London's Earls Court was once again the venue for The MasterCard BRIT Awards when the event returned on February 17 for its 2004 edition.

Hosted by TV personality Cat Deeley, the event offered its usual array of surprises and eagerly awaited live performances. This year's live performers included Muse, Busted, Black Eyed Peas, Outkast, Jamie Cullum and Katie Melua (playing as a duo), Duran Duran (winners of the Outstanding Contribution To Music award) and The Darkness, who scooped three awards. Amongst the other winners were Daniel Bedingfield, Dido, Justin Timberlake, 50 Cent, Busted and The White Stripes.

With MJK Productions continuing at the helm of the show, Britannia Row and sound consultant Derrick Zieba were again key players. Zieba, for several years the designer and co-ordinator of the BRITs sound system, specified Yamaha's DM2000 and PM1D desks for the 2004 awards. He said: "For flexibility and reliability they're second to none."

Zieba has been an enthusiastic user of Yamaha mixing desks for many years and was one of the first designers to make the transition from analogue to digital. He was also involved with the recent MTV Awards - a live-to-air show where for the first time Zieba used a Yamaha PM1D at each end of the multi-core without backup. "It's the only desk reliable enough to give me confidence to do this," he said.

A total of three desks were used on the night. A DM2000 provided the main PA feed, driven by engineer Dave Bracey, while PM1Ds were used for FOH and monitors manned by Brit Row's Andy Robinson, Kirsten Smith and Anthony King, who either mixed or assisted the various performers' visiting engineers. The desks output to an EV X-Line loudspeaker system.

"This is the eighth year we've done the BRITs," said Britannia Row's MD Bryan Grant, "and using the Yamaha mixing desks has certainly simplified life for us." The Yamaha digital desks have been used for the last two years, replacing up to 16 analogue mixing desks plus 14 effects racks that Brit Row used previously. "Not only do they mix well, but there's a big saving in time and real estate. The PM1D is a most reliable and powerful piece of equipment. Quite simply, it's the way to go," concluded Grant.

VLPS Lighting Services was the lighting supplier for the eighth year running, providing over 400 moving lights. Equipment included 26 VL2C spot luminaires, 36 VL6Cs, eight VL1000 AI and 12 VL1000 AS luminaries, plus 85 VL2416s, 24 VL5s, 92 VL5Arcs, 12 VL5B wash luminaires and 68 of the new VL3000 spot luminaires.

VLPS also supplied the conventional equipment including 88 Pixel Line Battens, 62 four cell groundrow, 96 Par 36 DWEs, six 4-lite Moles, 24 Par 64 ACLs, six 19¡, four 10¡ and four 5¡ Source Fours, 46 Howie Battens, 10 Syncrolites, two 70kW Lightning Strikes and 17 Giga Strobes.

Lighting Designer Al Gurdon and Mike 'Oz' Owen operated on a Virtuoso control console and second console operator Peter Canning on an Avolites Diamond 4. Crew included Aiden McCabe, Jon Hetherton, Chris Henry, Dave Hallet, Simon Cox, Andy Beller, Phil Sharp and Gordon Torrington. Crew Chief was Rich Gorrod.

XL Video supplied 160 square metres of Unitek V9 LED screen onstage, forming an upstage dome shape. The screen was an integral element of production designer Bill Laslett's elegant and spectacular sculpting of the stage. Either side of stage were two XL-supplied soft screens, fed by Barco SLM G10 projectors, used for titles, general awards package information and I-Mag.

At the rear of the audience were 48 panels of low resolution Westerhagen LED screen, configured as four columns, also supplied by XL. These received colourful graphics, and were used for general atmosphere building and excitement boosting.

For US rapper 50 Cent's high octane performance, XL supplied a 20 x 20 foot soft screen, fed by two Barco R18 (front) projectors, plus two mobile dolly-mounted columns of Barco D7 LED, measuring approx 20ft high by 8ft wide. This customised screen solution was pushed on and off stage in lightening quick time for the changeovers either side of the performance.

Nick Fry directed the live-to-screen mix of the show from XL's OB truck, which was parked up outside the back of Earls Court. He took feeds from 10 of the 15 CTV broadcast cameras, plus two of XL's own cameras and assorted other pre-recorded and play-in sources.

