Concert

Wembley SSE Arena – Jack Savoretti Singing To Strangers Tour 2019

19/06/2019 by petermccrea

Production AV hotfooted it to Wembley in May to ensure man-of-the-moment Jack Savoretti’s flagship show was backed by the best camera, projection and IMAG screen solution to delight his ever-growing fanbase.

Production AV Kit is ‘IMAGic’ for Jack Savoretti at Wembley

Photo – Projoe Photography and Axletree Design

“We had just a seven-day turnaround to design and deliver the camera and screens package to Savoretti’s tour team, managed by Production Manager Neil Anderson,” explains Pete McCrea, Production AV MD. “As this was the big one – Wembley! – they wanted to ramp up the production and include video to enhance the audience experience. David McIntyre had created a real visual spectacular with the lighting, and they wanted to enhance this by relaying live on-stage footage as well as pre-recorded content to two large IMAG screens.”

Production AV supplied a pair of 11 ft. x 20 ft. (3.35m x 6m) portrait screens for IMAG, with 20,000 lumen Barco HDX W20 Flex Projectors. Switching was achieved using the company’s Blackmagic ATEM 4k PPU. A pair of Sony HDC 1500R Studio Channels on 95x lens at FOH and second camera on stage combined with Agile Arc360 PTZ remote heads and Marshall minicams offered a range of creative directing opportunities. There was a requirement for black and white effects for the first song, as well as the playback of a show opener VT.

Pete McCrea served as Project Manager and Racks Engineer for the show, alongside his colleagues Anna Sadler as Vision Director, and Ste Webster and John Bowdler-Thompson as Camera Operators.

“It’s testament to our talented team at Production AV that we managed to put together such a strong kit package and creative solution in such a short amount of time – I’m very proud of them all and the results were fantastic. Anna, Ste and John made it look really awesome,” says McCrea. “It was brilliant to be working alongside our friends at Liteup, which provided the lighting and rigging, and the great team at audio supplier FE Live. On-site, it really came together as a collaborative production. Thankfully, Wembley is a venue we’re used to working in, so the load-in and delivery of the production was efficient!”

The project followed hot on the heels of another major London job, where Production AV supplied and operated a similar package for the annual Teenage Cancer Trust series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring performances from Take That, Rudimental and The Script.

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Royal Albert Hall – Teenage Cancer Trust Concerts 2019

27/03/2019 by petermccrea

The annual Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) fundraising week of concerts and comedy gigs descended on London’s Royal Albert Hall in March 2019 to help support young people with cancer. TCT engaged video solutions specialist Production AV to supply a full video package consisting of LED screens, cameras and mixing, media servers and technicians for the event, which saw crowd-pleasers including Take That, Rudimental and The Script perform over the week. Each performance was mixed with real-life stories of young people affected by cancer and appeals for donations.

Full Concert Video Production Solution for Teenage Cancer Trust

“There are two key video elements that we were required to deliver: one was to display live on-stage action onto IMAG screens, the other to promote how people can donate money to TCT,” said Pete McCrea, Production AV’s managing director. “To achieve this, we supplied Desay M6 LED panels as a central 8m x 4.5 screen flown above the stage and a large, curved 27.9m x 0.9m banner of LED screens across the back of the main stage, displaying information. This was supported with a camera package for the relay of real-life stories and live performances to the screens.”

Production AV supplied Sony HDC 1500R Studio Channels and Agile ARC360 Lite PTZ Remote Cameras, with footage mixed and directed using the company’s Blackmagic ATEM 4k PPU. McCrea and his team also used their Barco S3-4K for switching and disguise 2x4Pro Media Servers for content playback.

McCrea served as Project Manager, taking the helm with pre-production at Production AV’s new HQ near Cheltenham, load-in at the Royal Albert Hall and on-site set-up.

