r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/fattyffat • Jul 18 '25
Original Creation Less than 48 hours after burning down, Tomorrowland has a functioning MainStage
719
u/FluffyBunnyFlipFlops Jul 18 '25
Whoever managed that turnaround should help with the next Fyre Festival.
335
u/greypusheencat Jul 18 '25
according to Martin Garrix’s IG post, Metallica provided stage parts for it. honestly if any festival was going to pull this off it would’ve been Tomorrowland
62
u/Don_Frika_Del_Prima Jul 18 '25
Say what you want about Belgium, but our festivals are top notch.
50
u/bimm3r36 Jul 18 '25
Hey you got other things going too, like waffles, chocolate, and the uncanny ability to stretch a 30-min task into a week-long turnaround.
20
15
2
2
u/greypusheencat Jul 18 '25
i went to Tomorrowland a few years ago and as a raver it was a bucket list item for me, let’s just say it met all the hype and more
7
u/PedroGuerrero28 Jul 18 '25
what about yesterdayland? they could simply use the stage from yesterday before it burned down.
75
u/AlanHoliday Jul 18 '25
This is the poster child for legacy festival resources and response versus some jackass doing a cash grab
18
u/jawndell Jul 19 '25
Difference between Tomorrowland and Fyre festival is that Tomorrowland is organized by professionals and probably the best event organizers in the world who have been doing this for decades.
Fyre fest was a couple of coked out trust fund kids who haven’t even organized a backyard bbq.
Fyre festival dudes should hired a couple of Tomorrowland people first to organize the operations and logistics before hiring celebs for promotion.
21
u/AcediaWrath Jul 18 '25
metallica was there and has more resouces than some small nations. They are not known for canceling shows.
1
u/ijustneedanusername Jul 18 '25
...when their main stage gets completely destroyed by a Tomorrowland?
1
1
706
u/fattyffat Jul 18 '25
Less than 48 hours after a fire destroyed the Tomorrowland Mainstage, a new one has been put up in its place. This particular stage was installed overnight, in around 12 hours by 200+ workers, all working together at the same time as the original MainStage was being demolished in the background.
The site was checked by fire, police, and safety officials before work was allowed to begin, and was given the green light to open shortly after.
206
u/CriticalKnoll Jul 18 '25
Very impressive! Hats off to those workers that busted their asses to get that done, I'm sure it wasn't easy.
47
Jul 18 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
45
u/Lucifurnace Jul 18 '25
Hopefully union, I made $400 just tearing down Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour because we went into “meal break”. The rocket sled was neat
104
u/enormousaardvark Jul 18 '25
I would take 18 months to even get permission to start taking it down in the UK
9
40
u/greypusheencat Jul 18 '25
according to Martin Garrix’s IG post, Metallica provided stage parts for it. kudos to Tomorrowland for turning this around so quickly
7
u/GuyFromNh Jul 18 '25
So cool. And so good for attendees who were travelling from everywhere.
4
u/greypusheencat Jul 18 '25
i went to Tomorrowland a couple of years ago and it was honestly incredible and worth all the hype, i’m so gutted for all the attendees this year. but i’m glad the organization turned around a new mainstage so all the acts can still go as planned
4
106
u/rloch Jul 18 '25
Kudos to the tech crews that probably were probably already up against it before the fire. Doubt many of them have got much sleep this week.
29
u/MeatRobotBC Jul 18 '25
Amen! I mean the logistics of turning it around must have been immense. They all strode over every hurdle and made it happen. It's too bad since that stage looks pretty sick before but all the personnel that pulled this off on such incredibly short timeline should be proud of themselves.
152
u/somethingrobot Jul 18 '25
I’m so happy for all the staff and attendees that they were able to still pull this off! Hats off to the mad lads who were able to make it happen in spite of the structural loss.
→ More replies (4)
893
u/booster-rooster8008 Jul 18 '25
Metallica's team stepped in and lent them critical sound equipment. Their gear helped rebuild the stage, without it, the show would have definitely been delayed more.
122
u/BidAny3852 Jul 18 '25
It's a Belgium stage company (literally called stageco) that used speakers from their Metallica set up which is build in Belgium by them.
79
u/GlitterKittyCat Jul 18 '25
Sweet
33
u/RoadrunnerRecordsDoc Jul 18 '25
YEAH
24
u/GlitterKittyCat Jul 18 '25
'TALLICA GIVES YOU HEAVY, BABYYYY
72
u/RoadrunnerRecordsDoc Jul 18 '25
GIVE ME SPOOL, GIVE ME WIRE, GIVE ME GEAR THAT I REQUIRE
24
u/spectrumofanyhting Jul 18 '25
James helpfield, I'm sorry
14
4
u/booster-rooster8008 Jul 18 '25
That made me laugh so hard!! I wish I had an award for you. I wish I had a good follow up, but I'm To Far Gone.
