The passing of Foo Fighters’ drummer, Taylor Hawkins, left the music industry in a state of shock, with some even speculating as to whether the band would ever perform again.
However, in true fighter spirit, the remaining members decided – with the blessing of Hawkins’ family – to hold two all-star concerts in tribute to their late friend, colleague and bandmate, which were held at London’s Wembley Stadium on 3 September and the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on 27 September 2022.
Britannia Row Productions, which has supplied audio equipment and crew to the Foo Fighters global touring activities for over two decades, were trusted to deliver audio reinforcement for this pair of mammoth televised shows.
The six-hour marathon concert at Wembley Stadium was curated with a stellar line-up of artists to honour Hawkins’ life, including Liam Gallagher – who performed Oasis classics Rock ‘N’ Roll Star and Live Forever – Wolfgang Van Halen, Rush, the Pretenders, Supergrass, Queen, and Hawkins’ 16-year-old son, Shane, who played the drums on Foo Fighters hit, My Hero, in one of the evening’s most poignant moments.
Following weeks of careful planning and preparation from Brit Row’s dedicated team, the company provided 14 engineers and technicians for the emotionally charged show, and a large deployment of L-Acoustics speakers comprising K1, K2, KS28, Kara II, and A15s.
“Out front, our SSL FOH control package was operated by Antony King,” said Brit Row Director and Foo Fighters Account Handler, Lez Dwight. “In the monitor world, long time Nirvana and Foo Fighters Engineer, Ian Beverage, mixed on a Yamaha PM10. Joining Ian on Monitors was Saul Skoutarides and Pete McGlynn, operating a PM10 and PM5, respectively, while System Engineer Adam Smith looked after the PA.”
In total, the crew had a staggering 200 inputs to contend with, including 11 drum kits of various sizes, and stage equipment consisting of Shure and Sennheiser radio microphones and IEMs.
“Brit Row really is the best team in the world,” said Beverage. “We love what they do, and we’re lucky enough to work with the industry’s finest on and off stage. This one was for Taylor.”
Although the second of the two tribute shows was in a smaller venue – LA’s Kia Forum – that didn’t stop a who’s who of legendary musicians from Pearl Jam, Nirvana, the Police, Mötley Crüe, Black Sabbath, Rush, Led Zeppelin, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, taking to the stage to pay their collective respects.
In LA, Brit Row provided the same inventory; a plethora of L-Acoustics K1, K2, KS28, Kara II, A15 and A10 with d&b audiotechnik M2 wedges. The company also deployed Sennheiser and Shure RF packages, a multitude of microphones plus Yamaha consoles for monitor world and Solid State Logic desks for the FOH mixes.
“We’re so proud of everyone on the crew from our global team who helped to make this second show just as much of a success as the first,” said Dwight. “Rock ‘n’ roll is in our DNA at Brit Row, and it was a privilege to support this fitting celebration of such a hugely talented life.”
If you would like to make a donation to the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts official charity beneficiaries in the UK or US, visit Music Support or MusiCares, respectively.