A fanfaire of trumpets from 1st Battalion The Coldstream Guards opened the show, which was hosted by Ben Shephard. Amongst the performers were Alesha Dixon and The Military Wives Choir, with James Fox singing the Poppy Appeal Launch single, Landlocked and Pixie Lott headlining.
"As a full production job for Capital, you literally have to supply everything from the ground up," says Capital's Charles Ellery. "We supplied staging, lighting and sound, with the video element arranged by the Royal British Legion's own in-house video production supplier, Raw. We also arranged for all the dressing room cabins, temporary loos, catering, first aid, special FX and so on."
Everything came together on a long overnight load in, which started at 6pm on the 23rd and the entire set was ready by 5am on the 24th. With four sound checks to cover in two hours before doors at 11am it was a busy morning, but everything was completed in plenty of time.
The audio team of Joseph Pearce (Crew Chief and System tech), Nick Foots (FOH), Steve Bunting (MONS), Craig Bruce (RF and Stage Tech), Nathan Hayward (PA/Stage Tech), Karima Kingsley (PA/Stage Tech), Harry McCann (PA/Stage Tech), Louisa Gladwin (Mons/Stage Tech), did a sterling job.
"With changeovers of only three minutes between bands, it was very tight for time," says Ellery, "but the crew performed incredibly well after a long night rigging and testing and it all went off very smoothly."
The climax of the show was the official launch, with half a million poppies being blasted over Ben Shephard, Pixie Lott and Alesha Dixon, to declare the Poppy Appeal open.
The Appeal aims to raise £42 million this year, so please give generously at the following link.
(Jim Evans)
