Ian Greenway is the production manager: "We have sold out for the last seven years and attract an audience of over 70,000 but being content with the status quo is not an intelligent option in this game. As we approach our twentieth anniversary in 2017 we've continued to raise our game across all aspects of the festival. Perhaps the most significant this year has been the new Steel Yard stage (more of which later). But of course, in some departments change is neither necessary or advisable so, once again, we engaged Britannia Row Productions to supply the audio systems for the two main stages, including the new Steel Yard."
Britannia Row Productions took on the audio requirements for the North and South stages along with the Steel Yard using an L-Acoustics K1/K2 system. Dave Compton was project manager. "At events like this, teamwork is always the most important factor. Britannia Row Productions has been providing audio for Creamfields for some years now and we have a good relationship with production which goes a long way to making the weekend run smoothly. There are always challenges - the weather can, and does, often work against us - but that's the nature of festivals. Laurie Fradley was our overall Crew Chief and we had three distinct crews so each stage worked as an individual event."
The Steel YardArena, a new structure for 2016 is, as the name suggests, is a stage with massive curved wings, designed to embrace the audience in a visual and audio experience. Substantial numbers of L-Acoustics K1s, K2s, Karas, ARCs supported by KS28 Subs were more than up to the job with the directivity of the K Series enabling the required SPL without spill, an important element on a site with multiple stages.
The north and south stages featured identical systems with L-Acoustics K1 and KS28 subs. For control at FOH was a DiGiCo SD10 and a Yamaha QL1 console on stage. The south stage saw Avicii headline on Saturday night and perform his last ever UK show. Avicii's FOH engineer Wayne (Rabbit) Sergeant was on duty for the show. "Working with Britannia Row Productions is never less than a complete pleasure. The service we get as a visiting act, whether or not we are the headline act is second to none."
(Jim Evans)
