Adele in Munich transcends the bounds of traditional concert experiences. Built following months of intense collaboration, a a roadie-specified stadium houses a close to 700,000lb production, which envelopes 80,000 attendees nightly in a sensory journey through Adele’s back catalogue. Spearheaded by a consortium of industry titans, each element – from Adele World, 5,000 sq m of LED and 36 hangs of PA through to meticulously laid cabling and purpose-built infrastructure reflects a commitment to flawless execution. Behind the scenes, a delicate dance of logistics orchestrated by a dedicated crew ensures that every detail, down to the last pixel and biodegradable confetti, converges to elevate each performance to unforgettable heights.
Midway through the 10-show residency, Production Director, Paul English, welcomed TPi backstage, alongside his trusty four-legged sidekick, Honey. Construction on the stadium and Adele World began in June. A testament to the attention to detail, parts of the freshly laid tarmac were cut to house cabling – invisible to the concertgoers – demonstrating the benefits of having a purpose-built space, designed by production professionals. “The first cables went down on 28 June, and we were show ready by the 21 July,” English recalled proudly.
Grandstands were constructed 14m high with seated areas on the floor 0.3m off the ground, and three FOH areas built in the breaks between the grandstands to prevent shadows on the seats. “This level of detail is carried throughout the design,” English remarked.
“Given the success of Weekends with Adele, we thought it would be a shame if one project would be the only outcome of collating these great minds,” added John Dalton, Tour Financial Director. “Everybody is aware of the magnitude of this project, but we have collaborated among all departments to realise this vision.”
Multiple cabins were housed backstage with soft furnishings and further amenities implemented across site to ensure the month-long residency felt like a home away from home for the crew. “The Weekends with Adele team were happy to keep going because we’ve created a nice working environment,” said Maya Gas, Tour Logistics Director. “Working collectively is key to ensure that morale is high, and we can take care of the 200 crew during shows and double that during load-in and -out.”
According to English, despite the scale of the project, each technical production element is proportional. “We never considered intentionally breaking a world record for the longest continual LED wall. It just transpired that to broadcast to 80,000 people in a stadium in an artistic manner, needed the biggest continuous LED wall ever built. All the production elements are scaled to meet the demands of the audience.”
To this end, the team enlisted the expertise of Clair Global (audio, communications, radios and data services, sitewide production IT and Wi-Fi infrastructure), eps (seating), ffp (special effects and pyrotechnics), Florian Wieder (Adele World design), Freight Minds (freighting), Gennybasher Services (power crew), JEM FX (gatlin gun), LarMac (Adele World), Light Initiative (LED trim), Load Cell Rental, Method to the Madness (technical design), Momentum (structural engineering), Neg Earth Lights (lighting and rigging), Nüssli (bleachers and stadium walls), Popcorn Catering, STAGECO (black steel), Silent House (lighting design), Solotech (Video and LED), Stufish Entertainment Architects (stage design), TAIT (automation and staging), The Power Shop (generators), Transam Trucking, Treatment Studio (video content), Twenty Three (video infrastructure), SpiderCam, SteadyCam and Vis-a-Vis (camera dollies and towers).
“The support and collaboration of our vendors has been imperative,” English stated. “It’s paramount that we provide the best show possible, so we do a tech day with a full cue-to-cue show rehearsal before every show day, to make every performance better than the last.”
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Words: Jacob Waite
Photos: Alexandra Waespi and Stufish (show photos), Mark Cameron and Solotech (crew photos)
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