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Managing the PA Process
Diversity may be the survival plan adopted by most modern PA rental houses, but managing the process, and managing it well, is another matter. Five significantly different shows staged at the tail end of September - all managed by the same company - are a typical example; an example where a huge variety of diverse equipment, experienced personnel, and careful planning achieved a discrete result.
On 16th September Entente Cordial staged at Wembley sought to underline the durability of a relationship between Britain and France that has weathered two World Wars, a general with a big ego, and the occasional dispute over cheese. Who better then than the unlikely pairing of Lulu with Jane Birkin (curiously both British, though one decidedly Francophone) and the less controversial Liberty X and Blue; et plus ça change?
MTV Icons recorded a tribute to The Cure at Billingsgate the very next day (no smoked fish puns intended); bands from the famous blink-182 and The Deftones, to the less well known AFI and the Razorlight queued up to pay homage to their musical roots.
Six days later saw some of the world’s leading guitarists, not least Dave Gilmour, Joe Walsh, and many more, pay their respects to Fender in general and the Stratocaster in particular, at a special Nordoof Robbins Foundation charity event, again at Wembley Arena.
Add to this list the BBC’s One Big Weekend and a Disney Kids Award show at The Royal Albert Hall during the same time frame and you have to admit that’s a about as an eclectic rosta of presentations as you could wish for.
Engineers of the stature of Chris ‘Privet’ Hedge and Derrik Zieba steered the mix, quality PA’s included V-dosc and EV X-line line arrays, while desks from Midas, Digico and Yamaha provided the necessary finesse of control.
Who knitted this unlikely thatch together? Britannia Row Productions. “And all passed off without a single panic call,” said Britrow’s Roly Oliver. “Not bad considering we were loading out tours for Bryan Adams, The Music and Louis Miguel at the same time; plus multiple small systems (a flurry of Turbosound 440 based PA’s with Yamaha DM2000 and Midas Vienna desks) for Julia McDonald, Scott Henshall, Buodica, Diesal and Donna Karan during London Fashion Week.
“The next three months looks equally manic with the Travel Awards, promo’s by Natasha Bedingfield, Duran Duran and Robbie Williams, and several major tours.”
5th October 2004
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