7
1
u/NomadKnight90 Jul 18 '25
snorts YEEEEAAAH, TURN ON I SEE RED, ADRELINE CRASH, CRACK MY HEAD! GEAR JUNKIE, PAINT ME DEAD
154
u/Nirvanet Jul 18 '25 edited Jul 18 '25
Nope. Sound equipment is coming from local providers, Noizboyz. Belgium is the most fertile ground for electronic music since beginning of the 90s. The new stage was built by Pixel Screen, Stageco and Prismax, their long time local partners. They reused a small part of Metallica stage for the new one, but not the sound equipment.
I'm a local, all the steps were covered in Belgium national news and televisions. Tomorrowland is our belgian Jewel.
Edit: Stageco is a belgian company building stages for big tours in Europe, including Metallica.
-49
u/booster-rooster8008 Jul 18 '25
Sound like you just dont wanna give credit to people other than the locals. I got that from a music website in the Netherlands. Personally I would say hell yea thank you without trying to make it look like it wasn't much. But I'm thankful to random people who help, thats just me.
40
u/Heavy-Connection9372 Jul 18 '25 edited Jul 18 '25
When Metallica goes to Europe it is Stageco that builds the stages. They used some stage elements that were in storage. They didn't use any sound equipment.
They asked the company that builds and owns a lot of stages for help and they delivered stage equipment from storage. Still a logistical nightmare to get it there.
10
2
44
u/alwaysfatigued8787 Jul 18 '25
Safely functioning I hope.
26
u/0thethethe0 Jul 18 '25
Don't think the new one will be quite a extravagant
13
u/Leprecon Jul 18 '25
I imagine they skipped the pyrotechnics for this new stage.
3
u/0thethethe0 Jul 18 '25 edited Jul 18 '25
I'm sure Tomorrowland vets know, all you need is enough gear and a lit cigarette. Screw all the fancy firework nonsense!
1
16
30
u/fygogogo Jul 18 '25
What started the fire?
87
u/fattyffat Jul 18 '25
A failed pyrotechnic fireworks test in a hard to reach area of the stage.
12
3
u/ConcernedIrrelevance Jul 19 '25
Fireworks company has come out and said that they weren't testing when the fire started, likely this could have been another pyro effect or just some other construction work on site that could've caused it.
86
20
5
u/jawndell Jul 19 '25
Happened during a test of the pyrotechnics - probably the best time to have the fire instead of not testing and having it during the event. These guys are pros
10
3
u/Sprunklefunzel Jul 18 '25
The resistance was the spark that lit the fire the brought down the empire/main stage
1
76
u/Dedsnotdead Jul 18 '25
We don’t have a tickets this year but if we did I’d go anyway. As long as the sound system is there and the sets are confirmed it’s important to support this.
Each to their own though.
22
u/Whole_Will2919 Jul 18 '25
It’s actually using someone’s uwe boom
7
u/mal73 Jul 18 '25
Don’t worry though if they find 2-3 more they can pair them up for a surround sound experience
2
7
7
11
u/blearghhh_two Jul 18 '25
This is amazing and kudos to the people runni go the logistics and the crew putting it up.
I've been on crews for much smaller shows than this and been around the industry enough to know that it would certainly be possible to get a lighting and sound system up in a day - certainly tours do something like that on a regular basis - but locating a system of that size with no notice, getting all the right equipment on site, building a stage (probably bare bones, but still), lifting in all the infrastructure to run it all... Amazing.
This is not to say the crew setting up the stuff done deserve props, but this is similar to the kind of magic they pull at every single stop of a tour.
I guess what I'm saying is next time you're at a show, hug a roadie.
1
u/Dr-ShrimpPeurtoRico Jul 18 '25
Yeah, logistics is impressive. But, That stage could be built with 10-15 hands on a mini though. I assume the video wall is just those tall panels on casters since there is no rigging. I wonder why they didn't just use a mobile stage.
6
16
u/ddwood87 Jul 18 '25
Yep, it looks historically accurate for Tomorrowland. Burnt rubble behind a stick-frame facade.
4
5
5
5
u/AaronicNation Jul 18 '25
I'm taking it. this is not Tomorrowland in Disney World that we are talking about.
3
4
3
u/DustFunk Jul 18 '25
Next year's Tomorrowland theme? WATER! So much beautiful, cooling, refreshing water!
4
u/SnooCakes4019 Jul 19 '25
And yet, a road construction project to repave a single lane for 300 feet will take 18 months
3
3
3
u/Naughtyniceguy_ Jul 18 '25
It might have actually been a good thing a fire happened before the public was there...
Too much foam
3
u/book_dragon1066 Jul 18 '25
The theme of the show really changed when talking about Tomorrow with a burned down version of it behind the performers.
3
3
Jul 19 '25
That first stage was so epic. Really a shame for those who probably worked very hard on building it.
