Musical Architecture

Originally published July 26, 2011

I had the very esteemed honor of being one of 60,000 people at the TCF Bank Stadium last Saturday night to see U2 on it's current 360 tour.  The stage was a big part of this show with the architectural design done by Mark Fisher.  Mr. Fisher has worked on other notable stage sets including Pink Floyd's "The Wall", the Rolling Stones' "Bigger Bang", and U2's "Zoo TV" tours.

Once I discovered that he had worked on Pink Floyd's "The Wall", it explained the picture that came out of my little point-and-shoot camera from that night.  It reminded me of something Pink Floydish but I couldn't quite put the pieces together until now.

©2011 Lisa M. Bond Photography

The central acordian like video screen weighs over 54 tons and was able to expand and contract - kind of like those gates people use to block doorways for kids or pets.  This photo was taken when the screen was pretty much fully extended.

According to the Pittsburg Post Gazette, the stage stands 90 feet tall and goes another 150 feet if you include the spire in the center.  It takes 120 trucks to haul this from venue to venue.  I'm wondering how they got it across the ocean?  It says they designed it so big to make the stadium feel smaller.  It sure worked for me, and by the likes of the reviews, I think a lot of other folks as well.