I have Intellistage, as well as Sellner and Secoa decking. I do touring shows so keep in mind I'm not an install type guy. I was very impressed when I got the Intellistage demo. Depending on how much you want to get, they will
send you to a local company that has it or ship you a few pieces.
I had a 4'x4'
platform @ 40" height, unsupported on all 4 sides by a wall or any other decks. I had 2 people standing on it, then jumping, and although it shifted slightly (oy....tile floor) it was very sturdy.
I then put it through the ultimate test and had a 300lb burly
stagehand individual friend of mine jump up and down like a savage beast in army boots at a deathcore concert. Suffice it to say there was some bending in the thin metal understructure, as well as noticeable strain in parts of the metal. Take from that what you'd like....
The other disadvantage to it was that if you decide to change the height of the
stage (which you may not if its for an install) basically to get a 40" height you have to add like a 24" piece of understructure to a 16" piece of understructure,
etc. All of these connecting parts are tiny....Hard to get together, and a pain in the ass to keep dropping pieces,
etc.
However, once the understructure was assembled to longer sections (which can always be done in the shop....it still collapses in the longer sections), it was a BREEZE to setup. The little video they have online showing the guy setup the 20'x20'
stage by himself in like 10 minutes isnt too far off.
The platforms are about 1-1.5" thick.... much thinner than the standard 8x4 4" decks that most rental shops have. Intellistage has some kind of coffin-lock-like variant, that seems to hold up a
bit better than the typical coffinlock BS that plagues anyone who's owned sellner/secoa/staging dimensions/
etc for more than a few years. When they don't align, OY VEY kiss your afternoon goodbye.
I was very tempted to sell my secoa/sellner and get the new intellistage. Hell, I could have sold all my 10y/o sellner/secoa, bought all brand new intellistage, then have gone on like a cruise or something (including alchohol!) with the extra money.
But I didn't. I do dance shows, and couldnt risk the
stage collapsing when their are 100 people on
stage doing the latest J-KWON or KANYE or whatever step routine that's the latest rage. Even if it was a complete improbability having 100x 300lb guys jumping up and down like the Hot Now sign at Krispy Kreme just came on, I decided to
cover my ass. I use the intellistage for band risers,
speaker platforms,
etc, but not as a main
stage for any of my dance shows.
All in all, I love the intellistage. Very unique, and aside from the ***hole comments you know some genius stagehands going to make ("hey man, where'd you find this stuff, toys r us?"...."I didn't know fisher price was in the staging market!"
etc...), people are very much intrigued by it.
I would definitely check it out.
