Tucked down a quiet street in Cambridge’s Aotearoa Park industrial area, there’s no neon sign or fanfare. But inside Fiasco’s workshop, road cases are being built that will soon roll across the stages of the world’s biggest music tours, packed with the gear of legends.
Universal Studios, Disney, Red Hot Chili Peppers. Linkin Park. Fox Sports’ Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup broadcast. These are just some of the names trusting the equipment designed and engineered right here in Cambridge.
“Even though we get to live and breathe what we do, it’s humbling that world-renowned acts trust what we create,” says Joe Bradford, Fiasco’s CEO. “It’s a quiet pride, knowing global quality can start right here in our community.”
Born from lived experience, several of Fiasco’s staff, including co-founders Matt Waterhouse and Joe Bradford did time on the road, working touring productions and imagined a more systemic approach to how expensive equipment was transported.
At inception in 2013, it was a New Zealand-focused side hustle, and then in 2016 the decision was made to take on the USA market. Matt, an engineer who led an automation department for Cirque du Soleil, brought the precision. Joe, an event manager with a global mindset, brought the hustle. Together, they set out to solve a real problem for touring professionals everywhere.
Fiasco designs and manufactures road cases, the often overlooked backbone of live event production. Their modular system means cases stack and pack together like Tetris blocks, saving touring crews precious time on load-ins and load-outs.
In an industry slow to innovate, Fiasco has made efficiency their competitive edge. Around 80% of their sales go to the United States, with cases shipping to productions internationally, all conceived in Cambridge, with a USA workshop in Los Angeles.
“Cambridge is our creative hub, where design, marketing, and leadership thrive,” says Joe. “Cambridge’s calm gives us clarity, while technology ensures we deliver seamlessly
for our global customers.”
That calm was tested abruptly in 2020. When the live events industry collapsed overnight, Fiasco redesigned their entire product line in under two weeks to manufacture Work From Home Desks. Tens of thousands of those desks are now in use worldwide. “When the pandemic hit and live events vanished overnight, our ‘the show must go on’ attitude kicked into full gear,” says Joe. “Adapting quickly is part of Fiasco’s DNA.”
The next chapter for the company is already in motion. A second USA workshop is set to open within the year to better service East Coast customers - proof, as Joe puts it, that world-class ideas come from the standards you set and the way you work, not geography.
