Barclays Presents British Summer Time

BARCLAYCARD PRESENTS BRITISH SUMMER TIME

Certainly one of the more sophisticated events on our schedule this year, TPi headed to Hyde Park for British Summer Time to meet the crew behind the annual event – all to the smooth stylings of Lionel Richie and Stevie Wonder. TPi reports…

Following a weekend traipsing around the arid festival lands of Glastonbury 2019, Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time (BST) was a welcome reprieve for the TPi team. As has become something of an annual tradition, we joined some of the crew and suppliers for a mid-summer catch up.

Heading backstage of the iconic tree-clad main stage, TPi caught-up with Production Director Mark Ward. Founder of Proper Productions, Ward and his team – consisting of Tyler Cole-Holmes and Harry Ford – have been involved in BST for the past seven years. From the comfort of his office, he walked us through his history with the event.

“I was originally brought in by Dan Craig and Jim King from LoudSound,” recalled Ward. “We already knew each other from a number of shows and worked really well together. They also knew I had a bit of history with the site, having run Party in the Park for a number of years.” Having steered the production for many years, Ward has remained loyal to a selection of suppliers, including Video Design, PRG, Capital Sound, Stage Miracles, Production House, John Henry’s, Star Hire and Eat to the Beat.

The PM explained how this continued deployment of the same key suppliers all came down to the world-class crew behind each company involved. “Nobody gets carried,” he commented. “We have an amazing crew and I think it’s testament to the people we brought in from day one, that there hasn’t been a change in supplier for the past seven years.”

Ward and the BST crew have overseen some ambitious productions over the years. His secret, he claims, is surrounding himself with world-class pros. “When it comes to the visual teams, both PRG and Video Design give us the ability to say ‘yes’ to most incoming productions,” he commented.

The Video Design team, led by Richard Corns, once again deployed the iconic curved screen on the festival’s main stage. “The 950 sq metres of WinVision 8HD that we installed across the full panorama of the main stage and wings was fed by a very carefully chosen HD camera and disguise gx 2 package,” he said. “From Barbra Streisand, to Celine Dion, or Florence + the Machine, some artists have very distinct styles. These are not the sort of shows for an ever-hungry camera. It might sound counterintuitive, but through that huge panorama of LED the music is given space to speak for itself. To mangle a cliché, less is more, more or less.”

That BST screen might remain the largestcontiguous installation of LED video at any event in Europe, but there was another 135 sq metres spread throughout the BST site by Video Design for relay screens and the smaller Barclaycard Stage. “That’s an aspect of working Barclaycard’s BST we really enjoy,” added Video Design’s Alex Leinster. “When the big acts have played their last note and everyone has gone home, all that hardware is put to good use for the people of the city through the weekdays between BST weekends – and frequently free of charge.” Alongside Video Design, PRG provided lighting and rigging services.

“We have an amazing crew and I think it’s testament to the people we brought in from day one, that there hasn’t been a change in supplier for the last seven years.”

Amongst the company’s offerings were PRG Best Boy HPs, Icon Edges, Vari-Lite VL3500 Washes, GLP impression X4 Bars, SGM P-5s and Solaris Flares. Also on site were PRG GroundControl Best Boy followspots and PRG GroundControl Longthrow followspots.

“Our take on lighting is to give incoming productions the best quality rig,” explained Ward. “A lot of the acts we have performing at BST are not necessary touring and therefore are not travelling with a great deal of productions. Essentially, we want to give both artists and theircreative teams enough tools to put on the show they want.”

On the audio front, Capital Sound deployed its Martin Audio MLA multicellular loudspeaker array technology, which proved under test conditions its unique ability to meet required propagation thresholds, both inside the bowl and beyond the perimeter.

Monitored by acoustics consultants Vanguardia, MLA, optimised using Martin Audio’s proprietary advanced DISPLAY software, was equal to a wide range of performance over the two weekends.

Capital Sound Account Manager Martin Connolly commented that Barbra Streisand had given the system a good workout, and the vocal clarity from both her and Josh Groban as well as Celine Dion, had added a new dimension to the event – as had Robbie Williams and Keane, who brought British Summer Time to a spectacular close on the final Sunday. The Great Oak main stage was equipped with two hangs of 16 MLA and a single MLD Downfill per side, with 13 MLA and an MLD Downfill for the sidehangs. The sub array comprised 32 MLX in the broadside cardioid design (21 front facing, 11 rear facing). With 12 MLA Compact serving as front fills, all MLA components were running on the same network.

Out in the field, the main 10 delay towers comprised seven MLA and a single MLD Downfill, supported by 12 MLX subs, while delay positions 10 and 11 deployed eight MLA Compacts. One slight change this year, confirmed by Martin Connolly, was that delay position nine was bolstered with the addition of two further MLA elements in respect of the depth that the site now runs to, enveloping those at the rear of the field.

Martin Audio systems were also provided elsewhere. On the Barclaycard Stage (stage two), eight MLA Compacts were flown on each side with 14 WS218X subs in a spaced and recessed cardioid configuration, with four Martin Audio DD12 providing front fill sound, while two MLA Compacts were provided as outfills on Stage Left.

Ward supported Martin Connolly’s assessment that both this year’s event and the entire seven-year programme had been an unqualified audio success. “We’ve relied on the talents of Capital Sound and its expert use of Martin Audio’s MLA PA rig since 2013 when BST began,” he confirmed, “This year was no exception. With a few tweaks to the system layout and drive mechanics since 2018, all sound level thresholds, both on and off-site, were once again comfortably met at this notoriously difficult Hyde Park location. Consequently, the paying public, the Royal Parks team, incoming engineers and the local authority were once again very pleased with how the show’s audio team and the audio system delivered.” The audio team comprised Crew Chief, Al Woods, FOH Engineer, Chris Whybrow and System Engineer, Toby Donovan. “Our seven-year relationship with BST shows that you don’t need to compromise the quality of audio for the audience in order to meet exacting off-site SPL limits,” concluded Martin Audio’s Managing Director, Dom Harter.

“We are grateful to the whole technical team who have worked tirelessly over the years to deliver our signature sound, consistency and control to audiences across the whole site. We hope it will continue for many more years to come.”

TPi Photos: Martin Audio www.bst-hydepark.com www.properproductions.org http://www.loudsound.net/ www.video-design.co.uk www.capital-sound.co.uk www.prg.com/uk/en www.stagemiracles.com www.gigcatering.com www.johnhenrys.com