PRG reflects on Tomorrowland main stage drama

PRG’s president for EMEA & APAC Bob Walpot has detailed the heroic team effort that allowed Tomorrowland 2025 to proceed with a replacement main stage.

Alongside crews from Stageco, Pixelscreen, Prismax, Phlippo Productions and Noizboyz, the production giant constructed a new stage for the electronic music festival in just 36 hours in front of the charred remains of the original Orbyz stage, which was destroyed in a huge fire on Wednesday last week.

Organisers swiftly formulated a back-up plan to enable the 70,000-cap event in Boom, Belgium, to go ahead between 18-20 July, with the main stage opening at 4pm last Friday.

“We’ve been trying to make it as normal a week as possible, but it was simply impossible after the adrenaline and euphoria of last week,” Walpot says to IQ.

PRG is responsible for the stage lighting at Tomorrowland, which kicks off its closing weekend tomorrow (25 July), headlined by Martin Garrix, Armin van Buuren, Steve Aoki, Hardwell, Charlotte de Witte and David Guetta.

In the following Q&A, Walpot explains how all of the teams involved work together to win their race against time – and reveals the truth about those Metallica reports…

“I’d just boarded a flight to Madrid when my project manager sent me a WhatsApp message saying, ‘The main stage is on fire'”

When were you first alerted to the fire at Tomorrowland?
“I’d just boarded a flight to Madrid and it was actually on the runway when my project manager called. I messaged him explaining, ‘I’m about to take off, I can’t take your call,’ but he tried calling me a second time and then sent me a WhatsApp message saying, ‘The main stage is on fire.’ That was a very difficult moment, because we then took off and I lost signal, but the good thing about it was that the message also said that everybody was okay, and that was the most important thing. Luckily, I had a Wi-Fi connection on the flight after 15 minutes, so I could still be in contact with him.

“When I got that message, it was 6.15pm and the crew were packing up to call it a day. PRG is responsible for the lighting and the rigging on the main stage and other stages as well. Phlippo Productions is responsible for the sound; Stageco, the stage structure itself; and Pixelscreen, the LED on the main stage. Those people were also very involved in setting up the second stage and making it possible.”

“Everybody was focused on the delivery together and it was amazing to see”

How did it develop from there?
“I landed in Madrid at around 8pm. At that moment, the most important thing was that the people involved were safe – nobody was talking about how we were going to rebuild the stage, it was way too early for that – safety was number one. We personally called all the crew to make sure they were okay after what they had gone through and everybody very clearly gave the message, ‘Let me know what we can do, because we’re ready to go.’ So we turned the switch and started to pull lists together on available equipment.

“We had trailers planned to be there at midnight. We had the crew planned to be there at 2am on the Friday. Getting the crane on site, and getting it assembled and assessing the situation, took a bit more time, but we were anticipating that, so we did as much pre-production work as we could and knew we had to be flexible in terms of timing. We started to unload the first trucks at around 4am, but it was only by 5am that we could really start with the first crew. It wasn’t a big crew, we made sure it was a crew that knew exactly what they could count on from each other so there was no need for additional communication. Crew two came in at 6am, so it was then two crews that continued working on it.

“Tomorrowland did an absolutely amazing job of keeping our crews safe, because you had the old main stage on one side and we were setting up the second stage only a couple of metres in front of that. Everybody was focused on the delivery together and it was amazing to see. Even when we reached the 4pm deadline, it didn’t stop.”

You were able to build the replacement stage in 36 hours, how long would you normally expect it to take?
“It’s a good question, because you always get two angles on it: people that say that is extremely fast and that is incredible, and others that say you can do it just as quick or even quicker on tour. But I dare to say that what the team did was definitely spectacular.”

“Stageco played a heroic role in getting a stage, but also PA towers together”

Did you have any doubts you’d be able to pull it off in time?
“That voice is never something we hear in our industry. It is pushed away by our passion to put a show up, and at Tomorrowland that always goes a little bit further than any other show. Why? Because it’s magical when you see people celebrating the unity that Tomorrowland stands for. It’s not just marketing, it’s not just a brand, it really lifts you. Whether you’re an operator, crew, production, it really doesn’t matter. Of course, [the stage on fire] looked like a war zone, so there was a little voice inside of your head bringing [doubt] to the table, but you push that away and start working at it step by step. All credit goes to the Tomorrowland production team, who went through the safety steps with the local authorities before any other plans were being discussed. They did that extremely well.”

It was reported that components used for Metallica’s European tour were used to build the stage…
“I think that came into play when people started talking to the press. That, unfortunately, is false news.”

So what is the truth?
“Stageco played a heroic role in getting a stage, but also PA towers together. Those PA towers had to come from everywhere, and that is probably where the word ‘Metallica’ was dropped. The guys tried to explain to the Belgian press that these big black towers were like the ones that Metallica use, for instance. That was then translated into, ‘Metallica’s speakers were used on the main stage of Tomorrowland,’ which is false news. The Stageco towers were the ones being used. Where did they come from? Phlippo Productions, but not from Metallica.”

How would you describe your emotions when Tomorrowland got up and running?
“For me, euphoria is definitely the word that can be used here and also a sense of pride. It’s all about the people in this industry, and it is always in these kind of moments that we show it. A lot of the questions were about how we were able to get all the gear together, but we can always find gear. Even in this season, it’s incredible how much gear there is available in the market. That is never the problem. We had clear communication with the other partners. I think it’s at that moment we really started to be one team, where it didn’t matter what the T-shirt or the truck said. It was one team that started to deliver that second stage and it really brought us all together.”

Lastly, what’s the plan for this weekend – will it be the same stage setup?
“We’re going to keep the mystery of Tomorrowland alive and you’re going to see that on Friday!”

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