-scale staging and, for the Rock Or Bust tour, Stageco is leapfrogging three steel systems with three crews. Each system travels on 14 trucks with a crew of 12, and they include a carpenter, two scaffolders, climbers and so on. The stage structure includes the nine metre wide PA/video wings and Tait’s horns, and requires a three-day build using two cranes and eight forklifts, working from 8am to 7pm with 24 local crew assisting Stageco’s own guys. It’s a well-oiled machine. Another two trucks are reserved for four delay/ spot towers and a front-of-house control riser that are set up at each venue by a separate two-man crew.