Paul McCartney's concert 'the heaviest show on the road'
Taking a sneak peek at the setup inside Rogers Arena on Tuesday ahead of McCartney’s double date with Vancouver Tuesday and Wednesday evenings (April 19-20), it was obvious the legendary Beatle is going all out for his One On One tour.
State-of-the-art projections were being rotated on massive floor-to-ceiling LED screens while the PA blasted Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean to test out the sound. The stage was packed with instruments, including a grand piano where one can expect Macca will be tickling the ivories. Some of the visuals on display during the stage setup included a kaleidoscopic, multi-coloured animation for The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour and black-and-white footage of McCartney with Wings.
In total, 175,000 pounds of gear were hauled into the arena by 21 trucks, requiring more than 250 crew members. “It’s a good size mob come to put this up,” Spring said. Spring, who has been working with McCartney since 2002, promised an entirely different show than the one that set BC Place ablaze (almost quite literally thanks to all that pyro bouncing off the roof) in 2012.
“It’s completely different — it’s another monster,” assistant stage manager Gino Cardelli said. “Maybe two or three things are the same as (BC Place) but everything else is different: Lighting, video, stage.” “BC Place was one of the last show on the On The Run tour,” McCartney publicist Steve Martin chimed in. “The tour has been overhauled twice since then.”
By: Francois Marchand
Source: Vancouver Sun
