HI
I am working on a feature on the Tour of the America's stage production and am looking for technical details, blueprints, behind the scenes photos, etc...
I don't have access to the 1978 Rolling Stones On Tour book or the 2006 Genesis Publications deluxe book. If anybody has those or has info that they could send me I would greatly appreciate it. Feel free to e-mail me at tbjproductions AT sbcglobal.net

Thanks
Ben

Get the book "The Rolling Stones - The First Twenty Years". There's a blueprint of the Locust Stage in that.

JumpingKentFlash

Thank you Jumpingkentflash, I'll have to track that down.

I believe there is a blueprint in the book about the 75 tour by Terry Southern and Chris Sykes.

Just get in contact w/Charlie, he and Mick are responsible for it...

Thanks 24FPS, if I could get a higher res graphic, it would be much appreciated. My feature on the 1975 Stage and Production is waiting to be published on my site, I just need a high quality blue print. I have not been able to track down any of the books yet, if anybody would be willing to make a scan for me, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks

I recall hearing some years ago that the Stones stages were built by a company in Buffalo. Even better, the stages were being built about a five minute drive from my house. I'm not sure what tour or stage it was referring to but I believe it was for a couple of tours before the 90's. I'll have to research it some more.

Hey Sicilian:

I believe that Steel Wheels was designed by someone at University at Buffalo, and part of the stage became part of the Shakespeare in Delaware Park stage. I have not been to a performance in the park in a few years, but in their programs, listing people they wish to thank, there was a line to the effect of: 'Thanks to Mick, Keith, Charlie, Bill and Ronnie for the truss of our stage'

I have no idea what part of the stage is the truss. But the stage was built in the early 90s, replacing a wooden stage that had burned down (again, from my fading memory).

Great stage, but I've always thought that it wasted 50% of the stage area. The amps bisect the stage. The Stones essentially played to the front half for, what?, 90% of the show (and did anyone besides Mick EVER venture behind?). This was a stage that was meant to be used in the round, with the band playing on all petals. Having the amps cut across the middle, facing one direction, with the band facing only in that direction, seem to me to have made the back half of the stage unnecessary and very underutilized. Feel free to correct me, though.








Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-04-08 07:30 by rocker1.

The Lotus stage gets all the glory but the in-the-round stage (see? it doesn't even have a nickname) used on the 81 tour, with the hydraulic bits, seemed very cool to me (at least, in LSTNT) *and* you can see in that movie that they did use it as a proper in-the-round viewing experience.

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Glam Descendant
The Lotus stage gets all the glory but the in-the-round stage (see? it doesn't even have a nickname) used on the 81 tour, with the hydraulic bits, seemed very cool to me (at least, in LSTNT) *and* you can see in that movie that they did use it as a proper in-the-round viewing experience.

I'm not so sure the 1981 stage can be considered an "in-the-round" type of stage. I know there's a point where Charlie's drum platfrom rotated, but did the rest of the band truly play to the backside that much? I seem to recall this as being very much and "end stage" type of setup, with the stage very obviously on one side of the arena so that there was an apparent "front side." Those behind the stage were, well, behind the stage. The LSTNT movie does seem to give the impression of a more in the round production, but I think that might be somewhat of an illusion. Again, anyone feel free to correct or clarify.

(off topic slighlty...anyone know where you can find more info about the 1981 stage used in Rockford, IL in 1981? It was the only indoor show they did before the delivery of their "official" indoor stage on that tour, so that show is something of an anomaly. My guess is they simply utilized the "house" stage at the Rockford Metro Arena.)

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rocker1
Great stage, but I've always thought that it wasted 50% of the stage area. The amps bisect the stage. The Stones essentially played to the front half for, what?, 90% of the show (and did anyone besides Mick EVER venture behind?). This was a stage that was meant to be used in the round, with the band playing on all petals. Having the amps cut across the middle, facing one direction, with the band facing only in that direction, seem to me to have made the back half of the stage unnecessary and very underutilized. Feel free to correct me, though.

Only if you sat on the floor area of an arena did the amps cut it in two. If you sat in the higher seats (the majority of an audience), you could take it all in.
The NYC and L.A. stages had the back petal slightly higher than the front and side petals so you could see the whole lotus effect, lights underneath the stage and everything.

The best stage ever designed. Whoever thought of it should be knighted.

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rocker1

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Glam Descendant
The Lotus stage gets all the glory but the in-the-round stage (see? it doesn't even have a nickname) used on the 81 tour, with the hydraulic bits, seemed very cool to me (at least, in LSTNT) *and* you can see in that movie that they did use it as a proper in-the-round viewing experience.

I'm not so sure the 1981 stage can be considered an "in-the-round" type of stage. I know there's a point where Charlie's drum platfrom rotated, but did the rest of the band truly play to the backside that much? I seem to recall this as being very much and "end stage" type of setup, with the stage very obviously on one side of the arena so that there was an apparent "front side." Those behind the stage were, well, behind the stage. The LSTNT movie does seem to give the impression of a more in the round production, but I think that might be somewhat of an illusion. Again, anyone feel free to correct or clarify.

I agree, I saw Seattle and San Francisco that tour. I remember they sold tickets "behind" the stage in Seattle to try and fit more people in as a last resort. I don't think they did this in San Francisco. It definitely seemed to be an "end stage" in a football stadium.

modernize it...bring it back....it was magic

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Only if you sat on the floor area of an arena did the amps cut it in two. If you sat in the higher seats (the majority of an audience), you could take it all in.
The NYC and L.A. stages had the back petal slightly higher than the front and side petals so you could see the whole lotus effect, lights underneath the stage and everything.

