Rapper Jul smashed the venue’s attendance record with his audience totalling 97,816 (photo: Nicolas Chavance/Groupe F)

Europe - Stageco was chosen as a key technical provider by French production company Teckoff for a run of major shows at the Stade de France in Paris this April.

Notably, the 26 April performance by Marseille-born rapper Jul smashed the venue’s attendance record with his audience totalling 97,816 – this eclipsed the previous record set in 2022 by Indochine, another of Stageco’s clients.

Working closely with Lies Rombouts, Stageco France project manager Thierry Nataf liaised with the chart-topper’s show designers Gwen Gauthier, Paul Chapet and Cédric Babin, Stageco’s R&D technicians Jan Claes and Bart Bleys, and structural engineer Daan Van Cauteren, to ensure that the delivery of the production was second to none.

Rehearsals took place in Aix en Provence – close to the Stageco France warehouse – for a full week from 12 April, with one of Jul’s iconic pair of ramps at the side of the decking used to perfect a motorbike gag. When Jul’s production loaded in at Stade de France, two 11-person crews, led by Tim Praet and Olivier Daulon, handled the compressed build schedule involving 19 trailer loads of Stageco equipment. With the aid of two cranes, they constructed a special XXL grid (34m wide x 32m deep x 30m high) whose total rigging load of PA, lighting and video screens was +/- 70 tons.

Other Stageco assemblies included four PA/lighting delay towers, two front of house control risers, and camera decks. Two Serapid lifts from Stageco Nederland were also built into the stage deck to propel the artist up and down.

Lies Rombouts described the record-breaking Jul event as a “fascinating challenge” that highlighted Stageco’s many strengths. “Jul’s date came in the middle of shows at the stadium by Nigeria’s Burna Boy [who, on 18 April, became the first African act to sell out the stadium] and rapper/singer Ninho [2-3 May], each of which were Stageco projects,” she said, “so it was great to have the co-operation of all the teams to ensure smooth transitions all round.”

Hendrik Verdeyen and his 11 crew handled Burna Boy’s four-tower system enhanced with catwalks, and also the delay towers, FOH risers and camera decks, which were all built from 12 trailer loads of Stageco gear. A Gérard Drouot production, Burna Boy was project managed for Stageco by Dirk De Decker, with Jelte Smets brought in as structural engineer while Bart Bleys looked after all things R&D.

Praet and Daulon were also on duty to wrangle the crew when Teckoff followed Jul’s notable appearance with a show by Ninho, the French artist with no less than six domestic No.1 albums to his credit. Using a similar system to Burna Boy, Ninho’s staging was realigned to suit the design. Another Thierry Nataf managed project, Ninho benefitted from Bart Dekelver’s R&D skills as well as Jelte Smets' structural know-how.

Jul’s grand homecoming to Marseille’s Orange Vélodrome tested the limits of the venue’s capacity, drawing over 73,000 fans on both May 23 and 24. As with the Stade de France, it was an achievement made possible by the careful interaction between the stage design, the available floor space, the stadium’s layout and the application of Stageco’s decades of experience.


Latest Issue. . .