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LIONEL RICHIE TPi caught up with Lionel Richie’s All the Hits tour at The 1st Central County Ground to meet the crew who created the infrastructure for the singer’s loyal fans.
With a successful career that spans decades, Lionel Richie is one of the world’s most renowned artists on the planet with hits such as All Night Long, Endless Love, and Hello, recognised by every generation. Richie’s popularity in the UK has risen since his 2015 Glastonbury appearance and this June, he made his return to the UK with his 13-date All the Hits tour. The tour’s technical production was specified by Richie’s management, bringing in SSE to supply the PA, Neg Earth for lighting and VER for screens. TPi visited The 1st Central County Ground, home of Sussex County Cricket Club - a factor which, during the season, added to the usual logistical challenges. Marshall Arts’ Production Coordinator for the tour, Anna Parry said: “Marshall Arts has amassed a lot of experience taking artists to sporting venues. The venues love it as it generates revenue and connects them with a wider local audience. From our side it’s great to expose the artists to new audiences they haven’t played to before.” But of course these venues weren’t designed to host concerts, which gave the production a logistical challenge that fell outside of the tech production and into the site elements. Thankfully Marshall Arts had already worked with the venue back in 2011 and has developed the knowledge how to turn a cricket ground into a concert venue in a very short period of time.
“This particular venue was selected as it’s such a lovely place with great facilities and they were keen to host concerts,” said Parry. “Concerts held at Hove Cricket Ground are a great experience for fans as the place still feels intimate despite having 18,000 people here. The whole surrounding residential area also got involved as they watch and sing from their balconies - it adds to the fantastic atmosphere of the event.” Despite the local support, working in a residential areas did create limitations that the production had to work around. These included working curfews, which had a major effect on work. This only allowed Marshall Arts to load in or out at certain times with all lighting checks having to be completed before a set time in the evening. Similarly sound checks could only be done on the day and had a tight, strict schedule to pull it off. Parry was appointed the role of Production Coordinator at Marshall Arts having worked with and learned from the company’s vastly experienced Michael Stewart. “Marshall Arts organised many elements of the concert, including the stage, seating, infrastructure, track-way and disabled platforms,” Parry explained. “We had a lot of meetings and discussions so we could plan for the build and ensure that we finished the set up in the strict time frame. This has been a great team effort from all of the brilliant suppliers we’ve worked with on this tour.” 12
