David Gilmour - Rattle That Lock 2016

Nearly a year since releasing his fourth solo studio album, Rattle That Lock, and launching his five-leg tour of the same name, David Gilmour spent around a month this summer in Europe, mostly performing in locations of historical interest where the beauty of the architecture pre-sented a unique backdrop to the stately grace of the Pink Floyd guitarist’s music. It was in four of the grand locations – Stuttgart’s Schlossplatz, Château de Chantilly to the north of Paris, the Arc et Senans Saline Royale (Royal Saltworks) in Besançon and, finally, the Grote Markt in the Belgian city of Tienen – that Stageco lent its support with various staging solutions, and reminded a visiting group of its staff of the company’s pioneering work with the Floyd during the 1980s and ‘90s.   The shows benefitted from the involvement of three Stageco offices. A stage already supplied by the German team for the week-long JazzOpen festival in Stuttgart was ‘borrowed’ by Gilmour’s production for the July 14th date. Perhaps not surprisingly, Stageco France took care of requirements in Chantilly and Arc et Senans, providing a 3-Tower roof. At Tienen’s Grote Markt (Great Market Square or Grand Place), Gilmour performed in the same location occupied each year by Suikerrock, one of Belgium’s largest festivals and an event that for some time has featured a Stageco stage – a 4-Tower model minus its wings, due to the square not being wide enough to accommodate them. With the stage in place, it worked out perfectly to host a pair of sold-out shows ahead of Suikerrock’s three-day programme at the end of July. There was one major consideration: the roof was raised by four metres to allow for Gilmour’s circular video screen and a Stageco team was on-site immediately after the second show to rebuild the stage overnight to restore its festival set-up.