First article of a three-part series on half production at festivals: the artist travels with the floor, the console and whatever makes the show recognisable, while the roof, the PA and the LED wall come from the festival’s supplier. Why the advance becomes half the show, the real savings and the hidden costs (above all the unpaid hours spent adapting the show file to a different rig every night), and how to get through a forty-minute changeover. Half production costs less, but it doesn’t come cheap.
