I think the current stage is the best of them all for one reason and one reason only.
All the others are history and the current one is the one they are still performing on.

[www.dezeen.com]

Ray Winkler of Stufish has created stages for the Rolling Stones for over 20 years. In an exclusive interview with Dezeen, he explains how set design has changed in the music industry and reveals what it's like to work with the world's biggest rock stars.

Loved all the stadium sets except for Licks. It was just blah compared to the others in my opinion

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Lien
[www.dezeen.com]

Ray Winkler of Stufish has created stages for the Rolling Stones for over 20 years. In an exclusive interview with Dezeen, he explains how set design has changed in the music industry and reveals what it's like to work with the world's biggest rock stars.

Good article.

Gotta give the No Filter stage the nod for best I've seen in person (best from outside the pit though) but Bridges "B-Stage" is my all-time favorite.
Went to several shows where I either bought or fanangled my way to right up against it. Being so close as to read Charlie's setlist.. absolutely loved when they extended the bridge and the principles hit that small stage!!
[www.youtube.com]

The best stages are the natural stages, like Waldbühne and Hollywood Bowl. I was so lucky to get a "on stage" pit seat at the Hollywood Bowl, there was one on stage pit on each side with may be 30 chairs, very small area. Also No Security was a great concept, plus the 360 degrees ärena stage only used in 1998 spring, where people were seated behind Charlie, a strange still great concept.

Bjornulf



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-09-10 16:40 by bv.

I do love the "spectacle" stages of Steel/Voodoo/B2B/ABB, but that can only be taken so far.

I notice that no bands really attempt to outdo those stages nowadays. The U2 360 stage was the last time a massive stadium act has tried to do something crazy like that.

It seems the focus is now on a clean stage design, with most of the money sunk into ultra-crisp LED screens.

Mick and Charlie discussing the plans for the Steel Wheels stage in 1989.
[youtu.be]


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"

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keefriff99
I do love the "spectacle" stages of Steel/Voodoo/B2B/ABB, but that can only be taken so far.

I notice that no bands really attempt to outdo those stages nowadays. The U2 360 stage was the last time a massive stadium act has tried to do something crazy like that.

It seems the focus is now on a clean stage design, with most of the money sunk into ultra-crisp LED screens.

This guy was responsible for all of those stages. He sadly passed 5 years ago.

[en.wikipedia.org])

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grzegorz67

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keefriff99
I do love the "spectacle" stages of Steel/Voodoo/B2B/ABB, but that can only be taken so far.

I notice that no bands really attempt to outdo those stages nowadays. The U2 360 stage was the last time a massive stadium act has tried to do something crazy like that.

It seems the focus is now on a clean stage design, with most of the money sunk into ultra-crisp LED screens.

This guy was responsible for all of those stages. He sadly passed 5 years ago.

[en.wikipedia.org])

Yeah, Mark Fisher was a genius...I was sad to learn he'd passed away.

I'm sure there are other architects and artists capable of designing elaborate stages like that, but it seems the appetite isn't there anymore.

Maybe the money just isn't there to justify the costs of such sets nowadays. The number of legitimate stadium acts has dwindled to just a few.

The 1975 lotus stage that unfolded was the best ever. As I've said before, you had to see that thing to believe it. It was awesome to see. I also like the outdoor design for 1978; something about it always appealed to me.
I understand why they did the huge stages from Steel Wheels to whenever; it was necessary for the times, and it eventually got kind of silly, at least to me.
However, the recent stages, though smaller and with the giant screens, may be trendy, they seem very sterile, almost 1984ish. A little pizzazz somewhere may help.

……….. mmmmm yeah woulda loved to have witnessed The Lotus stage.....



ROCKMAN

Babylon stadium was my favorite of all time

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Honestman
1.Urban Jungle Tour 1990
2.Voodoo Lounge Tour 1995
3.No Filter 2017

The Urban Jungle and Voo doo tours are the exact same stage just modified a bit with the Cobra.

My personal all time favorites 1. The Lotus from 75 tour. 2. The indoor Stage from the 81 tour

On Voodoo Lounge Uncut you can see them on a small stage that's moving through the audience during the acoustic set just like on the ABB tour. I've never seen this on the Voodoo Lounge tour before. Were there other concerts where they had this movable b-stage? They didn't had it normally during the tour, did they?

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StonedRambler
On Voodoo Lounge Uncut you can see them on a small stage that's moving through the audience during the acoustic set just like on the ABB tour. I've never seen this on the Voodoo Lounge tour before. Were there other concerts where they had this movable b-stage? They didn't had it normally during the tour, did they?

