Download’s French adventure thrives with Stageco
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Launched in 2003 to showcase the best in rock, metal and hardcore, Download expanded in 2016 with Live Nation’s introduction of Download Paris, and Stageco France – as the provider of all five stages – has played a major role in the festival’s production since it began.
In fact, as long as Igor Dawidowicz steers the ship as production manager, Stageco appears to have a job for life. He comments: “Involving Stageco was a very easy decision. Who else could do it? We know a lot of staging companies, but I can’t imagine giving this responsibility to anyone but Stageco – they are the most professional and reliable provider, and their engineering processes are very rigorous.
“When you hire Stageco, you feel safe and can trust that everything will happen precisely how you want it, and you leave them to the job so that you can worry about other aspects of the production. It’s safe to say that even if this festival had as many as 10 stages, I would want Stageco to build them all.”
Previously hosted at the Hippodrome de Longchamp racecourse, the festival moved last year to a former French Air Force Base at Brétigny-sur-Orge, 17 miles south of the capital, where the 2018 line-up of more than 70 acts included Ozzy Osbourne, Marilyn Manson, Foo Fighters, Guns’N’Roses, Ghost, Volbeat, Korn’s Jonathan Davis and The Offspring.
The change of venue, Igor said, offered greater benefits for both the audience and the production team. “Longchamp was a fine location but there were limitations with parking and camping, whereas this old airfield provides 3km of space and the trucks are able to park on concrete or tarmac, which makes a real difference.”
Project manager was divisional director of Stageco France Tom Bilsen. The Stageco team also included R&D engineer Bart Dekelver and crew chief Bart Dewolf, who co-ordinated a crew of 10 supervisors and local assistance from two cranes with operators, 10 climbers, six scaffolding crew, 10 stage hands and five forklifts with three operators.
Working closely with Stageco were festival director Armel Campagna, production director Paul Engalenc, site co-ordinator Matt Cocuau and British stage manager Charlie Boxhall whose own team looks after all five stages – the Main Stage, Main Stage 2, Warbird Stage, Spitfire Stage and Firefly Stage. “I have dealt with all the technical advancing since the festival started in 2016 and, as such, I have a global overview of what’s coming on to the site,” explains Charlie, who also runs the stages at two other major Live Nation events in France that feature Stageco’s work: the Main Square festival and the recently-introduced Paris edition of Lollapalooza.
As well as all the FOH risers, delay towers, 21 ‘totem’ signage towers across the site and platforms for disabled visitors and video cameras, Stageco built the 6m x 6m support base for the festival’s inflatable three-headed mascot, Dexter the Download Dog, and a huge antenna tower, and also created Bar Metal – a large, scaffold-based rest area at the edge of the camping site.
Stageco worked alongside sound, lighting and video supplier Dushow, Mojo Barriers and generator provider The Power Shop.
Reflecting on a busy week, Tom Bilsen says: “I am so happy to work with this team and for this festival organisation. They get along so well and understand each other perfectly. We have two more projects to go this summer with the same combination and I’m proud to get this all going.”
(Jim Evans)
