972.686.4488Contact Us

Onstage Systems

Concerts & Tours

The Capricorn Drive-In at Fair Park

The Capricorn Drive-In hosted a four week series of music, film, and performance in Dallas at Fair Park. As part of the #SociallyDistantSummerSeries, the event was held Fridays and Saturdays, from August 28th to September 5th.

Capricorn Drive-In Featured Performers

capricorn drive-in performance

  • AhhFugYeahs
  • Colab
  • Cure of Paranoia
  • DJ Don Gentry & Wayward
  • Fempyre
  • Infamists & Static Creatures
  • Lost Arts Legacy
  • Meach Pango
  • Skin & Drum Drum Cult

The event had the distinction of being Dallas’s first COVID-19 safe public concert approved by the City of Dallas. It was created to highlight the talent of Texas musicians and performers. The four-week Fair Park event was the culmination of 14 weeks of planning. Great effort was placed on creating a COVID-19 safe, live event experience.

COVID-19 Considerations

performance art

To be approved by the City of Dallas, Onstage Systems needed to develop a safety plan with attendee management as priority number one. Onstage Systems created a parking diagram with designated attendee sitting areas following COVID-19 distancing guidelines. Automobiles were spaced 30 feet from the stage with safe, designated sitting areas to the front and left of automobiles. Attendees were encouraged to tailgate from their automobiles or sit in the designated areas on blankets and picnic chairs.

Other considerations included organizing high traffic areas like toilet facilities and coordinating the cleaning crew for high-traffic area sanitization.

band performance from stage back

Visual Messaging

Part of the safety plan was creating a visual messaging strategy for COVID-19 safety protocols. Informing attendees of the protocols was paramount. The visual messaging solution encouraged attendees to adjust their behaviors to keep live events live and for attendees to be part of the solution. Security at the event also enforced COVID-19 safety protocols.

Backstage Safety

Working crew, bands, and other performers were all temperature checked upon arrival. Additionally, all working crew, bands, and performers were required to wear masks when within 10 feet of others.

Onstage Systems – COVID-Safe Dallas Event Production

Onstage Systems coordinated the event with local bands and the managers of national talent to bring The Capricorn Drive-In at Fair Park all together. In addition to coordination, Onstage Systems provided video , lighting and audio production. The audio solution for the drive-in event included live public address system sound and the inclusion of an FM transmitter for attendees to listen through their automobile stereos. In addition to live performances, Onstage Systems live-streamed select performances from the event online to virtual audiences.

Onstage Systems is proud to have been a part of bringing live events back to Dallas with the City’s first approved, COVID-19 safe public concert. We would also like to thank our event partners that helped to make The Capricorn Drive-In at Fair Park a success.

About Onstage Systems

capricorn drive-in at night

Onstage Systems is a full-service event production company committed to creating lasting impressions. From virtual and live corporate events, music festivals and more, we have solutions to transform your ambitious vision into reality.

We offer design, production management, audio, lighting, video, backline, rooftops, and staging to ensure your event runs smoothly so you can enjoy your big moment stress-free. Looking for a non-traditional live event production team? Learn more about Onstage System’s drive-in and virtual event capabilities.

FWSO America Strong Televised Concert, Virtual Event Audio Visual

Onstage Systems was honored to be a part of the creation of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s 4th of July concert, virtual event. The “Celebrating the Best of America in a Trying Time” concert event took place at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth and featured guest appearances from various Fort Worth feature performers with a special guest appearance by Fort Worth native and Broadway star Major Attaway.

FWSO Virtual Event Performance

Featured Performers

  • Major Attaway (Broadway’s Aladdin)
  • Fei-Fei Dong (The Cliburn)
  • Megan Koch (Fort Worth Opera)
  • David Schrenk and Andre Silva (Texas Ballet Theater)

​​The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra has performed their 4th of July concert performance at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens as part of its Concerts in the Garden (CITG) series for over 20 years. Onstage Systems has had the pleasure of supporting the FWSO and their collective of truly majestic musicians for over 25 years.

Watch the Virtual Event Concert

This year the CITG event was canceled due to COVID-19 public health concerns. Instead the performance virtual event production was pre-recorded in the closed Dickies Arena on June 26th and broadcast on July 4th by ABC-affiliate, WFAA. The pyrotechnics display was provided by Pyro Shows of Texas. The recorded concert was then hosted online for viewing by the FWSO and WFAA.

