Bon Jovi's The Circle Tour needed a set design that was both practical and visually unique. Tait Towers credited Doug "Spike" Brant for coming up with the main visual concept: a video wall that looms skyward, beyond the stage, in the shape of a giant arch. "Spike's concept for a huge arch of video wall behind the stage really catapults the band and their show into every seat in the house," said Tait Towers vice president Adam Davis. "This isn't simple I-Mag for 60,000 people, it's completely atmospheric; but to make it look so good, and keep it in the realms of do-able and affordable, we've done something quite unique."
The screen system, which took eight weeks to build, is 115 feet wide and 50 feet high, forming a smooth ellipse. That's a lot of screen – over 4,000 square feet and more than 750,000 pixels. "Yet it virtually folds down into a hamper," noted Davis.
Transported in 15 specialized dollies, the 9,900-pound. screen takes less than three hours to set up for each show.
"What's really cool about the screen system is its custom client element," said Davis, who noted that Fred Opsomer, who heads the Tait Technologies division in Belgium, sourced the screen module for this particular project.
"Fred is arguably the most knowledgeable LED screen expert in the world, certainly for touring applications," Davis said. "He consulted heavily with the band, production, and Spike – identified their precise needs, consolidated them – and then sourced the ideal manufactured LED modules direct.
"That's four thousand square feet of custom tailoring, and it's never been done before," Adams noted.
Tait Towers provided the screen frame, which gives the screen a 40 mph wind-loading rating, and, when combined with the 9,872-pound screen, adds up to a total screen system weight of 12,272 pounds.
Tait Towers also provided the touring stage system, which includes the main stage (83 feet by 32 feet) and a "B" stage – an open horseshoe that extends 78 feet into the audience.
Features include an integral custom under-hung cable management system and slide out bridges that link to main stage. There is also 360 feet of camera track with three remote-operated camera dollies for I-Mag content.
