PSP HELPS DELIVER A CRACKING CHRISTMAS
The festive period saw AV solutions specialist PSP service two very different Christmas events in Birmingham, the UK’s second biggest city. Despite being very different in content, however, they were united in the large scale, high production values that PSP were required to deliver.
Hall 3 at Birmingham’s International Convention Centre saw large format print business SP Group hold its annual Christmas party, with 800 attendees enjoying a high quality, event featuring a performance by classical girl band Escala, followed by after-dinner entertainment comprising a set by psychological illusionist Derren Brown and a game show marathon hosted by television presenter Vernon Kay.
The production required a technical crew of more than 50, the set consisting of an LED starcloth backdrop, with LED battens and strips running video effects. Animated graphics were projected on to a central 9.1m wide front projection screen by two Christie 20K Roadster projectors, with content from a Grass Valley Turbo iDDR.
Two further 7.3m wide screens were flown each side of the set, showing live camera footage, graphics and video playback. Projection for these was via Barco CLM R10 projectors.
A four camera PPU included a jimmy jib, creating a television-style feel for the event, which perfectly fitted the style of presentation by all three acts. Sound reinforcement came via d&b Q7s and Q-SUBs, with delay speakers located further back from the stage.
Once the main entertainment was over, partygoers were encouraged to dance into the small hours courtesy of Vernon Kay spinning the decks from a custom designed DJ and lighting system. A standalone Funktion One PA system provided the sound, with lighting from Martin Professional MAC 700’s, 250 Entours and LED fixtures.
The same month, the city’s National Exhibition Centre (NEC) saw the return of a unique annual charity event hosted by legendary Brummie comedian Jasper Carrott,
Carrott’s Christmas Cracker is a unique live show, with the bill under wraps until the artists actually appear on stage. Past Crackers have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charities such as NSPCC, Turning Point and Birmingham Children’s Hospital and have featured top stars including Sir Cliff Richard, Robert Plant, Bill Bailey, Roger Daltrey, Robin Gibb, Chris De Burgh and Riverdance.
This year the principal benefiting charity for 2008 was Sunfield, specialising in the care of children with severe and complex learning needs. Over £200,000 was raised, thanks to an eclectic line-up of music and comedy which featured, amongst others, jazz singer Elkie Brooks, Escala, UB40, Rick Wakeman, Bobby Davro, Roy Wood and a (largely) Brummie ‘supergroup’ comprising Wakeman, Toyah Wilcox, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, ELO’s Bev Bevan and 1960s teen idol Dave Berry.
PSP supplied projection and cameras, with two 7.3m wide truss screens flown each side of the stage, projection by Christie 20k Roadster projectors and a six camera PPU for all the live camera work.
Backstage six 60” plasma screens provided the hospitality areas with a live relay of the event, while PSP also provided all technical crew to rig and operate the event.
“The jobs were challenging in that both expected the highest possible production values and we had to work within very tight timescales,” says PSP Director Ian Willcox. “But delivering high quality is what PSP is all about. Knowing that 800 SP Group employees enjoyed a Christmas party they would remember for many years and that the Christmas Cracker raised £200,000 for charity makes for a tremendous feeling of a job well done.”
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