The best stage ever designed. Whoever thought of it should be knighted.

I love it, too. But...did Keith, Ronnie, or Bill ever venture to that back half and play facing the other direction? Obviously Charlie was always just playing facing the front half, which would put him in an odd orientation if the others were on the backside (he wouldn't be able to see them!). Look at all the real estate back there! Sure, if you're up high you can see the back side of the stage, but wasn't it usually essentially just empty? Maybe Mick moved around back there some, but I would think that the rest of the band would not, perhaps also because the stage monitors and stage amps were only on the "front" side. Still, even if they played only on the front half, it would've looked cool to the audience since it was all lit up and everything in the dark arena.

Also, notice the staircase behind the amp banks (on the right side in the drawing above). Never knew that was there based on old photos and vids I've seen, but of course, there had to be some way for the band to get onto the stage!

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georgeV

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rocker1

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Glam Descendant
The Lotus stage gets all the glory but the in-the-round stage (see? it doesn't even have a nickname) used on the 81 tour, with the hydraulic bits, seemed very cool to me (at least, in LSTNT) *and* you can see in that movie that they did use it as a proper in-the-round viewing experience.

I'm not so sure the 1981 stage can be considered an "in-the-round" type of stage. I know there's a point where Charlie's drum platfrom rotated, but did the rest of the band truly play to the backside that much? I seem to recall this as being very much and "end stage" type of setup, with the stage very obviously on one side of the arena so that there was an apparent "front side." Those behind the stage were, well, behind the stage. The LSTNT movie does seem to give the impression of a more in the round production, but I think that might be somewhat of an illusion. Again, anyone feel free to correct or clarify.

I agree, I saw Seattle and San Francisco that tour. I remember they sold tickets "behind" the stage in Seattle to try and fit more people in as a last resort. I don't think they did this in San Francisco. It definitely seemed to be an "end stage" in a football stadium.

Yeah, but Seattle and San Franscisco were stadium shows that year using the big "outdoor" stadium stage (even though Kingdome was an indoor stadium), which was completley different than the indoor stage they used in arenas. Obviously the stadium stage was at one "end" of the stadium and anybody behind it was clearly behind. The indoor arena stage (for venues like MSG, etc.) had some kind of rotating feature that gave the impression of it being a more in-the-round stage, but I think this stage also was always set up at one "end" of the arena floor and not in the center of the arena, as you might expect for an in-the-round show. That is, this arena stage clearly had a "front" side and a back side and the people who were "behind" the stage probably didn't see a whole lot of the band playing to their side. Again, corrections appreciated.

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The Sicilian
I recall hearing some years ago that the Stones stages were built by a company in Buffalo. Even better, the stages were being built about a five minute drive from my house. I'm not sure what tour or stage it was referring to but I believe it was for a couple of tours before the 90's. I'll have to research it some more.

Bird Air?

ROCKER1
You are the man!! Much appreciated, my feature on the tour will be posted in a few hours. Thanks YOu!
www.concertstagedesign.com

Here is my blog post on the Tour of the America's Production. Enjoy!
JUST CLICK HERE TO VIEW

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sagedrummer
Here is my blog post on the Tour of the America's Production. Enjoy!
JUST CLICK HERE TO VIEW

Wow, that's really nicely done! Lots of good info and pics.

And you provided an answer regarding a question I had above, via your link to the 1975 Scott Muni radio interview. So, the Lotus stage, according to Mick, was originally envisioned to be placed in the center of arenas and used in-the-round. However, they couldn't work out the sound problems of in-the-round sound projection given the tight timeline they had for rehearsals. So...they compromised, moved the stage to one end of the arena, essentially played to one side (with the stage amps, etc., facing one direction)...yet the openness of the stage allowed for seating throughout the arena, including those "behind" the stage.

[I also didn't realize this was the very first tour to feature PA and lighting systems that were entirely rigged from the ceiling with no support towers being used as opposed to the bukly PA systems that would sit on either side of the stage. Cool.]

I always thought this stage seemed like it "should've" been used for an in-the-round show, and it seems like that was the original idea. Oh well, even though they didn't use it that way...it still worked!

Thanks for that link Sagedrummer...one of my biggest disappointments in life is being just a little too young when that tour came around. Everything including that great stage was so cool and you did a great job capturing it...

Excellent Sagedrummer,as l told you before for me the Lotus is "The" Rock and Roll Stage bar none.
Thanks, for the credit for my pictures,l am in great company with Sykes,Gruen and Annie Leibovitz. Much appreciated

"No dope smoking no beer sold after 12 o'clock"

Thanks guys, glad you enjoyed it. I wish they would bring it back and do one more run in the arenas with it!

Excellent job! Well done, mate!

The Stones fantasy:

Play on the amazing 1975 Lotus stage.
Perform like they were in their prime in 1972.
Sound like they did in 1973.

It's interesting how stages got unbelievably huge starting in the late 80s. I was shocked when I first laid eyes on the Steel Wheels stage.

Some of the Stones' stages were piss-poor though. The 1981 stadium stage was as cheap as cheap could be but still everything, the vibe, worked. The 1978 stadium stage was just plain piss poor.

I am kind of partial to their 1994 stage.

What fun it must be to design a mega-stage.

MileHigh