Friends in High Places
Rhino DC was at Echostage in our nation’s capitol on Oct. 23rd for the Quinn XCII show. DC has been providing staff at this celebrated, busy venue since the June, 2019 Machine Gun Kelly show.
On the 23rd they provided a forklift operator, eight stagehands and a supervisor for the load in and out. Three of those (August Veal, Andrew Jones and Marvin Salmeron) made up the show call. They are seen in the photo here with the artist, second from left, who kindly took a moment of his time to pose with them.
Echostage is operated by Club GLOW, the team behind Project GLOW, an EDM festival held in the spring on the grounds of D.C.’s RFK Stadium. Rhino DC has staffed previous festivals with stage building crews and more and looks forward to the 2025 edition of the festival coming in late May.
Tis the Season to Stay Busy
Rhino Florida is in the midst of another busy holiday season. Events concluded, underway or upcoming include: a date for Kacey Musgraves‘ “Deeper Well” world tour at Kia Center in Orlando; a date for Sebastian Maniscalco‘s “It Ain’t Right” tour at the Amalie Arena in Tampa; the Ultimate Fighting Championship event at the Amalie Arena featuring a welterweight bout between Joaquin Buckley and Colby Covington; the Trans-Siberian Orchestra‘s “Lost Christmas Eve” tour stop at the Kia Center; the WWE Friday Night SmackDown at the Amelie Arena; and the WWE Live Holiday Tour stop at the Kia Center.
Welcome Back, Will!
Rhino Los Angeles has welcomed back Will Wilson to the team as Head Rigger.
Will is seen in the photo here (at center in white safety helmet) back in September for the rehearsal load in for Paul McCartney on Stage 4 at Sunset Studios Glenoaks in Sun Valley, CA. Fellow Rhino LAX rigger Olga Henry is in the black safety helmet. Sunset Studios Glenoaks opened in 2024 and Will told us this was the first show to load into Stage 4.
Welcome back, Will. Great to have you onboard again!
Helping to Make History
Rhino Louisiana was contacted by the National World War II Museum in late October for an emergency repair. Their exhibit of a B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft had a mechanical failure and they needed rope access technicians to help access the fuselage in order to change out materials and reopen the exhibit. In early November, three SPRAT certified riggers from Rhino LA (Sam Sprinkle, Alex Brazan, and Xandra Wong) went to the museum after hours and worked through the night to replace cables and sheaves inside the nose of the B-17 and get the exhibit reopened to the public.
The National WWII Museum, formerly known as The National D-Day Museum, is a military history museum located in New Orleans. The museum focuses on the contribution made by the United States to Allied victory in World War II. Founded in 2000, it was later designated by the U.S. Congress as America’s official National WWII Museum in 2004.
Training Day(s)
Rhino Nevada conducted a Basic Rigging class on November 5th and 6th at the Orleans Arena, a client venue in located Las Vegas. The class was taught by Jim Webb (NV Dir. of Rigging), Don Mundorff (NV Asst. Dir. of Rigging), George Baker (NV Rigging Manager) and Freddie Davis (NV Rigging Manager).
The eight participants excelled in the training, surpassing all instructor expectations. Seven of the eight have now been on rigging calls and, as Jim told us, each has continued their development as riggers. Four of them have since even completed a training course focusing on high rigging and have been put on calls for that, as well.
Nor Cal Rises to the Occassion
Rhino Northern California would like to shout-out Supervisor Chris “CB” Bryant and the crew who worked the Google Gemini event at the Solage resort in Calistoga, CA last month. Director of Operations Jessica Saling said of them, “CB and his team were professional, knowledgeable, and prepared for anything, especially while loading out during a record-breaking bomb cyclone rainstorm.”
The client, Lawrence Arevalo of Verducci Event Productions, told us, “I just wanted to say that we had a great experience. All of the techs were great. CB was wonderful to work with and very thoughtful.”
CB, seen in the photo here having some off-duty fun, echoed Lawrence about his crew saying, “I want to give a big shout-out, five stars, to the crew for this job. All three days everyone was great – focused and hardworking. The load out crew was beyond outstanding. Heavy rain poured all day and there was not one complaint. Everyone was soaked head to toe, but they kept a great attitude and worked through the challenges.”
Lending a Helping Hand
Rhino Tempe would like to acknowledge their team members who have recently voluntarily pitched in to assist our friends Musically Fed in their mission to feed the hungry with concert catering meals from the Footprint Center in Phoenix that would otherwise go uneaten.
These everyday heroes include Ricky Albert, Tom Baker, Chandler Carson and Hazael Perez Lopez. Tom and Ricky can be seen in the photo here assisting with food transport at the Dec. 5 Andrea Bocelli show at the Footprint Center.
Well done to these four and all the other Rhinos unacknowledged here who have stepped up to help the amazing folks at Musically Fed, worked side-by-side with Rhino to distribute food to live event workers in need during the pandemic.
It Was a Very Good Year
Rhino Texas is looking back on 2024 as perhaps their best year ever. It kicked into high gear in June with George Strait at Kyle Field (reported to be the largest single ticketed concert event – EVER! – in the US) and was followed by more stadium shows than old hands there can recall. There was also Formula 1, the Amazon Un-Boxed Conference, Fortnite/Rocket League Global Championship and a strong run of shows at their anchor venues Dickies Arena/Ft Worth and HEB Center/Cedar Park.
In acknowledgement, Rhino TX would like to send a very special shout-out to the field supervisors who kept the wheels turning: (CUE THE PYRO) Steve Brown, Kent Yeomans, Israel Jimenez, James Bownds, John Duckworth, Harris Chilcutt, Cinica Fitzgerald, Maria Garcia, Jacob Rhines, Christopher Streater, and Phillip Wolf.
Accordingly, client recognition for the entire team flowed in steadily throughout the year. Here’s a small sample.
“I can’t say enough good things about how Rhino performed this year – Looking forward to a great 2025 with y’all” – Scott Beggs / Live Nation
“Rhino Staging Texas brought their A-game to the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson event, going above and beyond with incredible dedication and enthusiasm. A true powerhouse behind the scenes!” – Randy Quick / ConCom TV
“75 hours – That is the time we had from confirmed event to doors opening, for a FULL stadium show. Rhino got the right crew scheduled, and in with multiple changes nonetheless – With NO issues. We could not have got it up and running without them.” – Lana Ramirez / Shell Energy Stadium
See previous updates from around the Rhino Nation at the links below.