Standing beneath the hot sun or in a drizzling rain, waiting for a band to come on stage at a large outdoor music festival, many people have killed time wondering just how an event like that gets pulled together. I know I have. A veteran of 11 consecutive years attending Lollapalooza in Chicago – including 10 years of start-to-finish wandering for the three or four-day fest – I have heard more than 200 bands and done more than my share of waiting and wondering.
Well, thanks to a recent guided tour by Sunbelt Rentals, exclusive rental supplier to Lollapalooza (and numerous other entertainment events), I now have some insight.
For each of the last five years, Sunbelt Rentals has supplied roughly 275 pieces of rolling stock – trucks, scissor lifts and manlifts, lighting standards, cranes, skid steers, miscellaneous tools, and even high-powered lighting for security along Michigan Avenue – along with 2,500 pieces of ground protection.
Sunbelt Rentals Branches Out
Mike Rosbrook, national account manager of entertainment solutions for Sunbelt Rentals (and our tour guide), says that five years ago Sunbelt realized the entertainment industry was a market that often relied on renting construction equipment, and they decided to pursue it. He says many large entertainment events use the same kind of equipment found on most construction sites.
Sunbelt also provides training for forklifts, cranes and other equipment as part of their service.
He says the entertainment market is more solutions-focused than a typical construction job. “It’s not just dropping equipment on a jobsite. It’s more of a service-oriented part of the business,” he says, adding that Sunbelt works in more of a partnership with C3, which produces Lollapalooza for Live Nation.
“They have a lot going on so the last thing they want to worry about are those 2,800+ pieces of equipment we bring,” Rosbrook says. “It makes sense for companies to work with people they know and who know what’s going on. We know what was done the year before. The last thing you want is to have to teach a new group what to do each year.”
Rosbrook says Sunbelt’s Entertainment Solutions division has seen tremendous growth over the last five years as the company is a partner with other events such as the Superbowl, the NCAA basketball Final Four, the NCAA College Football championship, Austin City Limits, and numerous other non-construction events throughout the country. He says Sunbelt relies on the same model and approach for all the entertainment events.
Planning a Year in Advance
Planning for next year’s Lollapalooza, which includes a debriefing of all vendors, begins almost as soon as this year’s Lollapalooza is done. Rosbrook says that because Sunbelt has been Lollapalooza’s rental supplier for five years, they know the plan, schedule and the equipment needed because it’s similar year to year.
Marissa Lotito, one of Sunbelt Rentals’ district managers for the Chicago area, says two months ahead of the construction start date Sunbelt begins conference calls with the local teams. “We bring local stores together to help them realize it’s not the same as dropping equipment on a construction site,” Lotito says.
Sunbelt Rentals is usually one of the first teams on the site because Lollapalooza can’t start building until the ground protection is in place.
Those conference calls intensify 30 days out, so Sunbelt has plenty of time to bring in gear from other locations if they need to. But Lotito adds that Sunbelt is cautious about what it expects from its local stores.
“All these local stores have their own customers who have their own construction jobs and we want to make sure we’re taking care of them too,” Lotito says. “We don’t want to sacrifice any local contractor’s job for an event. That’s why we’re on top of it well in advance so we can bring in anything we need without affecting the local stores or their customers.”
Lotito says equipment is pulled primarily from Sunbelt’s 15 Chicago-area locations, two of which are inside Chicago city limits. Any equipment not available from the local stores is brought in from Sunbelt’s more than 850 locations nationwide.
Protecting the Turf
Actual setup begins three weeks prior to the Thursday opening of the four-day Lollapalooza, and Sunbelt Rentals is one of the first vendors on site before setup begins.
Jake Perry, director of operations for C3, says Sunbelt is on the grounds from the start to help protect the turf from getting torn up. He says C3 is required by contract to return the turf to “as good or better condition” than before the event, so anything they can do to protect it can save thousands of post-event dollars.
Sunbelt provides ground protection to create paths for cranes to access the area where each stage is constructed, then creates two 100 ft. x 120 ft. crane pads around the two main stages.
“Ground protection is especially important in setup of stages when cranes are moving in and working around the stage area as the stages are constructed,” Perry says.
To improve its ground protection, Sunbelt also switches to turf tires on all equipment that could accommodate them.
“We’re getting away from rough terrain tires as much as we can,” Perry says. “It prevents tearing up the turf and you don’t have to put as much ground protection down if you’re using turf tires.
The flexibility of a partner like Sunbelt is key to the operation,” Perry says, adding that Sunbelt’s knowledge of ground protection is a good example. “They know when to put down paths, how long to keep paths down, and when to put them in place for break down. They also know where the paths go.”
A Unique Construction Timeline
Perry says that meeting the construction timeline is critical, and that the Sunbelt/C3 partnership enables the crews to hit all their marks. He says Sunbelt not only understands how important the timeline is but is flexible enough to adapt as work progresses.
Three technicians travel with the Entertainment Solutions team. If additional technicians are needed, they are brought in from local Sunbelt Rentals stores.
Rosbrook says that to reduce downtime Sunbelt has three technicians that work with the travel team on site at events, and they pull technicians from local stores should the need arise.
“If a piece of equipment goes down that means we’re not meeting some part of the timeline,” Rosbrook says. “If a forklift breaks down it’s going to be two hours before we can get another one into the site, so instead we put technicians on site to make any repairs. They can’t wait two hours for another one to get there.”
“The partnership piece is the most important, to be able to team up with another vendor who understand your needs. Because as a partner you learn their pain points and what we need to do differently,” Rosbrook says.
