I was an engineering student before I became a touring drummer and I always look up from stage side and trip out at how the building itself is holding up just tons and tons of gear in addition to carrying the load of the superstructure and then the additional load of a capacity crowd. And THEN add 110db of sound and crushing subs to it, shaking the whole damn place. So I would argue that the most underrated people in this whole scenario are the engineers of these venues. And then our crews of course, because I don’t want my ass kicked. Peace!
To imagine that when an artist goes on tour, like Madonna, these guys have to assemble and disassemble the entire thing in each city they go to. My question is, how on earth are they able to do this during times where she has to perform the same show the next day!? It’s insane and impressive! And then to get the stuff on time to next city, especially when in another state! CRAZY!
I have worked for a few bands as a roadie. There is a huge army of workers who actually love overworking. We come to a set at about 7 am and work till lunch then after lunch we go back to work till 4 pm. Everything is done by then and the artists are on the set and doing sound checks. The next crew comes in to do the show and we go back to our trailers, buses and chill till when the show gets over and then it is breakup and load away time. If we are lucky and the band is doing 2 shows in the city then we go drink at a local bar. There are also labor union laws to follow and sometimes one is only hired for a region, like the Southeastern US. I have traveled with bands to 42 cities in one tour. At the beginning of the tour one is always very hipped up and then in the middle one wants to quit and at the end one becomes an expert and develops great friendships. I have worked with many husband and wife teams. We are all crazy about the traveling circus.
huge tours, like the one Taylor is doing now have 2 stages. They only have to move the equipment (lights, sound, fx etc and most of the structure and rigging is already done :)
Working for Tait is rather rewarding, as a drafter I get to see the behind the scenes sections of tait and their awesome deck building and music has never been more fun
I had the experience to enjoy this concert front triangle ! Never knew how much was going on to build one of the best stages I ever seen. And be so close to it make me feel privileged. Thank you Tait and Madonna for one of the best times in my life 🥰
It's amazing at 65 right now she is still embarking on these mammoth tours. The amount of time, effort and energy it must take to put together. I'm exhausted simply watching this.
Yup she’s a businesswoman that constantly bashes capitalism while promoting socialism. Go figure! I don’t have an ounce of respect for the liberal hypocrite.
@@GeorgeBonez At least she gives money and even more importantly time and publicity to different charities. The most recent is scheduling a show in Tennessee and donating the profits to Trans charities. There are over 100 non gay and trans law proposals waiting to be considered in Tennessee so that is why she has scheduled a show in Tennessee. ❤️❤️
These Guys are the very best of the best.. Tait has made so many advancements for our industry. Anyone can pick little things apart,, but as a whole the engineering and design are spot on. The efforts are huge.. As many many things can go wrong.. As for simple , Tait has never done simple,, They are in their own league. Excellent work..
Soooooo fascinating! Could actually watch it all day. The behind the scenes is as (or more) interesting as the actual show. Don't really buy Madonna's music but I love to watch her tours. It really is artistic. Thanks.
@@musicschool4593 Music school youre a real douche, Saying that is liking saying to soldiers who was fighting wars for our sake that their not heroes, Some had no choise, some did it for us and many people died or got injured just so we can have a life, Many people work their ass off, Many get injured and still work becouse show must go on, Imagine working sometimes 20+ hours a day lifting very heavy objects and also doing everything else on the for the show I started as a stagehand and now i am rigger, stagebuilder, climber and scaffolder But i still do stagehanding sometimes couse its the real shit Stagehand couse there is no official job title for Badass its so much more than i can explain and you will never know unless you have done it yourself for years
I've worked with Floury a couple of times, and she is really a hoot. Not at all demanding, sees everyone as an equal, and treats her crew with respect. Love that woman!!
It really takes a big artist and a dancing act at it's base to be able to afford these kind of stages. I can name 15 artists only that can afford these kind of stages nowadays... It's really a dream... Even if you don't sell albums like you used to, it is such an honor and excitement to be an artist who gets to perform on these kind of sets to sold out crowds...i would have killed to do that
I remember Flory (8:58) where standing at front row of River Plate Stadium she went in front of me with the orange hammer (10:14) (which actually looks like a toy) and talked to me very nicely, she was asking for help to move the barriers and pick up something from the bottom of the stage. Nice woman, nice memories.
I hear rumours from people inside Madonna's camp that the Celebration Tour is the biggest, most complicated and most intricate production that not only Madonna but that anybody has EVER built on one location nevermind taken on the road and tried to build in different venues that have different specifications! From what I hear "She is going to turn each venue into a multi-level dance club that moves up and down and from side to side during the show and will pick people up as it does this. It means that no matter what it says on tour ticket you could well and truly end up being part of the show!" I take my hat off and give the biggest thanks to the technical crew, both visually and audio that will make this show/tour something so very very special! ❤️❤️🙌🙌🥇🥇🎶🎶🎉🎉
I ahve all good things to say about Madonna and this stage company, but a KISS stage with explosions is crazy. I have been a roadie for KISS and a few other bands. I loved it...
This must cost millions to design, construct, ship around the world, as well as the manpower to operate everything. I know Madonna's tours gross a lot but when you then take into account all the overheads, you do wonder how much is left as actual profit.
Yeah, plus..if something goes wrong and she can't start the show on time, people call her a fucking diva. People just don't understand what kind of project it is to put everything together every night. Just MIND BLOWING!
Her net worth jumped after her MDNA Tour brought in a whopping $305,158,363, making it the highest-grossing tour of 2012. That's not counting the $75 million in merch sales, nor does it include the $10 million in TV and DVD rights that came with the 88-stop jaunt around the globe. How much she earned after everything, including paying her staff, travel, hotels, stage, venues, and all the other overhead is not known. I heard her take home was $32 Million.
