- Aotearoa’s live concert event scene is pumping with some of the music world’s biggest talent taking centre stage on our shores. But, behind the scenes in an unseen but crucial role, Brevity has been at the forefront of bringing several of these electrifying events to life with its stage and concert structure engineering.
Metallica is the latest global superstar to utilise the engineering consultancy’s meticulous and precise engineering for its event stages. Consulting Engineer Dr Daniel Bulbring has been working alongside some of Australasia’s biggest staging companies to ensure these massive temporary structures are compliant and stand strong against the elements.
We asked Brevity how it came to play such a critical role in some of the world’s most iconic event spectacles.
How did Brevity land the job of engineering the stages for Metallica?
Brevity Events has worked closely with the biggest staging companies in New Zealand and Australia, including Slab Stages in New Zealand and Hydro Ground Support Systems in Australia. We have built strong connections with the teams through our straightforward solutions to these very complex and sometimes extravagant events.
How long has this latest project for Metallica been in the works? Were there any time pressures?
Daniel has been working in the background for the last couple of months to ensure these event stages are compliant and ready to go, helping the stage team stay on track. Time pressure is a given, but we have the team, expertise and systems in place to make sure we deliver on time, every time.
Did Metallica have any specific requests that you can tell us about?
Each band has specifications for the stage layout, so they have their own rigging and props that will be suspended from the frame structure. The Metallica stage is a lot bigger than the Coldplay stage in comparison.
_(1)-1-1-1.png "Eden Park, Metallica")
What were the main challenges in creating these stages?Daniel highlighted the complex modelling involved, with thousands of trusses, cords, and diagonal members requiring meticulous incorporation into their sophisticated software. While the calculations themselves are numerous, the real test lies in accurately building these intricate models.
Is Daniel a Metallica fan? Did the Brevity team all get free tickets to tonight’s concert?!
Daniel laughs as he is more of a fan of Tree63 (South African three-piece rock band from Durban), which he admits is a band not many people will know. And we essentially have free tickets when we do inspections of the structure itself, but we’ll add that as a bonus to our next project. Hahaha!
Are there any other legendary acts that Brevity has created stages for in the past?
Brevity Events has engineered stages for concerts such as Travis Scott, Coldplay, and now Metallica to name a few big events.
We have also been a part of Sail GP, which was in Christchurch in 2023 and 2024, and we’ve done some smaller festival stages across New Zealand. We worked with our good friends in Australia for the Mayday concert in Sydney earlier this year, which was an amazing event.
Why is there not one but two stages?
Metallica also had a concert in Perth in early November, which was the first stage Daniel engineered, and the second stage is the one for the concert at Eden Park tonight.
- Read more about Brevity Events
- Connect with Dr Daniel Bulbring on LinkedIn