The first weekend in September saw the culmination of a hugely successful summer series of Classic Ibiza concerts, presented by Revival Productions Ltd in partnership with dance music pioneers Ministry of Sound, and performed by world-class orchestral act Urban Soul Orchestra.
Lisa Ward, Director of Revival Productions Ltd explains the rationale behind the Classic Ibiza concerts. “We had been looking for an alternative to a traditional classical prom to appeal to a younger audience, but still with picture perfect picnic settings. Our English stately homes are stunning locations and just perfect for a posh rave!”
Revival Productions has been a client of Pearce Hire’s for several years with Pearce Hire providing production services year-on-year for their annual Great British Proms – an open-air celebration of classical music. Classic Ibiza was conceived as an extra event 2 years ago and this year Revival Productions expanded the Classic Ibiza series to 6 venues across 9 weeks. Pearce Hire was appointed by Revival Productions Ltd to provide a full technical production package (audio, lighting and staging) and temporary power for the shows.
Ward explained: “Appointing Pearce Hire as our production company was not a difficult decision – we’ve had the pleasure of working with Pearce Hire on many corporate and other productions over the years so continuing our relationship with them for the Classic Ibiza events made perfect sense.”
Project managed by Steve Hicks, the Pearce Hire team addressed the key elements of Revival Production’s comprehensive brief which included the provision of smooth audio coverage for a maximum capacity 7,500 audience whilst being sensitive to strict noise limits at the unique country house settings.
Given the size of the orchestral performance for the Classic Ibiza gigs, Pearce Hire made considerable investments specifically to fulfil the audio requirements of this style of event. This included a significant inventory of DPA 4099 instrument mics to cover all the strings, brass and woodwind sections of the orchestra, Shure ULX-D digital wireless systems and a large investment in fibre optic multicores for audio and lighting. The PA system consisted of L-Acoustics K2, L-Acoustics X8, L-Acoustics Arcs Wide and L-Acoustics SB28 subwoofers for the main system and L-Acoustics KARA and L-Acoustics SB18 subwoofers for the delay hangs. The desk package was a Yamaha CL5 on monitors and Allen & Heath dLive S7000 at front of house.
The lighting brief was to offer a spectacular light and laser show similar to that experienced by Ibiza club goers with an inclusive feel and real wow factor. The Revival Productions team asked Pearce Hire to create a lighting design which had great ‘eye candy’ impact. Specified by Steve Hicks, and designed by Paul Fairfield, the desired look for an immersive outdoor lighting effect was achieved using a host of SGM LT-100 LED pixel tubes, supported by Robe Pointes and Robe LEDWash 1200s, and Clay Paky Stormys, all controlled by a Chamsys MQ100.
To provide the power to achieve the high production expectations for the Classic Ibiza concerts, just 2 100 kVA synchronised generators were used for the main production sets as well as site-wide generators and power distribution for audience services, concessions, and backstage production requirements. The use of this low power required from the generator setup was made possible given the continual investment and use of LED fixtures and high spec power efficient PA systems by Pearce Hire. Power consumption was continually monitored at all sites to ensure the generators were not over-sized, upholding Pearce Hire’s status as a reputable sustainable temporary power provider.
Steve Hicks, Pearce Hire’s project manager has reflected on a great summer series “The Revival Productions team are an absolute joy to work with and we were excited to support them this summer as their events go from strength to strength. Added to which we had a great crew that worked tirelessly at every single venue to deliver an excellent production for our client.”
The Revival Production team couldn’t be happier with the outcome of the service provided by Pearce Hire as Ward commented: “We wanted to create a chilled out Ibiza vibe which was inclusive for the audience and drew them into the performance. The weather this summer could not have complemented the Ibiza vibe and music of the White Island more perfectly. With exceptional artists performing and a stunning production package, thanks to Pearce Hire it really did bring the feel of Ibiza directly to the UK.”
Concluded Ward, “Pearce Hire’s methodical approach and attention to detail blends seamlessly with the way we work. They always give 100% to every event they provide services for and they have never let us down. Their service is quite simply faultless.”