Broadcast live on BBC One and Two and presented by Jonathan Ross and Graham Norton, the Wembley show featured performances by Madonna, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Razorlight, Snow Patrol, Keane, Corrine Bailey Rae, Genesis, Duran Duran, Paolo Nutini and many more.
Co-ordinating all the video elements between XL and the various event designers, producers and others involved in screen content, was screen producer Chris Saunders.
Although XL already had also a large video system installed at Wembley for the Princess Diana Tribute concert just six days before Live Earth, this all had to be removed in the meantime. Some kit from that system was then re-installed for Live Earth along with several new and different video elements.
Flanking both sides of Stageco's stage were two IMAG screens made up from 9 by 7 modules of Lighthouse R16 LED. Onstage, across the centre at the back, XL supplied a 74 panel wide by four-panel high strip of Barco I-12 LED.
Live Earth London's stage set was designed by Ray Winkler of Stufish (Mark Fisher's studio) and part of this involved a stack of hacked and distorted oil drums, inset with Saco LED fixtures. These were fed video inputs from XL's playback system.
This consisted of 4 HD Doremi hard drives controlled by a Barco Events Manager that was programmed by Richard Turner with material supplied by the Live Earth organisation HQ in New York. They also supplied a machine to beam text messaging, slogans, facts/figures and calls to action across the onstage banner screen that was hooked into the XL system.
IMAG video director Blue Leach cut the live screen mix using a GV Kayak HD mixer/switcher. Feeds of five BBC cameras along with six live satellite feeds from around the world were also available on the XL mixer. The BBC's live broadcast mix was directed by Richard Valentine.
XL used an HD EVS to record and playback the incoming international satellite feeds, which was also the playback device for all VT's in the venue, as well as being used to roll the Madonna playback to time code.
Leach had also directed the screen camera mix for the previous week's high profile Diana Tribute concert. Lighting for the Live Earth London show was designed by Patrick Woodroffe and Mark Kenyon with equipment supplied by PRG.
(Jim Evans)
