At the time of writing, Michael Buble was due to take the stage that night, while Kylie Minogue was one of a host of high profile attractions demanding superstar billing in the coming weeks. “When there’s 20,000 people here [the venue has a capacity of 23,000] it just doesn’t feel that congested,” says Simon Frost, who is responsible for coordinating Summit Steel’s O2 rigging operation, the firm charged with the responsibility of the ‘top rigging’ for all the venue’s performances.
The rest of the production team is headed-up by the former boss of the Earl’s Court technical department, while a dream team production and events crew ensure that this world-class venue has a top-class management team to match.
“The biggest single load we’ve suspended is a 15t video screen for rock legend Roger Walters,” Frost continues, but this would have only used up part of the huge capacity of even the small section of the roof which supported it. However, it is the intricacies of the web of lifting equipment which play such an integral role within each production and, moreover, the cohesion between multiple load points that make entertainment rigging, especially at the O2, such a fascinating science. And it all happens behind the scenes, out of sight from the awe-inspired viewing public who watch their idols walk from main stage to a ‘B’ stage (as it is referred to in the business) and dance on dynamic catwalks suspended above the audience.
On the day I walked the catwalks above the arena, Cirque de Soleil was preparing for the opening night of its new show, Delirium. Prior to taking Cirque to the O2, Summit Steel broke its own record for the number of load points rigged (138) in London’s Royal Albert Hall, for one of Cirque’s sister shows, Varekai. It was the seventh year that Summit had installed the rigging infrastructure for a Cirque production in that particular venue.
Summit Steel is employed by giant venue owners AEG, which has charged the UK firm with the top rigging of the O2. In simple terms, this means they have to attach the rigging equipment of travelling production teams to the structure of the building. Shows will bring their own hoists, trusses and luminaires, which must be suspended from the structure.
The production team of the show will send to Summit, through a CAD (computer-aided design) system, a plan with the points from which they need to suspend loads, and the weight they need to support. For example, a truss may need to be suspended from three points, each of 1t capacity.
Typically, each show will have its own rigger who will liaise with the venue. Before that, he would have translated the plans of a designer (who would have developed the lighting and sets) into a carefully constructed plan of points and desired load capacities and placed that upon the stage shape and specific criteria of that particular venue. The O2 is more accommodating than most venues. “Many buildings just weren’t constructed to house the nature of performances and the lifting required that we’re producing these days,” says Frost’s fellow project manager at Summit, Jay Call.
Summit Steel uses another bespoke CAD system which locates the points of the whole show on a flat-plan of the venue. A rock-and-roll show, for example, may have fewer set designs and therefore the plan will be less complex than that of Cirque de Soleil, where it was decorated with a patchwork of different symbols, representing varying loads and the nature of the lift. “That show had about 100 points, while Kylie may have as many as 140,” says Frost.
The nature of the loads is not generally a concern to the Summit team, unless the loads are dynamic (moving during the show) as they will naturally create additional forces on the structure, and need to be specified earlier in the process.
Each numbered beam in the roof structure has an independent capacity rating, but the points on the show plans will inevitably not correlate to the original building so bridles are used to suspend loads in between beams. The paperwork produced by the CAD system will indicate the percentage of the capacity of the specific area of the roof that is being used, taking into consideration the combined force a bridle inflicts upon the structure.
The personnel required to translate these plans into the building, again, depends on the show. Typically, there will be a team in the roof and another on the floor. A rigging team will consist of five people and a supervisor. Sometimes as many as four teams will be summoned to a venue during set-up, in which scenario three supervisors will be required.
Summit has around 20 full-time office and warehouse staff and employs around 200 freelance riggers. The Summit management have acquired an understanding of the kind of team they need to assemble for each show, and recruit accordingly.
Some shows will begin communication with the venue as early as 12 months in advance of the first night. However, even then the final plans will only be produced a week in advance.
In addition to the role it plays for AEG at the O2, Summit is a rigging firm by trade and does not only provide top rigging. This article explores its role specifically within that arena.
Automated varied speed control
Technological advancements have lead to the automation of rigging and lifting equipment.
Kinesys, whose equipment is used by the Summit team at the O2, specialises in the manufacture of varied speed control systems for anything with a drive, such as a hoist or winch, the movement of which one requires to vary the speed.
Among Summit Steel’s collection is the latest addition to the Kinesys range, the K2, with 3D support inbuilt at its very core. The programming and playback environments display real moving objects as realistic graphical representations. These are positioned in a 3D space in the correct proportions and relations to the stage, set and other items as well as other moving objects.
All these graphical items can be created in industry standard CAD packages and imported directly into K2. Programming then becomes very simple, with manipulation of the moving objects as straightforward as click-and-drag.
Cues can be simulated and rehearsed in full 3D before being run for real, complete with multiple viewing angles and user controlled camera views allowing the operator to be sure that no aspects of the movement or its interaction with other elements are hidden.
User programmable limits and clamps allow envelopes of motion to be easily constructed around objects. When combined with numerous other safety features and extensive feedback to the user, the programmer can be in complete control of the devices they are running.
K2 is not just limited to winches and chain hoists. Personality files make integrating new mechanical devices into the system very straightforward, with minimal additional configuration needed.
The K2 USB Wing adds dedicated start and stop buttons and rate override wheels to the six playbacks, and a comprehensive manual operation section. The K2 Wing incorporates a full-width dead man’s handle and an emergency stop switch for integration with safety systems such as the Kinesys Array ES and Array PD-ES.
Put simply, the varying Kinesys systems, which both Call and Frost can operate (as can many riggers on the Summit books), allow the transfer of information from a computer to a hoist, which has been adapted to house so-called Elevation 1+ technology.
Summit currently stocks over 30 Kinesys Elevation 1+ vari-speed drive units and both Kinesys Vector and K2 control systems. Complementing this are Model LL and JJ CM Lodestar hoists offering speeds of up to 21 metres per minute and power driven beam trolleys. A range of compatible winches and other hoist types are also available.
Summit also offers trained and experienced operators for both control systems. Further to its vari-speed system, Summit is able to supply positional control for fixed speed equipment through Kinesys Elevation 24 controllers.
Summit founder wins rigging award
Summit Steel’s Jon Bray won the 2008 Total Production International Award for Rigger of the Year.
The awards, “which recognise the production industry’s most innovative and ambitious technical, creative and production achievements,” were presented at London’s Grosvenor House earlier this year.
Bray said: “With the O2 contract, the last year has found me working on site more than in recent years, helping load-in a number of large shows at the venue. I have really enjoyed it, particularly seeing the improvements in our regular team through training.”
After nearly 20 years working as a freelance rigger in all sectors of the professional entertainment and leisure industries, Bray founded Summit Steel in 1994 to provide “well-presented and maintained premium quality equipment and technology, backed up by extensive knowledge and experience.”
Based in Kent, Bray and the Summit team enjoyed another hectic year in 2007. Personal highlights included being among the first three candidates to attain his Level 3 National Rigging Certificate (Rigging Supervisor), currently the highest level of PLASA’s newly launched National Rigging Certificate (NRC) scheme.
Company high points included winning the contract to supply and look after all the in-house rigging requirements at London’s busy O2 Arena.