2019 George Strait Concert, Dickies Arena
Photo from Fort Worth Star-Telegram

​​The event’s 100 person attendance of performers, building, and technical crews was in vast contrast to the last Dickies Arena event that Onstage was a part of. The last time Onstage Systems provided production services at an event at the Dickies Arena was George Strait’s 14,000 capacity crowd per night with two sold out performances in 2019, less than one year ago.

Virtual Event Audio

Onstage Systems provided virtual event audio design, multi-track recording, post-editing, and mixing through a Digico SD10 console with over 90 individual channels. A major challenge facing the FWSO musicians was the ability to hear each other. To comply with social distancing the usual two foot span between musicians was increased to over six feet. Additionally, the arena lacked the familiar acoustic sound shell. To compensate Onstage Systems provided various monitors (IEMs, wedges, hot spots) and L’acoustics Syva for fill.

 

Virtual Event Lighting for Concerts

In addition to the event’s audio production, Onstage Systems provided all the stage lighting design, programming, and operation. The 75’ square performance area was lit by Varilite stage lighting fixtures. The fixtures were selected for their intensity and features to properly cover the performance area. Onstage further collaborated with WFAA to optimize the stage lighting for video recording.

Event organizers hope the recorded performance to be a one time affair and the FWSO will be able to resume their Concerts in the Garden event production in 2021. Learn more about Onstage System’s audio visual services or see more featured work.

Coyote Drive-In Theater Concert

The May concert was produced by Onstage Systems at the Coyote Drive-In Theater in Fort Worth. The event was a fun, but challenging event to produce. The Coyote Drive-In Theater concert also had the significance of being one of the first events to bring live music back to Fort Worth in the wake of the COVID-19 shutdown.

coyote drive-in theater concert audience
Photo by Andrew Sherman – Lone Sound Magazine

Featured Performers

Drive-In Theater Concert Event Challenges

drive-in concert performers and sign
Photo by Andrew Sherman – Lone Sound Magazine

The biggest challenge was accounting for the health and safety of everyone involved. That was why the Coyote Drive-In Theater made a great venue choice for hosting a live, outdoor concert. The audience area was large and designed for attendees to be separated in parking spots. Attendees were assigned parking to every other parking spot. This helped create natural social distancing space between attendees. Onstage Systems also followed the latest health guidelines for hand sanitation and wore masks in close proximity. Coyote Drive-In Theater helped ensure social distancing with signage and limiting occupancy around the restroom and concession areas.

See more featured work from Onstage Systems

Onstage Systems fully utilized the Coyote Drive-In Theater’s space while providing the addition of the lighting, mobile staging, and full audio support appropriate to a concert of this size, to included FM transmission. This allowed attendees the option to listen to the concert over their car FM radios while enjoying the air conditioning. However, many concert attendees took the opportunity to get a little sun and fresh air, listening to a full L’acoustics concert PA system out in the open air from lawn chairs and pickup beds.

Photo by Andrew Sherman – Lone Sound Magazine

The second big challenge Onstage Systems had to overcome to make the event a success was the Coyote Drive-In Theater’s schedule. The drive-in was in full operation with nightly movie times starting after dark. The Friday show did not end until 11 PM. The Onstage team hustled in the dark to set up the stage, lighting, and all the integration for the Saturday afternoon show. And once the show was over they struck the scene in two hours and had Coyote Drive-In Theater back to normal in time for its 8:45 PM movie.

While the Coyote Drive-In Theater concert was a one-time event, Onstage Systems looks forward to doing more drive-in concert events in the future. In addition to producing live in-person events, Onstage has experience producing live streams and other virtual events.

Learn more about Onstage Systems virtual event services HERE.

Photo by Andrew Sherman – Lone Sound Magazine

Virtual Concert Event Production for Sonic Soul Tribe

virtual concert for sonic soul tribe

Onstage Systems helped produce a 12-hour international, virtual concert event for Sonic Soul Tribe. The performance took place in April of 2020 and featured artists and performers from across the United States and abroad performing live on stage and remotely.

