Softgoods are a great “finishing touch” to a stage aesthetic. Beyond providing first-rate advertising and branding space, softgoods are utilized for a variety of applications on our stages, both practical and decorative. Here are a few ways we use various vinyl, mesh and other softgood materials on our staging systems.
You’ll see many of our stages fit with black scrim to create a finished look to the structure. Our scrim shop uses a 14oz Vinyl Coated Polyester (VCP) Mesh as our standard black scrim. This material is tested and certified as flame retardant, ensuring a safe softgoods solution.
This scrim is not coated with a flame retardant substrate, but rather is inherently resistant to fire. This results in a long lifespan that does not degrade in flame resistance over time. Standard scrim is a versatile material that is acoustically transparent and also available in a variety of colors.
Standard black scrim covering the sound wings
For roof skins and weather protection purposes, our crew uses an 18oz VCP Vinyl. Unlike mesh, the solid vinyl material is great for stage roof skins and catching/repelling water during rainstorms. Our mobile stages feature a 3-sided removable weather wall made of vinyl. Another important point to mention is that solid vinyl is relatively easy to clean. Where grease and dirt can get stuck in the holes of vinyl mesh, solid vinyl is easily cleaned and restored. Our solid vinyl is also flame resistant, a must in our industry especially when dealing with pyrotechnics.
Black vinyl is used as weather protection on our mobile stages
On our largest stage system, the Mountain Truss, ferrari is used as the weather protection covering the side/back walls of the system. Ferrari is a highly durable and stretchable coated fabric that is not subject to deformation or distortion. While our vinyl and scrim panels are typically finished with grommets and fastened with tie-line, the Mountain Truss ferrari is set onto a keder track. Pipe pockets and cables with D-rings are among other finishing methods our scrim shop produces, depending on the application and stage system.
Durable ferrari rigged onto keder track is used as the Mountain Truss’s weather protection material
Custom printed scrims and vinyl panels are a perfect opportunity to brand and advertise right by your main performers. Both vinyl and mesh are printable, with the vinyl producing a slightly higher resolution image (simply due to the mesh consisting of holes). A full CMYK print is inked in 360 dpi with automatic grade pigments designed to resist fading. Printed scrims can pull the whole look of your event together on the stage. For a full, immersive branded experience, decorate all of your staging structures with custom artwork, including your FOH, audio towers, barricade, fencing and more.
Custom printed scrims at Boston Calling
Hot 97 Summer Jam featured custom printed audio wing scrims and vinyl header panels
Beyond our usual staging applications, our scrim shop creates all of our custom made chain bags with a variety of softgood materials, including scrim, vinyl and cordura. The chain bags get their strength from a combination of fabric strength, reinforced webbing and a wood pad placed at the bottom of each bag. For outdoor applications, a mesh chain bag is ideal for allowing rain water to filter through the bag, while a cordura bag is great for theatrical environments. For our mesh chain bags, we use a slightly heavier (16oz) Phifertex fabric that is strong enough to endure the elements. Weather covers for hoists are also manufactured with solid vinyl.
Chain bags made of (L – R) cordura, mesh and vinyl
By having a full scrim shop on location, our team is able to configure and manufacture softgoods of all sizes, shapes and materials. We’d love to hear the creative ways that you have used softgoods at your events – leave us a comment and share your story!
