Paradise City(s) for Showforce

Showforce provided crewing support to two Guns N’ Roses gigs held in the Middle East. Working with long-standing clients MDLBEAST and Etihad Arena, respectively, for their concerts in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi this May.

In Riyadh, the team delivered a full week of support to MDLBEAST’s contractors PRG and Clair Global, supplying a crew manager, up to five crew chiefs and 43 crew a day during peak periods. Across the week, 219 man days were amassed.

Crew were tasked with unloading trucks, separating equipment into departments and supporting the install of rigging, lighting and video equipment. Once complete, the tour set from Guns N’ Roses was loaded in, with the crew handling the risers, backline and preparation for technical and show rehearsals.

Showforce also provided in-show support for the changeover, removing the supporting acts’ risers and backline ahead of the main set. The load out was time critical, with the full tour set required on airfreight pallets within 45 minutes to make the flight to Abu Dhabi. It was completed in under 40 minutes which was a new record and was met with praise from the touring team.

In Abu Dhabi, Showforce’s in-house team at Etihad Arena, included four crew chiefs and up to 60 crew a day, supported the stage build and audio set-up. PRG once again delivered lighting and video. 127 man days were amassed over the two days onsite.

The MDLBEAST team were full of praise for Showforce’s delivery, commenting: “Just a quick message to say how impressed I was by the crew this week. Ricky and you guys have done a fantastic job training them and their attitude is commendable. Refreshing in fact. The way they are organised impressed me so much, I was truly surprised.”