Brit Row supports students at BRIT Awards
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Airing on ITV to 3.3m viewers, and watched by thousands in the live audience, London’s 02 Arena hosted the 43rd edition of the BRIT Awards, an event which Britannia Row has worked across for many years. The company supplied a full DiGiCo control package, L-Acoustics PA sound system design, RF management and crew as managed by Britannia Row director, Lez Dwight and account executive Tom Brown.
Continuing to facilitate a live sound placement for students from the BRIT School’s Production Arts course, Brit Row also enabled two students to get hands-on with the entire process of delivering a large-scale event. From the warehouse prep to load in and set up, the live performances, de-rig, venue load out and warehouse de-prep, the work experience is invaluable to budding sound specialists. This year’s successful applicants were Vinay Rana and Zena Tubmen.
Vinay begins: “When I discovered what a FOH engineer does, and how they can help bring music to thousands of people at each show, my curiosity piqued. I thought to myself, I could imagine doing this in the future… with a DiGiCo SD7 in a big arena!”
Zena too is fascinated by all areas of sound. She comments: “I am interested in front of house and monitors, but this experience with Brit Row has helped me to see how massive each department is and all of the specialised jobs within them.
“I learnt so much from the two-week placement; it was amazing to see what goes into such a large-scale event. It was honestly one of the best experiences I’ve had; everyone was friendly and very keen to help out and explain what they were working on,” she says.
Vinay agrees: “From my first day at Brit Row, I could feel the energetic atmosphere of some really clever people doing really cool stuff. There was a great level of professionalism between the staff too, and everyone was very welcoming and willing to share their knowledge and experience.
“It was an incredibly insightful experience from start to finish, learning how to collate and setup all the equipment for a show of this calibre. For the PA, Brit Row had chosen the L-Acoustics range of cabinets due to their extended low-frequency response, impactful punch and versatility. Thanks to the great skills of the systems engineers, they taught me how to rig and connect the system.”
“And I particularly enjoyed dismantling the risers after each performance on the show night,” notes Zena. “After the weeks we’d had learning and helping out, it really felt like we were part of the audio team.
“Both of my parents are musicians, and they’ve been taking me to festivals since I was three. I love how happy and free people feel at these types of events, and I would love to be a part of the team that brings people so much joy.
“While thinking about my next steps after college, I’m looking at Brit Row’s apprenticeship programme. It sounds like a great option to continue real world education. Seeing all of the high-quality equipment from Brit Row, and how it’s used at an event such as the BRIT Awards, was such a highlight.”
Brit Row director, Lez Dwight comments: “We’re very proud to have been able to assist the BRIT School in this experience. Both Zena and Vinay did an exceptional job in helping our staff and freelance crew during the process from prep to show delivery. We were impressed with their approach to working life and professional demeanour on site. I am sure they each have long and bright futures in live event audio ahead of them.”
