kineticCATHEDRAL: How to Move North America’s Biggest Stage Across the World

Standing 100 feet high and stretching 440 feet wide—longer than an American football field—the spectacle of kineticCATHEDRAL stunned every Headliner when it debuted at EDC Las Vegas 2014. With a glowing neon pipe organ bookended by two colossal, 45-foot-tall twin owls, the environment played host to both the biggest DJs in the world and a full stage show that unfolded throughout the night, incorporating dozens of performers, acrobats, and a magical host. The structure stood as an example of the boundless creativity of the human imagination, as well as a physical representation of just how big electronic music has gotten today.

Since Vegas, kineticCATHEDRAL has traveled to EDC Orlando and Mexico, with upcoming stops at EDC New York and UK. But just how do you transport the biggest stage ever built in North America across the globe? Therein lie the many production challenges faced when building and moving kineticCATHEDRAL. The main challenge posed was a stage design that could be transported and constructed across the world, without losing any of its spectacle.

“Insomniac designers conceived kineticCATHEDRAL to be the largest, most awe-inspiring performance stage in North America for EDC Las Vegas 2014,” says Alyxzander Bear, production director for Insomniac. “And that task was achieved. However, the sheer size, materials and time needed to build this stage made it unrealistic to take on a worldwide tour. Subsequently, the Insomniac designers went back to the drawing board to reengineer the stage that made EDM history into a more functional touring stage.”

The result: a traveling, scaled-down version of kineticCATHEDRAL. For logistical reasons, the newly sized iteration is revamped to 90 feet high and 240 feet wide. Weighing more than 200 tons, the reshaped stage also features 20 multicolored lasers and multiple massive LED screens, giving the illusion of detailed stained-glass windows to match the cathedral theme. It takes two full days to build the newer version of kineticCATHEDRAL, whereas the Vegas rendition took seven days to construct.

The traveling kineticCATHEDRAL is modularly built in order to ship it across the world. That’s where the army of transport trucks comes in.

In order to take the updated stage across the US, 16 trucks are required to carry the stage’s steel base alone. Additionally, it takes two trucks for the video production equipment, four for lighting, five for scenery, two for the sound equipment, and two more for all the special effects, including lasers and the like. With over 30 trucks moving kineticCATHEDRAL across state and country borders, the sight of this rave caravan is a vision on its own. For EDC UK, kineticCATHEDRAL will be packed into containers in New York and sent via boat to England.

To keep track of all these moving parts, Insomniac enlists the help of delivery and shipping giant UPS. In addition to providing delivery vehicles and shipping materials, UPS also traces the global movement of the kineticCATHEDRAL transportation fleet via a highly sophisticated tracking system detailed enough to inventory every single stage component, from the massive steel trusses all the way down to the exact number of hammers and wrenches used, according to Forrest Hunt, executive producer at Insomniac. Additionally, UPS assists Insomniac with customs and permits when touring kineticCATHEDRAL globally, as well as tracking the various stage components when traveling international waters.

Through the modularized version of the stage, kineticCATHEDRAL—much like the artists performing on it—becomes one of the main draws of EDC. Its shelf life is now extended to endless possibilities. Instead of building one mammoth structure for a single weekend, it now becomes a touring entity in and of itself, a show within a show. What results is a more versatile touring stage, one that Headliners around the world can experience firsthand without losing the impact of the original kineticCATHEDRAL from Vegas. Now, anywhere you can pilot a boat, anywhere you can drive a truck, anywhere you can fly a 747, kineticCATHEDRAL can play there.

As the lore of kineticCATHEDRAL continues to spread via the internet and around the world, its physical reach can now be realized in new places via the tour-friendly version, taking the experience element—which Insomniac strives to enhance each and every year—to unprecedented heights and newly reached locales.

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