“Pre-production took the form of creating an artist liaison pack, to ensure we had all the screen pixel maps created and resolutions sorted, and the system design clearly communicated,” McCrea said. “Our team was in contact with the artists’ managers prior to the event to obtain assets, pre-program content and test everything well before we were on-site.

“We utilised disguise’s fantastic ‘designer’ software for building and pre-programming all of the content. In the days before the event, we pre-built the control systems and banner screen, patched and programmed the servers to ensure that the get-in went without a hitch. Then it was consigned to the job by our friends at R Jameson Event Transport.”

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Somerset House – Summer Series 2018

13/10/2018 by petermccrea

Production AV were delighted to be working for long term client Metropolis Music and having the opportunity to provide the video solution for this year’s Summer Series hosted at the spectacular Somerset House which overlooks the River Thames. The eleven-night series promised an outstanding line-up of established and emerging artists such as MGMT, Flight Facilities and Sigrid so we were looking forward to a showcasing of world class talent across many genres of music.

Music Festival 6mm LED Screen Summer Series 2018

The video solution comprised of a 8m x 4.5m LED screen using our stock of Desay M6 Indoor/Outdoor 6.25mm LED Panels which was flown on the rear of the main stage and acted as a backdrop throughout the series. Content was scaled and fed to the screen using our industry standard Barco ImagePRO II Dual and a pair of Nova MCTRL660 Processors were used to manage the data being fed to the screen with one acting as a fail safe hot back up to the main processor. In video control, two Green Hippo Hippotizer Karst V4 Media Servers were provided to store and manage each artists visual content for their performances.

We were really happy with the performance of the LED which worked flawlessly for the eleven days it was in operation and the content control using the Hippo media servers also made it easy to provide a flexible and responsive service to various artists requests throughout the series. It is always a pleasure to work with Metropolis Music especially when their is such a talented and diverse lineup to enjoy and we’d like to thank them for selecting us to provide the video solution for the Summer Series this year. We’re looking forward to the opportunities next year will bring!

Olympia London – Feel Korea Concert 2017

25/08/2017 by petermccrea

Production AV were delighted to working on behalf of SFL by supplying the LED screen solution for the Feel Korea 2017 concert. Earlier on during the day, the Korean Cultural Centre hosted the London Korean Festival 2017. However, for the evening, Feel Korea returned to Olympia London to host the evening concert. With KPOP blasting through SFL’s PA and the crowds cheering for their favourite artists as they appeared on our screens before the show, our onsite technician Sam McCrea realised he was about to experience one of the most vibrant, outlandish performances he’d have ever witnessed.

3.9mm and 6mm LED Screen Concert Festival Solution

For this event, both our DigiLED 3.9mm Indoor LED Panels and our Desay 6.25mm Indoor/Outdoor LED Panels were used to create the video backdrop on stage as well as an elevated screen that relayed the live camera shots throughout the show. The stage backdrop was formed using a mixture of SFL’s and Production AV’s stock of Desay 6.25mm Panels to create a 12.8m x 4.5m screen as the centrepiece of the display which was flanked either side by three 1m x 4.5m columns of LED. This layout enabled clever video design to utilized the separate columns as their own entities to deliver more impressive visuals than a single screen of that size could achieve.In addition to this, 84 modules of DigiLED 3.9mm were connected to form a screen and were flown high above the stage to display the camera feeds.

For the 6.25mm screens, four Nova MCTRL660 Processors were used to manage the data being fed to the screen with two acting as a fail safe hot back up to the main processors. For the 3.9mm screen, two DigiLED Navigator LED Controllers the equivalent processors of the Novastars were used to fed data to the screen employing the same failsafe hot backup system. Whilst SFL supplied their own Barco E2 4K Screen Management System to drive the show, our Barco EC50 Event Controller was provided to increase the simplicity and flexibility of the E2 system.

With the last act finishing on stage, the exuberant crowd were further roused by an encore from all the main acts sporting ‘Feel Korea’ t-shirts as they came out on stage for a final hurrah! With inflated balls thrown around the crowd and confetti cannons shot from the bottom of the stage it created a beautiful end to the show. We would like to thank SFL for selecting us as the LED screen supplier for this event and we look forward to working on many more projects with you in the future!

