Serious at Glastonbury 2008

Serious Stages ensured that the headliners at the 2008 Glastonbury festival wowed the crowds from their most advanced structures yet. The Somerset-based suppliers supplied a full range of their products to the event in an impressive order which totalled three stage roofs, four PA/Screen Goalposts, seven PA Masts, four Spot Towers, five Front-Of-House complexes, around 4000 square metres of decking and the iconic Ribbon Tower in The Park area.
It was a Glastonbury debut for the 22m Supernova roof structure that was the Other Stage, with its smaller sibling, the 16m Supernova, making its first appearance as main stage in The Park. An 18m Orbit Roof was supplied for the ever-popular Jazz World, plus all decking, PA/Screen goal posts and Lunar delay towers for the main Pyramid stage helped complete the order.
Panic at the Disco, Massive Attack and Groove Armada topped the bill on The Other Stage – rocking the 22m Supernova - Serious’s newest product. A progression from the Solar Roof provided in 2007, the Supernova can be built in one crane lift, with all purlins capable of providing rigging points of up to 3 tonnes. The format of the Other Stage was four bays with side sheds, complete with 4.8 metres of low level ‘backshed’ at the rear for rolling risers, etc. The Supernova offered 16 metres of depth, an impressive trim height of 11 metres and a massive 6 tonnes of weight loading per arch. The cantilever gave another 3 tonnes of loading, so the whole structure could accommodate up to 33 tonnes of production equipment.
The 15 metre high PA/Screen goalposts had PA rigged on two 2 metre cantilevers each side. This provided points for up to 2 tonnes of PA on and offstage on the goalpost, plus a 6 tonne load from the main crossbar, all of which were integral to the design. Serious also supplied all the stage decking, and the FOH tower to accommodate mixing positions, follow spots and wheelchair access.
The Park – the brainchild of Emily Eavis – was an instant hit at the 2007 festival, featuring live music stages, late night bars and cafes, Tipi villages, art installations, stonemasons and crafts. For its return Serious built a smaller version of the Other Stage Supernova – a 3-bay/4 arch structure, complete with Satellite masts for the PA towers. Surprise guest performers Franz Ferdinand brought the spotlight on the stage – which had a 9 metre trim height and 13.2 metres of depth. Serious also supplied all the decking and built the FOH structure. The eclectic line up on here also included headliners Pete Doherty, CSS and My Morning Jacket.
Serious also built another new Glastonbury attraction in The Park – a 20 metre high observation platform - the “Ribbon Tower”. Constructed from Kwikform scaffolding system and Serious’ proprietary decking system, handrails and custom designed treads, the tower was clad with ribbons and given a wicker roof by it’s designer, Misty Buckley. At it’s summit, the Eastern-inspired structure was illuminated from within and with a public decking area at 15m it provided a free panoramic view and map of the massive site, day and night throughout the festival.
For the Pyramid Stage, Serious constructed around 1500 square metres of decking and two 20m high goalposts for the PA hangs and side screens. With sound issues crucial at Glastonbury, the system design had to provide an onstage cantilever 2.4 metres in front of the main goalpost capable of flying 2.2 tonnes, and an offstage cantilever capable of angling the PA and flying the same 2.2 tonnes. They also constructed three 15 metre Lunar delay masts and a massive FOH mixer/follow spot structure.
At Jazz World, Serious supplied an 18 metre 3 Bay Orbit Roof and two Lunar PA masts, and also built the decking for numerous tent stages, including John Peel, The Glade, Dance East and West and Leftfield plus wheelchair access at all the main outdoor stages.
All structures and decking at the Glastonbury Festival were designed and engineered by the Serious design team led by designer/engineer Dragan Kuzmanov, assisted by Head of Design and Manufacturing Julian Vowles and his staff. Serious’s crew spent over a month installing the many structures. Jeremy Mosdell and Steve McConnell led the teams on site, and all structures were ultimately inspected and signed off for Serious by another of their engineers, Kenneth Falconer.
Serious MD Steven Corfield comments, “Glastonbury is always a huge undertaking, and trying to run this and the 100 other shows we’ve had to prep and build during the Glastonbury build/de-rig period is always challenging. This year was even more galvanising as we were also concurrently removing 10,000sqm of covered structure from Saudi Arabia…. in addition to all our traditional summertime work in the UK and Ireland. It is great testament to our resources and teams that we can design and fabricate new roofs, manage 150 personnel and crew, control our truck fleet, undertake 100 other jobs and simultaneously build major structures for the UK’s biggest music and live performance festival.”

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