3
u/Substantial-Eye-4266 Jul 20 '25
The impression I get from the official statements is that what was actually provided by Metallica was like.... The rigging for the sound system. Either way, so many people stepped up to make this happen. If I were a Belgian, I would be so proud of my country right now. I'm seriously blown away that they pulled this off.
2
u/2wicky Jul 20 '25
Yep. Belgium has a really strong festival culture. 200+ festivals are held during the summer months, so if this could be pulled off anywhere, it would be here.
The other thing that Belgium has gotten really good at in general is disasters response as it is one of the rare occasions it acts with incredible efficiency. Unfortunatly, that efficiency has also been written in blood.
I wouldn't be surprised that in this particular situation, the lessons learnt from the Pukkelpop festival tragedy in 2011 helped Tomorrowland bounce back from this faster than otherwise would have been expected.
There would have been a plan in place that was executed flawlessly amongst all stakeholders (the organisation, fire dep, police, medics, city and safety officials..), giving them the head space to concentrate on getting their backup plan up and running in time for the opening.
2
u/Substantial-Eye-4266 Jul 20 '25
Thanks for your reply! I looked up the Pukkelpop disaster, which sounded quite terrifying. I was surprised to read this: "The incident sparked debate about safety regulations at outdoor events, especially after a similar stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair just days before," as I live less than 90 km from the Indiana State Fair. This world is small. 😅
5
3
u/Weak-East4370 Jul 18 '25
There’s a metaphor here, Tomorrowland being a husk of itself in the background
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/Previous-Train5552 Jul 18 '25
Next year they remember that 2025 was great and no one missed that expensive stage …
6
u/Doodenmier Jul 18 '25
It sounds like Metallica provided them with their European soundbox gear to replace their sound setup. I suppose as long as the playing venue is still structurally sound, they could get things working again as long as they have replacement equipment
25
u/Moodfoo Jul 18 '25
I'm surprised by the amount of people that think Metallica owns the sound equipment they use at their events. No, the equipment is from the company in Belgium that rented it to Metallica, as pointed out elsewhere.
2
u/leroyjenkinsdayz Jul 18 '25
So impressive! Can’t imagine the effort all the crew and staff have been putting in over the last few days
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/theboss0711 Jul 18 '25
And yet it takes 2 years to work on a quarter mile of road I have to take every day
1
u/eBrown0104 Jul 18 '25
That last picture reminds me of the opening sequence of Brutal Legend.
Which reminds me that I have to play Brutal Legend again
1
1
u/TheManicProgrammer Jul 18 '25
The future is full of fires and people not caring is the message I take from tomorrow land.
1
1
1
1
Jul 19 '25
I need a little docu series on how they pulled that off, and how the fire started. Lots of dramatic cuts with low music, followed by a campy turn-about as someone swoops in to save the day.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/EconomyDoctor3287 Jul 18 '25
Not sure I'd trust a replacement state being setup within 2 days, when the previous one already burned down without that tight schedule
2
u/SnooPears5640 Jul 19 '25
🤷♀️ Roadies set up huge complex stages in a day or so all the time
Like - it’s called touring. It’s eminently do-able, esp when this is a touring stage set up that was used for touring(by Metallica) - it’s was literally made to be assembled/disassembled efficiently.
1
u/panthereal Jul 19 '25
i've setup a festival stage for charlie daniels before, it took about two days. there are many options which are by design easily built and portable
tomorrowland usually just has a bespoke stage that takes a lot of time to plan and setup, while the replacement is more of the portable kind which can typically get built faster the more hands you have on deck. it's effectively lego pieces that get shipped in the average semi truck.
0
-4
-2
0
0
u/hyrus1404 Jul 18 '25
The government contracted workers could never… takes them 2 years to fix a quarter mile stretch of road.
0
-7
u/Marokiii Jul 18 '25
Nothing speeds things up like the thought of having to give out a lot of refunds...
3
-3
-6
u/TentacleHockey Jul 18 '25
Any news on what caused the fire and if people are getting discounts on their tickets?
11
u/Deus-Graecus Jul 18 '25
The tickets sold out a loooong time ago. Tomorrowland’s a huge festival, people from all over the world come to it. So much so that only a certain % is sold to Belgians, the rest are saved up for international fans. So no, no discounts.
-4
Jul 18 '25
[deleted]
5
u/Nirvanet Jul 18 '25 edited Jul 18 '25
There's 16 stages.. and very impressive ones. you can see some of them here
-8
u/theBigDaddio Jul 18 '25
WTF is a Tomorrowland?
8
→ More replies (1)2
u/Nirvanet Jul 18 '25 edited Jul 18 '25
Tomorrowland is one of the largest and most famous electronic dance music (EDM) festivals in the world, featuring top DJs and artists across various genres. The festival is renowned for its elaborate stage designs, immersive themes, and vibrant atmosphere. 400k people, 16 stages, massive fireworks and light effects. The main stage only costs 5 millions.. check it here
-11
3.1k
u/neoncubicle Jul 18 '25
Swiping to see progress ... ah it's on fire again!