KNK x Fans ? ?: #narinechalabi

A post shared by Narine Chalabi : Photographer (@narinechalabi) on Jul 13, 2017 at 3:12am PDT

Wembley SSE Arena – Rock Assembly 2017

09/08/2017 by petermccrea

Production AV were feeling excited to be working alongside GLS Lighting to provide the technical solution for the annual Rock Assembly organised by The Transformation Trust’s as an end of term concert at the SSE Wembley Arena. Production AV felt privileged to be involved in providing a day of inspiration and celebration for underprivileged secondary school children and were looking forward to experiencing all the amazing artists such as The Vamps, The Dixon Bros, Sarah Close and Pink Angels here to celebrate their successes and opportunities for the future.

Complete Video Solution Rock Assembly 2017

Our task for the concert was to provide the complete video solution which consisted of projection, LED screen, camera system and video control system. The 6.4m x 3.6m LED screen created using our Desay 6.25mm Indoor/Outdoor LED Panels was flown above the centre of the stage and was used for to display playback throughout the course of the show. On both sides of the stage, a Barco HDX W20 DLP Projector and its projection racking were erected to rear project onto a pair of flown Stumpfl 20ft x 11ft screens. The projection showed the live camera feed from four Sony HXC-100 HD Camera Channels positioned around the venue with the furthest camera from stage having a Canon XJ86X9.3 Box Lens attached to it to maximise the range of focal lengths throughout the show. One camera channel was shoulder mounted and was free to roam around the stage to diversify the visuals and the other two of the camera channels were elevated on the pit floor to provide close up shots of the performers but also rotate to capture the excitement of the groups of school children when they saw themselves on the big screen.

Our Video PPU housed the drivers of the show with the Barco S3-4K Screen Management System comfortably pushing the playback that was gathered and managed using a pair of our Hippotizer AMBA V4 Media Servers to the LED screen as well as the live camera feed to both HDX projectors. Vision mixing was performed using the Panasonic AV-HS400 Vision Mixer and control units for the camera channels were also installed so that engineer settings such as colouration levels so that the camera operators could focus fully on getting the best shots. Production AV were also requested to record the entirety of the show using our Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Studio Pro which was matched to a synced audio feed and then provided on SSD cards following the completion of the event.

With The Vamps closing the afternoon off with a performance to match the frenzied energy of the crowd, Rock Assembly 2017 was over for this year. With 10,000 pupils from across England having the opportunity to explore career options and talk to universities at the Futures Fair before watching the concert in the afternoon, Production AV felt privileged to be a part of this meaningful and benign event. Thank you to GLS Lighting for selecting us as the video supplier for this event, we really appreciate working alongside you and look forward to the next one.

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.

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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

O2 Academy Brixton – Migos & Lil Yachty Music Show

10/05/2017 by petermccrea

Production AV were back out once again and were feeling excited to be providing the LED screen solution for the Migos & Lil Yachty concert on behalf of GLS Lighting hosted at the acclaimed and pulsating O2 Academy Brixton. With tickets selling out almost instantly it wasn’t hard to contemplate why, with both huge Atlanta artists offering ‘hotlanta trap’ high on synths, swagger and strangeness whilst performing at the iconic London venue.

O2 Brixton High Resolution 6mm LED Screen Solution

The LED screen solution provided was actually a combination of two different screens. Using our Desay 6.25mm Indoor/Outdoor LED Panels, we created a 6.4m x 7.2m LED screen that was used as the main backdrop behind the performing artists. The second screens task was to cover the front of the DJ riser that saw the lucky crowd being whipped up into a frenzy by DJ Semtex in preparation for the main act. A pair of Nova MCTRL660 Processors were used to manage the data being fed to the screen with one acting as a fail safe hot back up to the main processor. Using our industry standard Barco ImagePRO II Dual for screen scaling, media content was managed using our newly purchased Hippotizer Dual AMBA V4 Media Servers, allowing visuals to flow seamlessly between the two screens enabling the audience to immerse themselves in the show from all angles of the venue.

