Wireless Load Cells Give Peace of Mind
When truckloads of heavy gear need to be hoisted over concert performers and their fans, it can make for a lot of sleepless nights. But Dart Rigging GmbH finds that a trusted load cell system, which it has used for German metal band Rammstein since 2009, helps provide peace of mind.
A Weighty Challenge
Rammstein’s longevity on the touring circuit is often attributed to the band’s over-the-top live shows, a combination of driving rock and stage theatrics that appeal to fans on both sides of the Atlantic.
Because Rammstein shows have grown in complexity over the years, their most recent shows would typically involve close to 20 truckloads of gear weighing close to 50 tons — and much of it ends up in the air.
The sheer weight of the rig, most of it flown high above the band, crew and audience, not to mention the moving dynamics involved, makes load safety an always-important issue.
Dart Rigging has been handling rigging on Rammstein shows since 2005 and, for the band’s last two tours, has been using Ron StageMaster (RSM) wireless load cells by Eilon Engineering to monitor the large set up and any overload issues.
“Rammstein rigs continue to get increasingly complex,” states Dart co-owner Martin Gehring, who served as head rigger on Rammstein’s 2009-2011 Liebe ist für alle da (Love is for Everyone) tour, as well as the 2011-2013 Made in Germany tour, which ended in August.
“When you take into account the automation systems, custom set elements like the special bridge we had for the latest tour and the band’s famous logo-cross, and then add in the lighting pods and sound equipment, it’s a lot of weight to worry about.”
As Gehring set about creating the truss layout and calculating the weight distribution, figuring out where the 1-ton and 2-ton motors would need to be placed, he knew that “load cells were a must,” especially considering that there would be “multiple motors and shifting loads because of sub-hung moving objects.”
For the Made in Germany tour, the setup included a mother grid flown across 120 motors, 42 of which were in key positions and equipped with RSM load cells.
Load Documentation
“Show loads used to typically be around 20 to 30 tons, but today it’s not unusual to have loads around 50 tons, yet the venues are the same,” Gehring says. “That means there is less headroom with the weight. You need to be sure the weight you’ve stated in the plot is correct, and you often need to prove it to a venue engineer. Load cell monitoring is the way to do it. Load cells give you the proof.”
With their latest two tours, Rammstein has basically been on the road since 2009 and has used the RSM load cells at a wide variety of arenas and festivals in both Europe and North America.
“To be able to control the weight every day also helped us to get approval for smaller venues from house engineers where we were very close to the overall weight capacity of the roof,” Gehring says. “It’s definitely easier to talk to the building engineer when they see you use load monitoring. You can feel their relief when they see that the show does what it says it will. It has definitely made my work easier.”
Gehring also notes that Dart is increasingly asked by venues in Germany to use their RSM system to measure loads when other tours and events come into town.
RSM 6000 G4
For Rammstein’s Made in Germany tour, Dart turned to Eilon’s RSM 6000 G4. Although the tour required Gehring to monitor a total of 42 wireless load cells from a laptop, this was well within the product’s range of capabilities — it can accommodate a virtually unlimited number of load cells.
“With lots of motors to manage and a dynamic rig overhead, weight can shift unpredictably,” Gehring states. “There is no way that you can just level it by using tape measures. The weight distribution would be different each day.”
He credited the load monitoring system as “a very safe way to make sure that the mother grid was leveled right for every show so that the weight distribution mirrored what we had in our rigging plot.”
Gehring also appreciates the system’s ease of use. “It’s easy to install, which is essential when you are out on tour, and the wireless communication between the load cells and the laptop doesn’t require a messy network of cables,” he says. “When loading in, we just switch it on, set up the receiver and computer and watch as the load goes up. We level it to make sure it is the same as the plot and put in an overload limit and receive a signal if it is exceeded so that I can take action. It’s as easy as that.”
Gehring says he monitored the Rammstein rig from a laptop in real time with the RSM software. That let him overlay the load map onto the plot on screen, making it easy to see where motors, weight, etc. were on the plot. “It’s a good visual, and then the system also provides a record at the end of the show that I can review to see if there was anything I need to be aware of,” he says.
Peace of Mind
RSM’s safety features include a transmission distance of up to 1 km and a 4000-hour battery life with no sleep mode. The risk of tracking errors are also held in check — Eilon uses three frequencies instead of just one to guarantee that contact is never lost to the load cells, and the system is designed to work even when other wireless systems are in use.
Eilon, which has been in the market for 30 years with industrial load monitoring systems in use for clients like NASA, Boeing, the USAF, Lockheed Martin, GE, Siemens and Rolls Royce, brought the technology to the entertainment world 10 years ago.
RSM systems are used around the world by clients including the Sydney Opera, Casa da Musica Portugal, Esplanade Theatres on the Bay/Singapore, Munich Olympia Park, Swiss TV, Seattle Opera, the Orange County Convention Center, Tait Towers, Shimizu Octo Japan and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in the U.K. along with many others.
Dart was one of the earliest adopters, purchasing their first RSM system in 2005. “We’ve used the RSM product for a long time,” Gehring concludes. “It’s a type of insurance and, at the end of the day, it gives peace of mind. We are very satisfied, not only with the RSM load cells we own, but even more with the good support and constant development from
Eilon Engineering.”
For more information, go to www.eilon-engineering.com.
