Staged at the Freemason's Hall in Covent Garden, the full technical and creative production was delivered by Maestra London, led by Justin Hammond, production designer Jenny Woollard, project & event manager Aisha Tarayan and technical managers Adam Jones and Edwin Higgins, working closely with event designer Jason Morais from Warner Music, turning his vision into a reality.
The scope of Maestra London's work at Freemason's Hall included supplying all the technical infrastructure - set, lighting, rigging, audio and all the scenics and décor - including carpeting, furniture, drapage and soft-goods, co-ordinating the colours, styles and all the aesthetics to create five dynamically different spaces.
Making an immediate impression - on approach or walk-in - to an environment is paramount to how guests perceive and enjoy their time there, and this year the Maestra team excelled with the rigging of an enormous 2.8m diameter mirror ball in the entranceway.
Lit with five Robe Pointe moving lights, this illuminated all the surrounding streets with piercingly bright fragmented light, showering the pavements, roads and surrounding buildings.
Several versions of the Warner Music 'lozenge' logo were designed and fabricated for the event and hung at strategic points around the venue to provide subtle brand underscoring.
Moving lights installed throughout the venue were primarily Robes - a mix of Pointes, Robin 600E Washes, and LEDBeam 100s - around 52 in total and these plus Martin Atomic strobes were controlled via a ChamSys MQ100 control desk with Playback and Executive Wings.
Eight Star Beam lasers, also controlled via the MQ100, were part of Masetra's specification and also helped create WOW factors in the main room.
A hundred and fifty Core ColourPoint wireless battery powered LED uplighters from Wireless Lighting were scattered liberally throughout each area and the connecting walkways and paths, spread out everywhere, doing what they do best, which is washing walls, coves, ceiling details and highlighting other features.
The main room dancefloor was covered in a J&C Joel gloss vinyl surface with additional embossed detail and the DJ booth was clad with gold-sprayed 3D décor tiles.
Maestra specified d&b sound systems for all the spaces. In the Main Room two arrays of Y8s and Y12s combined (two of each speaker per side) were installed, powered by D20 amps and with a DiGiCo SD10 / 24 console for the FOH mix and another SD10 full size running the d&b M4 monitors and IEMs onstage, utilised for various DJs and a performance by singer and rising star Anne-Marie.
The subs were ground stacked B2s and Y-SUBS and a selection of mics included a Sennheiser wireless system as part of the audio package.
The bars were both fitted with d&b T10 systems chosen for their compact size, power and excellent quality, again driven by D20s.
(Jim Evans)