@@JoeyToronto “Madonna walks away with a LOT LOT LOT OF MONEY YES, even after all is paid,….ONE MAIN reason is SHE OWNS the ticket companies or are in partners with them only for her shows taking the MAJORITY profit percentage, outside of all other things you named, also there is performance royalties she’ll make after the tour is over. “SHE walks away with a lot per show.” Me- Touring Drummer all my life, “STAGE HAND” at one point, STAGE MANAGER at another and now music artist. Much Respect Joey, you heard right, and i heard by a tech source it was 105 mill she walked away with. But any way you wanna slice the cake, 31 or 105, “DAMN”!! that’s great
Everyone worked hard including Madonna and the dancer's stage set is most definitely hard work super dope tho what they did it was lit 🔥..Just imagine being the artist the musician tho
Since they are so good and efficient in assembling, I would love to work with such a technical team, it would be a lot of learning, information and a great satisfaction. Congratulations to the entire team for their work👏👏👏. I love Madonna 😉✌️
Before I opened my company, I worked on the sets. It is hard work. I worked as a road crew for some big bands. Then I took a break went to college and then worked on film sets. Then when I found myself out of work I went back to touring, but this time did cameras for big bands like AC/DC and KISS. It was great, but a lot of work. I met some great people and had a lot of fun.
Undoubtedly these guys are great at what they do and the mastery involved in setting everything up properly is very rigorous and time consuming work. This is a very large production on scale with the likes of U2 and the Stones. Madonna will often play 2 or 3 shows in a row at same venue which really does help the crew maintain sanity. Imagine having to build up and tear down this production every night. It just would be a huge burden and more mistakes would likely happen.
Many bands do a "Rolling stage" so they will have three sets of everything, one being built, one performing and one breaking down. They then just rotate them.
"Dotter" lol. It's "data". Australians pronounce it "dah-ta" instead of "day-ta". Not only did the editors feel they had to subtitle the Aussie, but they couldn't translate him correctly! Love it. Great video though. More please!
That stage is unique and audacious. I'd love to know how cast and crew dealt with any issues - did the 36 lifts work every show. I wonder! It's so complex and daring really stunning.
Surprisingly the stage and lifts behaved during the length of the tour. The biggest reoccurring problems came from audio problems with M's in ear monitors. So she had to stop a couple of songs and re-start them after the audio was recorded. One of the problems was on the show on Madonna's birthday. She had to re-start I'm a sinner. There is a clip on YT. She just joked about it and then told the audience that she was got to re-start the song as a birthday present for the audience. ❤️❤️
Cheers to the touring crew who teach us what n where! Cheers to the old guy from LiveNation Cheers to all us crew who work together and didn't have serious injuries! Apparently grandma did a dance? idk
I believe the Celebration Tour is going to make this look like a basic set and stage compared to the stage and set that is coming this year. According to Tony her personal dresser, the stage is going to turn the venue into a multi-level dance club that moves! 🎶🎶🎵🎵🌈🌈❤️❤️
Damn, I watched this no even thinking about this but, just think, after the show is over, they dismantle everything, load it all up and go to the next city, unload it all, set it all up and cross their fingers it all goes right
I worked with KISS and they carry their stage and everything in 11 huge trucks. The roadies are on and off and their crew chiefs are great people. I did 42 City tour with them.
I believe they actually have multiple full set ups to drag around continents. Wonder what happens when it is all over and you have 10 Million dollars worth of stage to recycle.
@@wiibaron why recycle? Almost everything there is modular, but not in sense of "you can rebuild it", but that's all standalone modules. For example - screens are assembled in many square sections. Today it's Madonna's stage, later those screens in different order work for other band))
it was made like that, so that the people in the triangle are could get their. if it wasn't built like that, the people in the triangle would have to go over the stage. don't get mad, its common sense
I would be afraid to approach Jake Berry if he’s out on the floor floating motors. I would think someone fucked up, the load in is running late, or otherwise he’s pissed about something.
Wow...that’s amazing. At about 23:00 I was like “ I wonder if Madonna knows about any of this, or does she just show up and sing?” Not that she seems oblivious, but it’s just some SERIOUS work that goes on.
Hah. The great thing about being a stagehand is you have the ability to have a piece of equipment drop on you, and then shake it off like nothing happened...
okay I didn't know, but now that you have indeed said: i heard that stageco built also a stage for madonna. think it's in their book 30 years stageco , am not sure if it is this stage that they have built. i will look it up ( got that book in my collection
you are totally right. Stageco developed, manufactured and supplied an innovative XL stage system for Madonna's 2012 MDNA World Tour www.stageco.com/reference/madonna-mdna-tour/409
omgsolikevalleygirl Abused...overworked...yeah I don’t think so. We love what we do and working on this set was an absolute privilege. Plus the money we got from working here alone is enough to cover my family for a yeat
Does Madonna crack the whip on All these burly men. Or is someone else in charge under madonna. I can just see her as a boss! Her cracking the whip.. They do an excellent job too.
why do I see one guy telling what the other is doing? Madonna could be saving money by having one guy just doing it instead of having an extra explaining...?
WHO DESIGNED THE STAGE? IT WAS DESIGNED WRONG!! IF YOU WERE IN ONE OF BOTH SIDES OF THE STAGE, IN FRONT OF THE STAIR THAT COME DOWN TO THE TRIANGLE AT THE END OF THE RUNWAY. THOSE STAIR BLOCK THE VIEW OF THE CENTER OF THE STAGE!! I LOVE MADONNA, BUT THIS RUNWAY DESIGN WAS MEANT TO BE VIEWED ONLY STANDING RIGHT IN THE CENTER OF THE ARENA, NOT FROM THE SIDES!
