Saturday 8th June 2013 saw Harriet and Lucinda Bond, daughters of Peter Bond, Founder of Soho House, celebrate their 21st and 18th birthdays. SW19 Productions made it a party to remember.
Having been recommended by Steve Martin, tour manager for JLS, to supply production for the birthday parties of Harriet and Lucinda Bond, Mick Newton, a friend and colleague of Peter Bond, called SW19 Productions to ask us to organise the stage production element for the event near Cheltenham.
Our crack SW19 team of Charles Ellery and Lisa Santos swung into action to fulfill the rider requirements for the event and supplying the high-end finish for the client and the band.
Access to the site was tricky, with very narrow lanes and low trees along the driveway, and a marquee ‘floating’ eight feet above the ground at one end and a flowerbed and dry stone wall the other, so we put a plan in place that involved a four leg ground support for lighting and video.
The screen supplied by Steve Greetham at XL Video was a large 5m x 2.5m lightweight Pixeled F15 screen to show the intro video, stills content and generic Hippo Critter content which had been produced from scratch by Maria Jenkins the Critter tech. The lighting package from Steve Finch at Siyan included Fresnels for front light, Sunstrips, Sharpys and 600 washes to create a very full look for the band. Paul Timmins at Capital Sound supplied the audio elements of LS9 control each end, Meyer 600HP subs and Meyer Mina PA and Meyer UM-1P wedges, with a complement of Sennheiser in ears and Shure radio mics for the boys.
“We arrived on site on Friday the 7th and loaded in from midday,” says Charles. “The kit had been collected that morning in two 26 ton trucks from Capital, Siyan and XL Video. Eight local crew from Rock City tipped and took the kit through to the back garden, only to see the venue perched at the top of the hill 100 metres away. Without batting an eyelid they pushed the gear up the steep slope and into the venue and we got on with the rig.
“At 8pm, we were all in place and tested, the video intro Maria had produced was run through with Mick Newton and we finalised the plan for the start of the show. Mike MacDonald, the Lighting Designer stayed on site until 2am programming a huge number of looks for the pre-arranged set list. Steve Bunting and Kursten Smith, at front of house and monitors respectively, checked the audio systems and we knew we were in good shape for the show.”
Saturday dawned sunny and warm, and everyone headed down to site at lunchtime for a further test to make sure all was well with all systems.
Guests started arriving from 7pm and with the Kabuki in place, which was designed to look like the end wall of the marquee, no one had a clue there was a full stage rig for JLS immediately behind.
“We silently sound checked the band during dinner behind the Kabuki and, once the speeches were over and Peter Bond had said the magic words of ‘Let the Party Begin’, the Kabuki dropped, and the crowd gasped in amazement to see the set up,” recalls Charles. “The intro video kicked in and seconds later the young crowd were running to the dance floor to get closer to JLS, as they started their performance with ‘She makes me Wanna’.
“Nine songs later, JLS left the crowd wanting more, and we transferred into the DJ system which then ran through until 5am.”
Steve Martin adds, “This was by far the best private event we have done over five years and the best looking corporate ever.”
After it was over, the team rested until 9am, and reconvened on site from 10am to pack down and load out, leaving site at midday to return a beautiful corner of Gloucestershire to peace and quiet.
Charles Ellery 