No,that B-stage setup used for the acoustic set was exclusive for the Pay-for-View show right broadcast from Miami.

I just found this on Twitter, didn't see it before. It's interesting because it's a rendering of the stage as it was originally planned with a walkway around the pit. When tickets went on sale for Hamburg, the map also indicated that would be the setup but then they went with the usual ramp

The best stage is the one I will be standing in front of TONIGHT!!.

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georgemcdonnell314
The best stage is the one I will be standing in front of TONIGHT!!.

Got yourself a spot in front of the B stage then??
(best spot in the house imo )

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Nikkei

I just found this on Twitter, didn't see it before. It's interesting because it's a rendering of the stage as it was originally planned with a walkway around the pit. When tickets went on sale for Hamburg, the map also indicated that would be the setup but then they went with the usual ramp

Tha is one of the pics in the article from Lien's post



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-07-16 01:55 by nick.

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Nikkei


I just found this on Twitter, didn't see it before. It's interesting because it's a rendering of the stage as it was originally planned with a walkway around the pit. When tickets went on sale for Hamburg, the map also indicated that would be the setup but then they went with the usual ramp

This stage set is much nicer than the current one IMO. I wonder why they decided to go with the standard catwalk?

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TornAndFried
This stage set is much nicer than the current one IMO. I wonder why they decided to go with the standard catwalk?

Agree.
Based on the rendering, it looks like the current configuration allows for a lot more pit tickets (and others) to be sold...

Favorites (never saw):
1.) Steel Wheels stage
2.) Urban Jungle stage
3.) 1975 Louts flower stage
4.) 1976 stadium stage (Knebworth)
5.) 1976 European tour arena stage (NOT earls Court lotus)
6.) Voodoo Lounge stage
7.) 1973 Royal Dragon (1972 with added “catwalk”)
8.) 1981 stadium stage (biggest one used at Philly, New Orleans, LA, SF, Houston)
9.) 1981 arena stage (don’t know why I like this one. I just do).
10.) 1969 “proscenium”


Favorites (ones I saw):
1.) Bridges to Babylon/2019 No Filter (tie)
2.) No Security
3.) 2005 A Bigger Bang
4.) 2013 50 and Counting
5.) Licks arena stage



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-07-16 04:48 by stevecardi.

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bv
The best stages are the natural stages, like Waldbühne and Hollywood Bowl. I was so lucky to get a "on stage" pit seat at the Hollywood Bowl, there was one on stage pit on each side with may be 30 chairs, very small area. Also No Security was a great concept, plus the 360 degrees ärena stage only used in 1998 spring, where people were seated behind Charlie, a strange still great concept.

Bjornulf, is that the “ufo” stage they used at Madison Square Garden and the Quebec Coliseum shows during the B2B tour? I remember when I first read the reviews of that show and that stage since the reviews were posted in 1998, but I can’t find any pictures of it.

A Bigger Bang was mind blowing. But the sound and visuals so overwhelmed you didn't realize until later that the music wasn't all that memorable. Posters, stages, sound, they're all much better. Unfortunately the music was better when it was usually just them.

Best stages based on my current mood

1. Steel Wheels- this has to be the biggest stage ever used in for any tour of any band. Will anyone disagree?
2. Voodoo Lounge- It looks modern even by today's standards
3. Licks- Stadium and Arena (Especially the arena setup). I'm going to say the arena setup was the coolest f**king stage ive ever seen in an arena. The sheer size of it and the huge video screen. That was life changing for me (since those were some of my first shows.
4. No Filter- So modern and beautiful, also huge.
5. Bigger Bang- It looked incredible in some venues and others it looked just OK.
6. B2B-Was on the smaller side in my opinion with a not so big screen
7. Zip Code etc stage. Could have been done much better in terms of the size and presentation of the video screens and lighting. Although still beautiful.

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muncy23
Best stages based on my current mood

1. Steel Wheels- this has to be the biggest stage ever used in for any tour of any band. Will anyone disagree?

U2's 360 stage?

The new stage is a gigantic, four screen TV set. No distractions and very few over the top graphic animations. All that is neccesary.

I think the current one is a good blend of modern technology and minimal staging given the fact they aren't doing a huge tour.

If you're judging the stage you have to take into account the size and scope of the tour. The current one is pretty good all things considered.

I like different stages for different reasons. But I believe B2B was the most elaborate. VL was the coolest was design and theme. ABB had a grandeur about it. I've warmed up to No Filter lately, it improves every year in my opinion.