LONDON – For the first time in Formula 1 history, the luxury of the track was brought to the stage as all 10 F1 racing teams – including Ferrari, Aston Martin, Red Bull and McLaren – came together to celebrate 75 years of the highest class of international racing.
More details from Britannia Row Productions (www.britanniarow.com):
A special live event, F1 75 Live, revealed each team’s brand-new racing car to expectant fans at London’s O2 Arena – selling out in just 45 minutes! Working with creative production company 1826, which is led by CEO and President Joe Sanchez, Britannia Row took on audio duties, blending hi-end corporate and musical expertise.
The evening was introduced by comedian Jack Whitehall, and welcomed performances from Clair Global clients Take That (Skan PA Hire), and Kane Brown, Machine Gun Kelly and Tems (Clair Global).
“1826 are an extremely capable, diverse and international client that we really enjoy working with in touring and special events,” comments Britannia Row Productions Account Executive, Tom Brown.
“For this project, our aim was to adequately cover the room given the extreme weight limitations in the roof – the set design was centered around a 360-degree wall. Our PA had to fit within the given restrictions, keeping every member of the live audience in mind whilst flying equipment within the specified weights.”
Josh Lloyd, Britannia Row’s Head of Engineering, designed a sound system that could tackle the energy needed in a fast-paced, multi-artist concert with the lucidity required for the prominent presenter portions of the show.
For carefully choreographed staging needs, Josh devised an L-Acoustics rig comprising K2 main hangs, KARA II Enclosures, KS28 Subwoofers, and A10 Focus Enclosures for front fill, perfectly covering the venue where audience was mainly seated, with a standing pit for VIP fans. For artist consoles, DiGiCo Quantum 338 control surfaces were chosen, while Yamaha Rivage PM Series handled presenter speeches. Wireless RF systems were a mix of Shure AD Axient Digital Handhelds and Sennheiser 6000/9000 Handhelds, with Shure PSM1000 IEMs used throughout.
F1 75 Live Production Manager, Chris Vaughan, comments: “This was quite a unique experience, not only for us, but for the F1 teams. We had to produce a show that consisted of 10 bespoke car launches and make a night of memorable entertainment. It’s a very similar event style to the BRIT Awards, which Britannia Row works across every year, the main difference being that the ‘star’ of each segment was a car and its drivers.
“I’m a touring production manager and tend to do arena and stadium tours rather than one-off events, and certainly one-off televised events, but I was surrounded by crew who have the expertise and experience to work at this pace. The speed at which we had to deploy this show was incredible. Britannia Row were coordinating a lot of different audio sources, including working with the broadcast truck, making what they did rather critical.”
In closing, 1826’s Joe Sanchez agrees:”1826 always loves to work with our old friends at Brit Row and this was no exception. What could have been very difficult was a super smooth load in and build process, and an exceptional show which looked and sounded amazing, both in person and on TV.”
The event was televised via Sky Sports with support from Clair Global brand and broadcast specialists, Plus 4 Audio.
