UK – Automation specialist MOTOR Stage Automation (MSA) designed, engineered, and supplied two spectacular kinetic elements and control for Swedish power metal band Sabaton’s “The Legendary Tour”.
An imposing 30-metre runway, complete with articulated stairs – customisable according to stage height – at each end, flies in during the show to connect A and B stages, allowing the band to get out, about, and up close to their fans along the arena as it skims above their heads, ramping up the drama and energy in the room to fever pitch.
The theatricality continued with the second show-stopping moving component, a centre stage drum riser that flies in from the roof during the changeover – to ‘land’ on a set of three giant inflatable hands, made by Airworks, emanating from a special riser onstage.
The automation project was managed for MSA by Jimmy Johnson, who explained that the process started with a thorough EN 17206 risk assessment, which then led to the equipment specifications.
Every part of the automation elements had to be optimised for touring and meet the ambitious itinerary and build schedules without causing any delays.
Walk This Way
The walkway is constructed from a series of off-the-shelf products flown from a mother grid made from MSA’s new stock of HOF MLT FOUR heavy-duty trussing, chosen for its impressive strength and efficient assembly. The whole structure is flown on 14 x Moveket hoists, 10 x 1250 kg units and 4 x 500 kg units, complete with V-Motion drives.
The M:Cat modular system is designed to be scalable, and packs down into its own set of carts for transportation and rapid deployment. “We wanted the get-ins and outs to be as smooth and swift as possible, so this was integral to the development of this whole system,” noted Jimmy.
The M:Cat walkway is flown in the centre of the venues at 90 degrees to the stage and descends at strategic points in the set with stairs that hinge down onto the stages, allowing safe access for the band.
An already lively gig gets even wilder when the band walk along it right above the audience, and this has become one of the defining moments of “The Legendary Tour”.
The runway had to be capable of carrying 10 people and housing lights and SFX, making the combination of M:Cat, the MLT FOUR Grid and Moveket Automation an obvious choice.
The runway sections – with integrated wheels for running into the venue and positioning – each weigh 300 kg per 3 metres unladen, and the full length is made up by 8 x sections, so this brings it to a 2.4 tonne total load, plus lighting fixtures, smoke machines, and SFX, all of which are attached.
Jimmy commented that the tour planning started well in advance, so they had good time to assess the project’s needs and also consult with safety and engineering experts Blumano Associates for the risk assessment. After this stage, he was in a position to determine which kit would provide the best and safest solutions.
MSA has a lot of Moveket products in stock, and one of the reasons for investing heavily in this brand – in addition to the general quality – is that it met all the SIL / EU standards for flying objects above audiences.
HOF MLT FOUR is a newly developed product that saw HOF and MSA collaborate. Another new investment by MSA has boosted their existing stock of HOF trussing.
Rising to the Occasion
The drum riser is positioned in the middle of the stage and is a focal point throughout the high-energy show.
Production manager Johan Bengs came to MSA with the idea from the band and a drawing from drummer Hannes van Dahl, together with ideas for what he wanted to do, including it being pushed upwards by the giant hands.
Jimmy and the MSA team looked at various options using stage lifts and a bespoke system or suspending the platform from chain hoists, before making the decision to use four Moveket 1250 kg hoists and V-Motion drives and a flown platform for greater flexibility and ability to rig in the different sized venues.
The movement was highly visual and part of the show narrative, so this needed to be slick and smooth. Hannes also had to be able to get onboard the rig and secured in, so a method for this needed to be devised, and the whole rig had to be a fast build / de-rig.
The design and engineering process had to allow for drum tech Emanuel “Kebbe” Isaksson to build and tech his kit safely each gig, so there were multiple considerations, explained Jimmy, including minimising the amount of work at height needed to do his job.
The solution was that the drum kit was built on the floor on wheels, rolled into position before the stage, then picked up and flown to working / backline height … where Hannes also accesses via a first-floor entry point built into the scenic castle wall of the stage set. The latter was a concept from set designer Bertil Mark – also the LD – and the band.
The riser was then flown into the roof; from there it descended to meet the inflatable hands coming out of the stage.
“Working on this with Johan and the stage management team was critical to enable the workflow to be safe and efficient,” stated Jimmy, “and crew safety is absolutely as paramount as the artist safety at all times.”
One of many aspects of this project that Jimmy and the MSA team have enjoyed was the highly collaborative nature of designing and building the automation elements – which involved input from backline, set, lighting, stage management departments, and ultimately the artists themselves.
Bass player Pär Sundström is also the band’s manager, and very much part of the creative process.
“Johan encouraged all of us to combine our skills and experience to collectively produce the best, most dramatic-looking, safe, and workable solutions,” noted Jimmy, “so there were four key conceptual parts of the automation design – How, What, Why … and What If.”
With that in mind, every precaution was considered and worked into the design.
Once the working at height was minimised, they added safety rails and anchor mounts for harnesses and fall protection was also devised and available from the mother grid, so in the case of ‘unplanned maintenance’, the crew could safely have access.
The riser also had to be stopped from spinning – an issue discovered during previous experiments – so to stop gyration, eight RCF LightLocks were added and positioned beneath the riser where they acted like a ship stabiliser.
Hannes also received full training during the summer 2025 leg of the tour of how to deal with any emergencies and rescue procedures, and head rigger Yose Lawson was instrumental in ensuring everything happened safely in the air.
Collab
Jimmy involved Yose in the conversations early on, as they needed someone with a full overview of the automation design and operation and all the various venues.
“Yose was vital in making sure that the engineering and rigging was workable for both the riser and the bridge,” elucidated Jimmy, adding that together they minimised any required working at height, and also maximised accessibility without needing to climb.
Yose also came with a team of expert riggers who leapfrogged the tour, ensuring the rigging was advanced and ready at each venue for the tour’s arrival.
Even small things were considered, like every truss in the roof having an independent cable pick built into the cable bridges so the trusses could be raised and lowered independently for automation, lighting, and SFX.
UK Rigging was selected by Johan and Yose to provide all the tour’s rigging elements, which, together with automation and the other departments – lighting, audio, video, and staging – fitted into 24 x trucks, three filled with all the automation, and four dedicated to the daily advanced rigging package, involving A and B advance rigging teams, supplied by Yose’s Rigging Machine.
Mother of all grids
An over-stage mother grid from MSA facilitated all these automation and other technical elements, comprising 9m x 6m runs made up from more of MSA’s HOF MLT FOUR trussing.
This structure accommodated all the automation hoists, cable management and safety / rescue equipment. The mother grid lighting fixtures were supplied by MSA’s sister company, Vigsø Rentals, as it made sense for them to be pre-integrated into the trussing.
The tour’s automation programmers and operators were Kentaro ‘Ken’ Johnson and Sam Colclough, running the show on a fully redundant Moveket Expert III console system.
Also on the automation team were MSA’s operations manager, Daniel Klausen; special projects engineer, Valdemar Enemark; automation crew chief, Martin Kirch and automation and performer safety technician, Gareth Sumnall.
Jimmy sums up: “It’s been a fantastic project, lots of teamwork between some truly talented people, and we are all looking forward to the next sections of the tour. I think production managers and designers really value a personal touch, and this approach is right at the forefront of MSA’s vision.”
“We love challenges as much as we love finding imaginative and workable solutions!”
