Mumbai: In a landmark move set to transform the live entertainment industry, BookMyShow Live, the live entertainment experiential division of BookMyShow, brings to India a never-seen-before, cutting-edge stage that promises an exemplary production value for an unmatchable consumer experience.
Acquired from Star Live, global live event infrastructure leader, the VerTech Stage represents a significant engineering milestone and is the world’s first all-steel stage to feature on the Indian live entertainment landscape.
The VerTech stage (derived from Versatile Technology), marks a departure from traditional aluminium structures, offering unprecedented performance capability, sustainability and resilience. Its galvanised steel composition ensures maximum durability, making it an ideal choice for India’s diverse and largely tropical climate, providing superior weather protection and performance against wind, rain and heat especially for the largest scales of production.
BookMyShow Live will unveil this market-first mammoth stage at Lollapalooza India 2024, produced and promoted by the platform. Festival attendees will witness this historic moment of the stage unveil at the BUDX main stage of Lollapalooza India 2024 featuring headliner acts including Jonas Brothers and Sting. Brought to India by BookMyShow Live, the VerTech stage came to the shores of Mumbai from the UK in sixteen enormous 40-feet containers. The Mahalaxmi Race Course reverberated with cranes, yellow-hatted mechanics, engineers and technicians, meticulously assembling the stage, piece by piece to now proudly boast, a loading capacity of 50 tonnes, a massive increase from the conventional 15 tonnes that live event stages in India typically have a capacity for.
A unique selling point of the VerTech stage is its seamless structure, integrating towers mechanically into the substructure and a self-sustaining ecosystem, unlike any other in India. This unified design results in a robust setup capable of withstanding greater wind speeds and ever more complex production demands, including elaborate video technology and screens. Star Live's VerTech range provides ultimate flexibility for a temporary stage structure with over 100 different configurations executed flawlessly, with the component range also able to deliver class-leading ground support for indoor and outdoor applications.
It is no secret that India has become a high-potential, high-demand market for live entertainment experiences. BookMyShow’s Best of 2023 - #EntertainmentOnASpree report revealed that Live Entertainment took centre stage with a footfall of 13.5 million entertainment-seeking audiences creating a ‘momentous year’ choosing to step out for live events throughout last year. In its journey to lead the pack for accessible, extravagant and globally acclaimed live entertainment productions and therefore experiences for the country, BookMyShow’s investment across significant areas to build this ecosystem has always been ahead of the curve. India’s leading entertainment destination’s visionary step in investing in the VerTech stage system signals a bright future for the music and live event industry in the country, aligning it with international safety and production standards and unlocking a world of opportunities for artists and fans alike. Internationally renowned and popular artists such as Taylor Swift, Madonna, Adele, The Rolling Stones, Justine Timberlake, Foo Fighters, Sir Elton John and more have performed on the VerTech stage that matched the gigantic production sets and scale requirements for their performances.
BookMyShow chief of business – live events Owen Roncon said, “The Indian live entertainment industry is at the cusp of a revolution signalled by a strategically woven mix of innovation, evolution and technology upscaling. This is exactly the mantra we’re following at BookMyShow Live to pave the way for curated live entertainment experiences that are unparalleled, unmatched and unmissable. With each experience, our work is focussed towards creating a new benchmark in the industry. Consumers are always at the heart of everything we do at BookMyShow and we are concentrating all our efforts in readying India for artists and performances from across the globe, delivering world-class entertainment on our stage, for our audiences that actively seek quality experiences in their leisure time. Bringing the iconic VerTech stage from Star Live to India furthered these efforts of a world-class platform for world-class artists and has opened up a sea of possible opportunities while elevating the industry standard of technical prowess, production value and sustainability.”
"As we mark this milestone with Book My Show, Star Live is proud to be a part of revolutionising India's music events landscape. This exclusive collaboration not only reflects our commitment to innovation and sustainability but also showcases the immense potential of our global partnerships in enhancing the live entertainment experience" said, Star Live CEO Grahame Muir.
In alignment with the #LollaForChange initiative, the VerTech stage comprises over 95 per cent reusability of materials from show to show, with sustainability at its core. The ingenious design incorporates custom-designed handling frames and crates for efficient transportation and rapid setup, reflecting Star Live’s commitment to innovation and environmental responsibility, opening up a massive pool of opportunities for BookMyShow Live to bring widen its ability to bring bigger A-star international talent requiring a mammoth production set-up, to India.
