5 de mayo completa....y próximo trabajo

So the show has finished in Puebla and everything is gone from the Fuerte Guadalupe.  Now that it is has all past, I can give you a run down of how it all went.  The build itself was pretty long and complicated, and we had our fair share of wind, rain, sandstorms, volcanic ash etc.  But we got there in the end.  It will be best explained by all of the photos.  Longer descriptions will be provided when required.

We had this giant climbing section of the show which, of course we had to test, so here we all are having a go on the test structure.  It was actually quite difficult.  Harmos was visiting then as well, so we recruited him as well.

Bernie, Karla, Me, Daniel & Ian ready to climb!

 

Ian and Nick ready to go....

 

All of us on the wall

 

We had lots of fun building the show on site.  We had our daily 4pm contractor meetings which were fun most days!  Here is one of them in our little tent.

One day we got really rained out and had to cram into a site shed to have the meeting there.  But of course we still had it!

 Eventually we got some gators ride around in....here are Bernie, myself and Ola

 This is a typical lift we did everyday with our 100T Crane!

 

The Giant Flagpole Arrives....

 Ian, Karla, Me and Raul

 Ian with some pringles....

Me and Karla

 Popo and Izta at night....

 A big plume of ash from Popo

The Camacho Sisters - Andrea and Karla

All of us together

Stage build in progress - the towers got bigger and the centre section went from horizontal to vertical

The centre section was called the Tilt Wall - here it is horizontally

Tilt Wall in action with video & climbers

Televisa builds a studio at the top of our seating bank!

Back in our days in the office, we all tried this Mexican Tamarindo Candy Thing called Pelon Pelo Rico.  It was awful as the photos show.  Karla and Ian think differently.

Me

Joan

Ola

Darbs

So come 5 de Mayo, we were all ready to go.  Seating done.  Stage done.  Tilt Wall, Towers and Screen all working -- all depending on weather of course.  And of course, it rained.  It poured, lightning and thunder so we went up 2 hours late.  It was definitely crazy.  So we sat and waited for a long time.  But eventually we did the show.  We were cold and wet, but it worked -- all elements in tact!

Stage Ready of Show Day - before the rain

When the rain came, we covered the stage in black plastic

Here comes the rain again....

And I wait with Ian and Daniel....

Me in my water proof suit

Show and Rehearsal Shots...

The French and the Mexicans on the hill

El Presidente & Fuerte Guadalupe

The screen...

Human Counterweights on the back of the tilt wall

Performer Climbers on the front

The fort and giant flag

The hill choir

 

5 De Mayo

 Close Up Choir Shot

 Karla and I post show

The load out started immediately the next morning the 6th.  The last of the stuff should be gone by the end of this week, but all of our trucks were finished by Monday 14th.  

Here is the crane taking down the follow spot platform

And the final control room lift down

Ola had to leave straight away, but we managed to get in a nice team dinner before we left.  Bernie, Melanie, Karla, Me, Ian, Darbs & Tarmo at Entre Tierra.  Delicioso!

Las chicas del equipo técnico

So I left Puebla on Saturday the 12th for Mexico City.  Each gig I finish is getting harder and harder to say goodbye.  I miss everyone already and strangely I miss Tech Shed Number 2.  Mexico is definitely one of my favourite places.  The people are unbelievable.  I am proud to have worked here.
I am in la Cuidad de Mexico starting on a project for the G20 which will be in just over a month.  I move to Los Cabos towards the end of May.  Watch this space for more info about that.  I have a few more things in the pipeline for the rest of the year, but will keep you all posted as they get more locked in.  For the curious on the other side of the Pacific from here, a return to Australia is on the cards.  I am totally looking forward to it already.  2 suitcases of stuff for over 3 years is getting boring.  I want to unpack for a while.
Please keep me informed about what you are all up to. 
Lots and miss everyone,
Sarah xo