Broadweigh monitors Adele's stadium tour
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Steve Walsh, head rigger on the tour said: "As the entire rig was located in-the-round on a custom ground support, being able to load the structure evenly was essential. We're talking about a total rig of 72 tons in weight and 25m high, with four leg ground supports designed to need little to no side bracing.
“Even loading of the structure was absolutely essential from a structural point of view – we knew that the ground support was immensely strong, but it had to be loaded correctly. It was at this point we turned to Colin Luke at Load Cell Rental (LCR). I've used LCR for all of my tours over the last five years and the service and equipment they supply makes them the best choice."
Colin Luke, LCR, added: "There are two main reasons to use load cells; firstly it is best practice when it comes to ascertaining show weights. Calculations are exactly that – and we have seen numerous occasions where calculations have proved unreliable because inaccurate weights were included.
“Secondly, there is a liability reason; in the event of an incident, the show’s weights are going to be scrutinised. If you have used a calibrated load cell to ascertain the weight, then you can honestly say that nothing more could have been done – whereas calculations leave room for criticism. For the Adele tour, the BroadWeighsystem was absolutely the right piece of kit to use."
Steve continued: "The kit provided us with all the reassurance we needed – it eliminated the need for extra cables to be installed and meant that the load cells could be located at the top of the chain, rather than below the motor, ensuring that all the rigging weight was included in the readings, without having to manually add it on the fly."
The entire show was weighed during the various rehearsals as the tour started on each new continent with slightly differing show configurations. A weight report was completed to provide all future venues with an independent confirmation of the weight. In addition, a BroadWeigh system was toured on a number of critical points where weight distribution needed to be monitored to ensure safe limits were not exceeded.
"It gave us huge peace of mind that as the structure was toured, there were no surprises once we had finished the rehearsals," said Steve. "Currently the BroadWeigh system is the best wireless multi cell system available to the entertainment market. Others have great cells, but the software lets them down. BroadWeigh succeeds in ticking both boxes."
(Jim Evans)
