Rock’s biggest stars came to play when cable channel VH1 premiered its VH1 Rock Honors, the first-ever salute to hard rock music. PRG constructed the stage and set for the show, which was taped this spring at the 12,000-seat Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Given the legendary line-up, which included Queen, Kiss, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, and Foo Fighters , the stage and set needed to be as monumental as the event. Designers Roy Bennett and Anne Brahic created the ideal image: an industrial themed megalith of cement and tile faced columns framed by 20 oversized video horns of steel and mirrored plastic. The stage featured a 60-foot turntable, split down the center with a 12-foot high double-sided internally lit wall, constructed of fabric and 4,000 pounds of steel. Lit from within, the wall formed a clean and dramatic backdrop for acts onstage while masking the activities of following groups setting up on the other side.
PRG fabricated the oversize video horns, the screen, multiple runways and ramps, and other set components at its facility in Las Vegas. “Being so close to the venue, we were able to work hand-in-hand with the designers and the installation team,” says Lincoln Maynard, general manager of PRG’s Las Vegas-based Scenic Technologies division. “We could fabricate and deliver the set in very large sections that assembled very quickly.”
PRG has worked with designers Bennett and Brahic on previous events, including VH1’s Divas Las Vegas and the Billboard Music Awards.
