Ayreon stage design

Ayreon shows

Ayreon " Into the Electric Castle" live shows

Stage Design

Tilburg, The Netherlands, 2019

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Following my dreams of being involved in creation a music show I was given a chance to design the stage setup for the Ayreon album entitled " Into The Electric Castle".

Indicated by the title I designed 6m high castle on the stage of Poppodium 013 venue in Tilburg. During the design process, my main focus was to create a structure on which singers can climb and perform from different height levels. Therefore, the castle was made of scaffolding structure and covered by crumpled metal mesh. By up lighting this material the castle resembled rocky texture on the walls and due to the mesh flexibility I could create spiky battlements on the top of towers and the wall.

The whole stage setup was supported by 12 x 6m big LED Screen and 2 Sliding LED screen doors in a form of a gate. On the side of the stage I designed two 6m height medieval flags to resemble the castle courtyard with the same metal mesh material applied. Beautiful visuals and lighting complimented the scenery, bringing the castle to live.

The design process

All 4 shows received huge applause, and great reviews. It has been recorded for full length DVD. For me it was unbelievable life experience, where I could challenge myself in completely new industry. I had an opportunity to work with incredibly professional people, observe and learn about their working process and see the backstage preparation for such a big spectacle. With this knowledge I am willing to take up more challenges and proof that being ‘a designer’ can mean ‘doing everything’. Even building the castles!