Some of the world's top bull riders will be at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Saturday and Sunday for the PBR Unleash the Beast tour stop.
The action comes at fans in pockets of eight seconds or less throughout the show, the stage belonging to man and bull.
Jim White and his crew can work fast, too. Well, maybe not that fast, but pretty darn fast.
White is the senior production manager for Professional Bull Riders. The arena belongs to his crew in the days and hours leading up to Saturday's 6:45 p.m. show. The second and championship rounds are Sunday (12:45 p.m.).
It's their job to get the arena prepped. From unloading 750 tons of dirt, to setting up the steel totaling six football fields in length, to wiring an elaborate electronics production, there's a lot that goes into the setup.
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White took some time to share how it all comes together.
Thursday: White's staff of 22 people flew to Des Moines, Iowa, site of the last PBR show. That's where seven 53-foot semitrucks loaded with TV and arena equipment were waiting. Two TV production trucks were already in Lincoln going to work.
8 a.m. Friday: White and his staff, with the help of about 30 Pinnacle Bank Arena stagehands, start unloading the semis. They begin with the television/audio gear, flying out video boards, lighting and audio. The process takes about four hours.
11 a.m. Friday: The "dirt guy" starts calling. He's checking to make sure everything is on schedule.
1 p.m. Friday: Between 40 to 44 truckloads of dirt are placed on the PBA floor. The dirt will sit about 10 inches deep near the bucking chutes — where 90-95% of the action takes place — and about 8 inches toward the back end of the main floor.
The dirt is sourced out through a vendor, and when the show is over Sunday, it's picked up and will be reused elsewhere.
And, yes, the PBR gets very serious about its dirt.
"You have to get the right viscosity for that dirt for the bulls because if the dirt is too hard, the bulls have the advantage over the cowboy," White said. "If it's too soft, the cowboy has the advantage over the bull. So it has to be just right."
Tom Lorenz, Pinnacle Bank Arena general manager, said his people will take steps to make sure that PBA isn't turning into a dust storm.
"We pressurize the building so that any dust created is forced down and out toward the bottom as opposed to sucking it up and venting it through the roof," he said. "Rodeo is not very bad. It's not like Monster Jam where the tires throw the dirt a little higher."
Once the dirt is in place, the crew starts bringing in steel for the bucking chutes, the pens, the partial back pens.
"That usually ends at about 10 p.m.," said White, who has been in his position with PBR for 16 years.
Saturday morning: This is where White's TV staffers take the floor to enhance the show visuals. They'll run 5 to 6 miles of fiber optics, most of it running under the dirt. They'll hang the ribbon boards.
"By 3 o'clock we can technically do a show," White said.
Saturday afternoon: At this point, the PBR production members are in polishing mode. They're making sure signs are clean, making sure the TV pixels are working correctly. The small details.
"And then we have a show," White said.
6:45 p.m. Saturday: The first round will take place. White and his staff can catch their breath, but having "flow" is critical. If there is no flow, then there is no break.
"It's like I tell my production crew, if we did everything right on load-in day and pre-show, then we basically sit back and enjoy the show, because everything flows, everything's connected, everything works," White said. "But if somebody didn't do their job, didn't plug something in right … nobody on TV and in the stands notices, but if we're running around like crazy during a show, we didn't do our job on load-in day or pre-show.
"The best thing for us is when that show starts and everything flows."
Sunday afternoon: Once a champion is crowned, White's team is back on the move. By noon Monday, everything will have been removed, dirt and all.
"To somebody just sitting in the stands, it looks like chaos," White said of watching his team go to work. "But if you're on the floor and you understand how the trucks are loaded, how they're unloaded, it's very well-organized. We fly what probably most average rock shows fly, we do it in 4½ hours, they take eight to 10, because we've done it so many times, we've got it down to a science."
Later in the week, they'll head to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the next show.