Rocking the Daisies 2017

As with every year, Rocking the Daisies reminded everyone why this is South Africa’s greatest music and lifestyle festival. Steyn Entertainment clearly have a keen eye on what the industry wants and where it should be guided. This was predominantly evident in the different yet dynamic lineup of artists chosen this year. Bad Weather’s task for this year’s festival was the design and production for Main Stage, Electronic Dome, and Hip Hop (aka Trap House).

After taking a look at the individual stage lineups, we narrowed down on some key factors we had to keep in mind. For the main stage this was designing for multiple genres. This included Flume, Joey Bada$$, The Naked and Famous and Two Door Cinema Club.

With this in mind, we made sure that every possible riser formation, or band setup could be accommodated. This extended into our discussions with the international artists which allowed us to have a “no compromise” performance for each act. Each artist required very particular pieces of technology which we made sure to either incorporate into the main design or provision time and space for these extras to be set up and added to the stage. With that said, we were careful not to neglect our local talent, and designed several floor packages which could be brought on during changeovers depending on the preference of the artist. We also made efforts to contact each artist individually to see how we could help them and ourselves prepare for their performance. When it came to the physical production of the stage, we chose to take an art/visual direction approach, whereby a member of our team held the vision of each performance, and delegated that direction to relevant operators.

The Electronic Dome is another mammoth task, with a whole new set of influences and considerations. Once again, the line up was a key factor in how we began our design approach. This year, we felt a shift from EDM and drum and bass to a darker, techno feel. We drew inspiration from the genre, and based our design around a minimal aesthetic; incorporating strong lines and shapes. Two key features of the design were the ultra wide silhouette screen behind the performers and another massive LED screen which towered over the audience in a portrait orientation. The rest of the audience was also catered for, where eight rectangle ceiling pods ran down both sides of the dome. Another key aspect of the rig was the inclusion of 24 Acme Solaris fixtures. These fixtures contain a 6 by 6 grid of individually programmable LEDs which fit the design perfectly. Lastly, an additional 5 rectangle pods of varying sizes hung above the entire stage which were moveable; giving the dome a further dimension of transformation.

Let’s not forgot about Hip Hop. A genre showing insane popularity around the world especially now was given some special treatment at this year’s festival: Introduce the Trap House. With a design heavily focused on set and a flare of technology; a house was constructed out of scaffolding and dressed with fabric made to look like wooden slats. During the day, it took the form of a dilapidated house littered with graffiti tags and broken windows. At night, a projection mapping opening revealed “Hip Hop Through the Ages” and turned the house into a vibrant, ever changing beast. Two platforms on either side of the house hosted professional graffiti artists  creating contemporary live artworks. These live artists were then projected through a live feed onto the house.

Client: Steyn Entertainment