Access All AreasSerious Stages’ first major festival of the 2023 summer season saw the company provide the stages and site structures for a sold-out Download Festival at Donington Park Circuit.
Accommodating the multi-ton technical production and scenic elements, the main Apex stage was a Serious 25m TZ six-post roof, including a Super Bowstring Arch with a 10-tonne capacity. This was linked to goalposts for screens and audio by Downloads’ Totem décor, creating a 67.2m wide focal point.
Metallica brought in five cylindrical video towers, as part of their European festival tour set, which meant Serious switched to two side-by-side front-of-house structures, rather than the festival’s usual four storey FOH with rear video screen.
Serious said it provided more delay towers than usual this year, installing six 12m Luna’s and three 12m Asteroids in the mainstage arena.
“It was great to support festival director John Probyn and Live Nation’s Download Festival team to deliver this 20th anniversary, biggest ever Download,” said Serious Stages operation manager Abbey Thomas. “All of the headliners brought sets that looked stunning on both stages. Sometimes it’s easy to forget they’re performing on 220 tonnes of Serious steel and stage engineering.”
She said Serious’ crew worked through the weekend, with significant overnight changes to the stage, adding a front-of-stage thrust built overnight for Bring Me The Horizon: “Working through a sun-baked build, crews stayed well hydrated and completed their installation ahead of schedule for the technical teams to bring in PA, lights and screens. Another change to this years’ site saw the 820sqm Assisted Viewing Platform (AVP) relocated to stage right in the sloping main audience arena.
“The second, Opus, stage was a Serious 22m Supernova, five-bay configuration, with new goalposts creating a 42m wide frontage. Featuring bands including Ghost, Placebo and Evanescence, Serious also supplied the front-of house- tower and AVP, as well as over 800 sqm of stage decking, with ramps and steps, FOH towers and AVP platforms in three tented stages.”