Britannia Row mega-rig for Jay Chou dates
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Chou recently entrusted Britannia Row Productions to deliver one of the biggest PA rigs that London’s O2 Arena has ever seen.
For the final three concerts of his 120-date The Invincible 2 World Tour, Chou played two nights in London before deploying the Britannia Row rig for a final show at Paris’ Accor Arena. These three shows were promoted by Magic-Sound Entertainment.
Britannia Row crew chief, Scott Maxwell, says: “Jay is a huge star. We’re essentially working with a stadium-sized PA in an arena-sized production. Everything else in the design had to shrink down to fit inside the venue, but the PA remained the same.”
The entire production weighed in at 107 tonnes and used 208 overhead motors, 44 automation points, 274 rigging points, 14 under-stage lifts and featured a four-minute 180kg confetti hit, meaning the audio delivery had to have ample impact. Britannia Row’s Josh Lloyd designed an L-Acoustics system for the European dates, which featured main hangs of K1, flown K1 SBs, K2 delays and K2 under hangs below the main K1 hangs. The system was powered by 72 LA8 amplifiers and used Lake processing.
Maxwell continues: “One of our biggest challenges in the audio team was working between multiple departments who were all using aerial equipment - there are so many design elements going on, it’s unlike any other show I’ve worked on. It’s been such a lovely environment to be a part of; everyone has worked so well together, despite any language differences.”
The show itself, led by production manager JC Chen, is three hours long and spans a multi-genre concept with various themes running throughout. The production takes the audience on a journey through pop, classical piano ballads, hip hop, and guitar rock, while clowns, choreographed samurais, sailors and dancers enhance the overall performance. Chen said: “Having Britannia Row on board puts my mind at ease. Even with cultural and language differences, the Brit Row team was outstanding in every aspect - from all their gear and the sound system, to helping the show with their great technology, service and attitude.”
Chou’s long-standing FOH engineer, Drexel Rrez Moliere, notes: “To perform a show with lots of genres is very common for Asian artists - it’s the style of the market - so no matter where he plays, the fans expect a huge production and a lengthy, ever-changing performance.”
Britannia Row also supplied the production with Sennheiser in-ears, Shure transmitter packs, radio comms, L-Acoustics stage wedges, and a playback system for FOH and monitor world using Yamaha QL1s.
(Jim Evans)