By the time the confetti rained down on an electric crowd it was clear that Migos and Lil Yachty have tapped into a fresh style of hip hop and were going to continue their breakneck growth of popularity with Migos recently releasing their new album Culture which went platinum with 1 million sales. From both a technical and performance level the shows went superbly well and we’d like to thank GLS for selecting us as the LED screen supplier for this event and we look forward to continuing this partnership with you throughout the rest of 2017 and beyond.

UK Spring Tour – Seasick Steve

04/05/2017 by petermccrea

Production AV were thrilled to continue our partnership with Opium Arts on behalf of Seasick Steve in providing a complete video solution for his UK Spring Tour that saw him perform to sellout crowds in Manchester, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Leeds. The spring tour followed on from his performance at Wembley Arena in October 2016. Production AV also supplied the touring video solution to the Spring 2015 tour.

Seasick Steve Touring LED Screen and Video Solution

Using our Desay 6.25mm Indoor/Outdoor LED Panels, we provided a 4.8m x 2.7m LED Screen that was flown at each of the venues on the tour – the light weight of the screen meant that it was easy to fit into some of the smaller venues. A pair of Nova MCTRL660 Processors were used to manage the data being fed to the screen with one acting as a fail safe hot back up to the main processor. Scaling for the screen was handled by our Barco ImagePRO Dual II which took signal from our Sony PMW-EX3 HD Video Camera operated at all the shows by technician Pete McCrea.

Our aim was to provide a video solution which could be setup and operated by a single technician. The complete package took up a small footprint in the truck and the screen system and processing was prepared to make sure the rig times were quick – load in to rig complete was under 1 hour.

As always, it is a pleasure to work alongside Steve and the team and we’d like to thank them for the continued faith shown in us as their video supplier. We’re looking forward to seeing what plans Steve has for the rest of 2017!

SSE Wembley Arena – Seasick Steve Concert

14/12/2016 by petermccrea

Production AV were delighted to continue working with Crosstown on behalf of Seasick Steve to provide a full video solution for his biggest ever headline show at the SSE Arena, Wembley. Having previously been the video supplier for Steve in his UK 2015 tour, we were looking forward to being back for his ‘10 Years Out Of The Dog House’ party that was promising great crowd atmosphere and funky guitar work!

6mm LED Screen Concert Video Solution

Using our stock of Desay 6.25mm Indoor/Outdoor LED Panels, we built a 9.6m x 5.3m LED screen that was flown at the rear of the stage. As we were providing the full video solution, two Sony HXC-100 HD Camera Channels and a Sony PMW-EX3 HD Video Camera were positioned around the venue with the aim of taking the production quality to a new height with multiple live feeds running to screen. Control was set up in front of house and the live feed management was run using our Panasonic AV-HS400 Vision Mixer Portable Production Unit (PPU). Two Nova MCTRL660 Processors were used to manage the screen with one being set up to act as a redundant backup to the main processor. Scaling for the screen was handled by a Barco ImagePRO II Dual – industry standard due to it’s great processing.

The concert went exceptionally well, with the screen performing perfectly throughout the evening and our skilled camera operators not missing a moment of the exciting evening. Seasick Steve had an amazing performance, bringing people up on stage to sing with him made it a real party atmosphere and he managed to turn the arena into the most intimate venue. He also didn’t let his eccentric reputation lessen as he turned up to the venue driving a tractor! Production AV filmed Steve’s arrival at the iconic venue for playback on the LED screen, as well as introductions for the support acts.

It has once again been a real pleasure working with Steve and his team and we’d like to take a moment just to thank them for selecting us to provide the video solution for this performance. We hope that we’ll be back in Spring for his next one!