UEP was working for brand and live communication specialist XYZ. The Tring, Hertfordshire based company has worked on many different Nike events in recent years and also with Will Mould, MD of XYZ. However this was the first time they had worked in the Old Sorting Office space which is a regular venue for offsite London Fashion Week shows and other events suiting its semi-industrial and slightly edgy ambience.
The lighting design for the Nike Phenomenal was developed by UEP's James Fickling and Mike Lindsay to encompass an eclectic collection of exhibition and interactive areas including a five-a-side football pitch at the centre, a skate park and various product display areas featuring sneaker customization and other activities.
The main space had about 5m headroom which is reasonable with house trusses in the roof which were installed by Outback Rigging, together with some ground supported elements.
The main pitch was lit with 16 x Robe LEDWash 600 and 12 x Robe ColorSpot 1200 E AT moving lights plus a bunch of conventionals.
Around the venue there was a real mix of lighting fixtures - over 200 other lights were deployed around the venue including SGM 6-packs, ETC Source Four Profiles and PARs, Robe LEDWash 300 washes, Martin MAC 2Ks and iPix BB4s.
The cable management consumed around 2 kilometres of Socapex - which surprisingly added up - and UEP also installed emergency and safety lighting.
Control for lighting around the room was via two Avo Tiger Touches and for the main pitch, a ChamSys MQ100.
A distributed d&b audio system was installed throughout the entire venue, which was covered smoothly and evenly with 24 strategically hung d&b E9s and E3s, chosen for their compactness and clarity. This was all running through a Yamaha LS9 console for the main areas, and those needing independent sound control and mixing were all equipped with small digital consoles.
Twenty channels of Sennheiser G3 radio mics were also part of the audio package.
Mostly background music was run through various parts of the system, but there were also a number presentations taking place on the main pitch through the week including appearances by members of the England World Cup squad. UK rapper Tinie Tempah also made some noise during a memorable guest performance.
UEP flew six 60 inch plasma screens as a seamless 3x3 LED wall in the main space and supplied a 2 x 3 metre 3.9 mm LED wall, both of which received live camera relays of various actions happening around the Phenomenal House, including games played on the main pitch.
The control and vision mixing for cameras and playback video content included two Roland V800 and one V400 HD vision mixers, all from stock.
UEP's Steve Butcher comments, "It looked great and really captured the urban / downtown vibe that the client wanted with James and Mike creating exactly the right lighting ambience. Apart from that - and especially with all the additional resonance - of the World Cup ... it was another fantastic Nike event in which to be involved."
(Jim Evans)
