With a headline performance at London Stadium alongside an appearance on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury, Patchwork London discusses the company’s experience working with the Afrobeats artist and his crew.
How did Patchwork’s relationship with Burna Boy and his production begin?
“They reached out to us on Instagram then came to visit us at Patchwork. After a meeting to discuss how things might work, they offered us the chance to do their album launch at Prism and underplay at Roundhouse, London in August 2023. Both shows went well, we’ve been working together ever since.”
When did you start planning for this stadium show?
“With The Roundhouse and Pyrzm shows done Burna headed out on a stadium and arena tour of the US. This was their full show which included two DiGiCo SD5 consoles on Monitors and a DiGiCo 338 for FOH. Burna then flew to the US and used our partner company Worley Sound who provided an identical package in collaboration with us. We set up the show here in the UK for them in rehearsals, Worley then mirrored the package for them in The States. At the start of the summer, Temidayo, Burna’s production lead, got back in touch regarding various festivals and the stadium show. This time they needed to build on the existing kit list with more channels, musicians and outboard requirements.”
Burna Boy’s shows have some notable wireless requirements. What did Patchwork provide on this front?
“We are using 34 channels worth of Shure Axient Digital Wireless Microphones. This is made up of two ADX2-FD for Burna which automatically switches frequencies via ShowLink. Three AD2 for the backing vocalists, 29 AD1 belt packs for strings, marching band, talking drums, Omele, Guitar, Bass, Brass and choir.
“Using the AXT630UK Antenna Distribution system has made this very easy with just two Active UA874WB Antenna. We are also using 26 channels worth of Shure PSM1000 In-Ear Monitors. These are combined with Shure PA821B Antenna Combiners. The main challenge with this amount of wireless presents is just sheer spectrum space, especially for the Glastonbury show. Our RF tech Alex Legge, used the Shure AD600 to scan the RF environment then Wireless Workbench to deploy and WaveTool to monitor. In addition, the number of packs and people can be a challenge. We have to use an 8ft by 8ft table to lay the packs out for different members of the band, performers and crew.”
What desks are you supplying his audio engineers?
“Burna Boy is using the new DiGiCo Quantum 852 at FOH with two DiGiCo SD7 Quantum monitor consoles. These are on an Optocore loop with seven SD Racks (32 bit) for inputs, outputs and FOH outboard inserts. Unbelievably, we have had to make considerations with i/o card configurations because of the 504-channel limitation of the Optocore system.
“FOH has extensive selection of both analogue and digital outboard equipment. This includes two Rupert Neve Designs 5035 Shelford channels, two 211 preamps, four RMP-D8 preamps, two Portico II Channel, a Portico MBP, a 5045, a Bricasti M7, Sonic Farm Creamliner, TubeTech CL1B Compressor, Waves Super Rack Live Box and Extreme servers. Monitors has four 5045s, a Bricasti M7, Waves Extreme Severs and KLANG DMI Cards.”
How many of the Patchwork team are working on the stadium show directly?
“We have five members of Patchwork Team on the Burna boy show. These include both FOH and Monitor Console Techs, two Patch Technicians and an RF Technician. For the stadium and Glastonbury shows, we sent an Audio PM on top of this.”
What does it mean for Patchwork as a company to be handling a stadium show control package?
“First and foremost, the Burna camp is just a lovely place to be. Working with Temi, Duriel, Josh and the wider team is just a pleasure. For a show of this size to maintain such wonderful spirit is something special, and we’re really honoured to be part of that. As far the project and technical demands are concerned, it’s something that has pushed us forwards. Maintaining our boutique and custom approach to something that large is a challenge we feel we’ve risen to pull off.”