Sonic Soul Tribe is a not-for-profit electronic and experimental music and art experience based in Dallas, Texas, born from the Burning Man festival. The collective is a music, art, and production experience that seeks to gift dance, art, and community to those looking for a new way to connect, celebrate, and rejoice in the human experience.

Learn More About Onstage System’s Virtual Event Production Services

sonic soul tribe performance

 

The virtual concert was a great challenge to bring together. Logistics demanded coordinating live streaming performers across the world. The event’s 12 hour duration required incredible stamina and discipline from the Onstage team to produce.

To keep the virtual concert entertaining, Onstage Systems mixed video graphics, picture-in-picture, and simultaneous performance feed switching of remote artists’ live streams. In addition to music and spoken word performances, the virtual concert also featured visual performances including body painters, flow artists, fire performers, dancers, and more. This allowed Onstage Systems to marry visually entertaining performances with auditory entertainment by combining performance streams.

virtual concert for sonic soul tribe

Part of the virtual concert included a live, stage performance at the Onstage Systems warehouse in Dallas, Texas. The stage performance was set up and produced with a “safety first” approach. The Onstage team maintained social distancing during setup and live production. The staff followed the latest health safety guidelines and wore masks throughout. Additionally, Onstage coordinated the performers setup in shifts to minimize contact between all staff and performers.

 

The virtual concert event production was flawlessly executed by a team of camera operators, video technicians, audio technicians, and lighting designers. To bring the Sonic Soul Tribe virtual event all together, the Onstage team relied on premier equipment from Elation Lighting, L-Acoustics, DiGiCo, and Panasonic.

Watch the Sonic Soul Tribe Virtual Concert on Twitch Video on Demand (VOD)

virtual concert for sonic soul tribe

Audio Visual Production for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra



Our company has a very interesting history with the DSO.  It began in 1980 at the Fair Park Music Hall, which at the time was the home for the orchestra.  This relationship started with the founder of our company, Charles Belcher. We provided audio, engineering, and backline support for all pop artists that have performed with the symphony.  

The relationship was taken to a new level early on in 1982 when we were chosen to be the sound company for the DSO's summer home at "Starfest".  This was a huge step for both the DSO and our company. We provided a sound system for a 15,000 seat outdoor venue. This system stayed in place for two months during June and July for several years of Starfest.

The relationship continued through the years with Russell Purdue, who has been an integral fixture with the company for over 30 years. We were also there to support DSO with the opening of their new home at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in 1989, when they performed with Johnny Mathis and Leontyne Price.  We continue to support DSO in this manner to date.

In 2012, Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Onstage Systems partnered again to open Klyde Warren Park in 2012 accompanying Jackie Evancho.  This has created yet another partnership at Klyde Warren Park with the Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation.

We may have a new name, new gear, and new engineers, but the heart of that relationship remains.  This is due to Russell’s high standard of excellence and customer service to this and all other clients that give us the honor of working with us.  As Russell transitions to retirement, the third generation of Onstage is charged with taking the helm and continuing the tradition of service and passion with the Symphony. 

Symphonic concerts at the Meyerson, Christmas performances, as well as the Summer Series of Concerts are the hallmark of this extensive relationship.  Artists of varying disciplines have played with this masterful ensemble of performers from Erykah Badu, Leslie Odom, Jr., Wynton Marsalis, and Chris Botti, just to name a few recent indoor engagements. With the introduction of our Stageline SL320, the DSO now has consistency in their performance space in the ever-challenging outdoor environment.   

Our family at DSO continues to provide their symphonic artistry to Dallas.  If you look about 90 feet in front of the stage, you will see a member of Onstage providing the amplification to yet another tremendous performance!

Contact Us

Our Clients

Consistency. I always know things will be right when I hire Onstage. They aren't always the cheapest, but I don't usually want it cheap, I want it right. Although, when I have a show that's absolutely tanking, they're always willing to help me out. They have the best gear and the best crew. Definitely, my go-to production house in Texas and bordering states for audio, video, lighting, staging, and backline.

AEG Presents

8721 Forney Rd.
Dallas, TX, 75227
Phone: 972.686.4488

EVENTS

SERVICES

LINKS

Copyright © 2019. Onstage Systems | Privacy Policy | Site Map