Re: Worst Stage Designs
Date: February 24, 2020 16:48
1.) 1976 Earl’s Court Lotus Everything that’s been said about the Urban Jungle stage being a downgrade of a grandiose concept that shortchanged their fans of the great show the Americans got is true of this stage. I don’t know if it’s the maze pattern or the the blue and yellow lightbulbs on the outer edge of the stage rather than the neon lights from the ‘75 lotus, but the 1976 Earl’s Court lotus stage is horrible. Just horrible. Especially compared with the legendary and groundbreaking lotus stage they used a year earlier.
2.) 1975 Stadium stage the giant “tent.” I’m just not impressed with this one. Especially given the fact that this was the same tour as the legendary lotus stage. One year later, the Stones used a vastly superior stadium stage in Stuttgart, The Hague, Nice and Knebworth.
3.) Licks Stadium stage this one was just flat. It looks like an attempt to be a grandiose Steel Wheels stage yet minimalist at the same time.
4.) 1981 small stadium stage this is the smaller stage whose scrims were originally destroyed in Buffalo by the high winds. This is the stage that was used in Buffalo, Boulder, San Diego, Seattle, Orlando, Dallas, Cedar Falls, Pontiac, and Tempe. Compare this stage with the biggest one used in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, and New Orleans. Despite being just 20 feet shorter, the flag and the car appear “clipped.”
5.) ABB cheap This goes without saying.
6.) 2014/2015 stadium This lead to the great minimalist stage we now have, but it really looks bizarre.
Underrated:
1.) Urban Jungle don’t ask me why I love this stage so much, because I honestly don’t know why. I just do. It’s tied with the steel wheels stage as my all time favorite.
2.) 1976 arena stage check out the videos from Paris 1976 to see the arena stage from that tour. It might not be as memorable as the lotus from 1975, but still a very cool and impressive one nonetheless. Its shape and concept looks like a combination of the 1972 royal dragon and the 1981 arena stage.
3.) 1998 ufo stage this is the arena stage they used in the arena shows of the B2B tour. Was used at MSG, Stockholm, Montreal, Prague, Chicago, Quebec City, and Portland. There seem to be very few pictures of this stage, but it’s a great one if you see it. Very exotic and, for lack of a better term, “organic.”
4.) 1972 Royal dragon that mirror and those spotlights alone were enough to make this stage legendary.
5.) 1973 Pacific stage with the majority of the Australian and New Zealand shows taking place outdoors, the mirror couldn’t be used. So the Stones added a catwalk on top of the amps for Mick to climb up on. A foreshadowing of things to come, and in a good way.
6.) 1969 stripped theater proscenium what the current No Filter stage is in terms of bringing a perfect sense of minimalism to concert spectacle in giant stadiums, the 1969 stage did to the indoors arenas. And just like today’s stage, it did with class.
Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 2020-02-24 17:00 by stevecardi.