Bristol Music

Bristol Harbourside – Grillstock 2017 BBQ and Music Festival

24/07/2017 by petermccrea

Having been lucky enough to be requested by Utopium Lighting to provide the LED screen solution for Grillstock 2016, we were looking forward to being further involved in the production of Grillstock. For 2017 we expanded our services to the festival, providing the screen, camera system and livestream capabilities feed. Grillstock is one of the events we most look forward to on the work calendar with the promise of good weather, fantastic food and a variety of artists ranging from The Darkness to the Hot 8 Brass Band and even a trip down memory lane with Goldie Lookin Chain performing!

Complete Video Solution for Grillstock 2017

The load in was completed on the Friday before the weekend event with the video centrepiece being a 6.4m x 3.6m LED screen built using our Desay 6.25mm Indoor/Outdoor LED Panels that was flown from four rigging points at the rear of the stage to provide a backdrop. Some artists brought their own content which was scaled and fed to the screen using our Barco ImagePRO II Dual and played out using our Hippotizer AMBA V4 Media Servers. For much of the event however, the screen displayed live camera feed from our system of Sony HXC-100 Camera Channels with one camera channel at FOH and the other being used on a dolly at the front of stage as well as being handheld to diversify the types of shots achieved. In addition to this, onstage remotely controlled Sony PMW-EX3 HD Video Cameras were provided and it gave us the freedom to utilise numerous angles without being an intrusion to the acts on stage.

Our control centre was built to the side of stage left and from there, our PPU built around the Panasonic AV-HS400 Vision Mixer was used to mix the show as well as engineer camera settings such as colouration levels so that the camera operators could focus fully on getting the best shots. Production AV were also instructed to record the event and using our Blackmagic Designs HyperDeck Studio Pro and a synced audio feed, each act was separately recorded, archived and provided to Grillstock on an SSD card following the completion of the event. In addition to this, Grillstock were livestreaming several of the acts to Facebook and a video and audio feed was provided by Production AV to achieve this. Elsewhere on site, Production AV also provided screens and a camera solution to the Weber Stand using two Panasonic 42″ TH-42LF8 Full HD LCD Panels that were mounted to the set and displayed the mouth watering creations our Sony PMW-EX3 HD Video Camera captured throughout the weekend on the Weber BBQ range.

With The Darkness ending the festival with ‘I Believe In a Thing Called Love’ much to the crowds appreciation, Production AV began the packdown and in an hour and half all our kit was in the back of the truck. It is always a pleasure working with Utopium and we’d like to thank them for selecting us to provide the video solution to both Grillstock 2017 but also to the Summer Series held the week before. We are looking forward to continuing this relationship with Utopium and providing more video solutions for Grillstock and other events throughout the year.

A post shared by Sam (@sam_mcconnochie) on Jul 1, 2017 at 2:30pm PDT

Canons Marsh Ampitheatre – Bristol Sounds Summer Series 2017

18/07/2017 by petermccrea

Production AV felt like summer had truly arrived as we were delighted to be providing the LED screen solution for the Bristol Sounds Summer Series on behalf of Utopium. We were looking forward to experiencing some of the big names in music with this years festival featuring Bonobo, Manic Street Preachers, Craig David and Hacienda Classical. Whatever your taste in music, there was bound to be something to enjoy across the four nights of live music.

Bristol Sounds Music Festival LED Screen Solution

Using our stock of Desay 6.25mm Indoor/Outdoor LED Panels, we brought 36sqm of LED that was hung at the rear of the stage as a backdrop. For Bonobo’s act, Production AV were able to produce a smart and cost effective design by splitting the screen into five drops spread across the rear of stage creating a unique and punchy effect. For Craig David, the screen was re-rigged into a more standardised letterbox shape of 8m x 4.5m. The rest of the equipment provided followed our usual LED screen solution with the screen content was scaled used our industry standard Barco ImagePRO II Dual. Two Nova MCTRL660 Processors were used to comfortably manage the data despite being split across five separate screens with one processor acting as a fail safe hot back up to the main processor.

Once Craig David had finished up his set and evening to the roar of approval from the crowds, Production AV were quick to de-rig the screen however our desire for more, quality festivals to be involved in did not need to be heeded for long as we were looking forward to continuing to work with Utopium at Grillstock 2017 the following week. We’d like to thank Utopium for our continued involvement in the Bristol music scene and are looking forward to upcoming events this summer and beyond.

Photo credits: Ania Shrimpton

Take us back to this time last week when @si_bonobo Bonobo? brought the vibes and you brought the party! ???? by @tourlifehq #tourlife #bristol #bonobo #livemusic #bristolsounds

A post shared by Bristol Sounds (@bristolsounds) on Jun 28, 2017 at 9:53am PDT

Bristol Harbourside – Grillstock 2016

11/08/2016 by petermccrea

Production AV were delighted to be selected to provide the LED screen for the main stage at Grillstock 2016 by Utopium. It is safe to say we were very much looking forward to this event with the promise of sunshine, good music and a variety of delicious meats to consume! Being hosted at the Bristol Harbourside meant that it was a only a quick drive down and we were happy to be involved in a such a local but fun event.

Grillstock Festival 6mm LED Screen Solution

Loading in the day before the event began, using our Desay 6.25mm LED Panels we built a 6.4m x 3.4m screen at the back of the main stage. The screen was flown on a motorised truss system and was rigged quickly which allowed other preparations for the stage go unhindered. Set up on stage right were two Nova MCTRL660 Processors that were used to manage the screen with one being set up to act as a backup to the main processor. Alongside the Novastars was an ImagePRO II Dual which was used to feed content to the screen. Running a 100M fibre cable from the ImagePRO to control meant that Olie Goulding our onsite technician could position himself at front of house. This was important as he also was operating the Green Hippo Grasshopper Media Server which meant he could add layers and effects over the top of the content being fed to screen which allowed him to quickly match the screen content to the style of lighting the LD had decided on.

More than 14,000 people attended the BBQ-themed festival, with highlights including The Fratellis, The Stranglers, Cuban Brothers and a King of the Grill barbeque showdown. When the final band artist had performed, Production AV were there and ready to take down the screen with the same swiftness they had put it up. Using the onsite telehandler, we were able to fork down boxes of LED modules directly from front of stage onto the floor and load the truck from there. Having video kit off stage meant that a lot of space was freed up and Utopium were able to bring their lighting truss down and work with ease on pulling their kit out too.

A massive thank you to Utopium for selecting us as screen supplier for this event. It is always a pleasure working in your company. We hope to be back next year for more BBQ goodness!