XL's front-of-house control was run by Chris Saunders, including VTs and graphics. At the hub of XLs FOH set up was a Vista Montage multi-frequency vision mixing and switching console, operated by Peter Joys. This controlled multiple inputs, and was used to scale and distribute video, camera and data signals including graphics, to all the LED surfaces. Hamish Hamilton directed the television show for producers Brits TV Ltd, with Richard Shipman sub-directing specific elements of the screen content.

Outback Rigging had the key role of positioning the 66.5 tonnes of flown lighting, video and PA systems safely and accurately.

Outback, on its fourth BRITs event, was brought in several months before the show to co-ordinate the rigging with Brit Row, XL Video, VLPS and set company Blackfriars. Outback installed complete production rigging including motors and motion control for moving set pieces.

Headed by Outback Technical Director Bowie Ebrill and Crew Chief Dave Morrell, the team's initial task, in conjunction with Earls Court Olympia's technical manager Q Willis and structural engineers Campbell Reece Hill, was to plan the rigging points and load-in schedule to ensure that roof loadings were well within safe limits at all points during the complex build. The giant curved video wall was the single heaviest element and was partly ground stacked to minimise roof loading.

A total of 66.5 tonnes was flown from 220 motors, while Outback's IBEX automation system controlled the double brake hoists and truss movements on and behind the stage. A high-speed winch system used during 50 Cent's performance was also sourced, rigged and operated by Outback.

The final moving element was a pair of 'doorways' in the upstage half-moon LED video screen which enabled stage manager Rik Benbow's team to change various roll-on/roll-off scenic elements, the doors being operated with another automated motion control system installed by Outback.

"Dave and the team put a lot of effort into this project," said Ebrill, "and he was there every day babysitting the rig, moving drapes and trusses as necessary. We took great care in the planning stages to ensure our plot and those of our fellow contractors were as accurate as possible, to keep amendments on site to an absolute minimum. One of the problems with this show is the height restriction, making it essential to ensure all set pieces will actually fit and work with each other on the day. It's a complicated show but as we've done it for a few years we know how all the others contractors work and what their needs are, so we do as much as possible beforehand."

Production Manager Mick Kluczynski commented: "The whole process of plotting this out has become more sophisticated and more accurate thanks to CAD and it needed to, because of the growing complexity of the whole thing. On the scale we're working on measurements are absolutely critical and if anything was put in slightly out the knock-on effect across 85 metres would be dramatic. It's 80% preparation and 20% thinking on your feet - that's what experience is about. But it's become more civilised and the whole team created a nice, steady build."

Blackout's Chris Brain and Kevin Monks designed and supplied over 3,000 square metres of black wool serge drapes to conceal the perimeter of Earls Court 2, transforming the exhibition hall into an arena style auditorium. In addition, Blackout supplied a series of sound baffles, which were suspended from Earls Court's giant roof, and combined with a massive custom manufacturer infill drape, to absorb sonic reverberance around the room.

Blackout also worked with BRITs Creative Director Peter Bull (from MJK) and Black Eyed Peas' set designer Paul Ferris, to design and supply a stunning Kabuki drop reveal as the band's lead singer Nathalie Dupree entered stage. Blackout hand painted a gauze screen with the Black Eyed Peas' logo. This was attached to part of the urban street scene set structure and front lit, concealing Dupree as she waited to make her entrance. On cue, the screen flipped to being rear illuminated and the gauze tumbled away as she sashayed on to stage with great aplomb.

AFTERSHOW
The drapes specialist's involvement in the event extended to the glittering aftershow party. Creative guru Bruce French again worked with his preferred production team, headed by Maggie Mouzakitis of MJK, to realise a dramatic Dante-esque environment. This encompassed both Heaven and Hell in a unique theatrical set, with a touch of industrial dressing and exceptional artistic vision.

Staged on two levels, Heaven (upstairs) offered an almost ethereal quality of snow blinding whiteness. Down below in Hell, the red and black set oozed decadence and opulence. A combination of original Deco and modern chrome lighting fixtures adorned the Heavenly open plan environment, further enhancing the stark whiteness. Bizarre features included a bespoke sliver decorative chandelier, housed Damien Hirst style in a glass cabinet.

The 'red hot' lower level comprised a main area; two break out rooms, and a stunning dance floor, linked by a labyrinth of tunnels. A dozen red glass trees dominated the main room, dressed with black hand painted dried carnations for a 'scorched' effect. Further emphasising Hell and the macabre were a series of model skeletons dotted around the main area. The overall effect - a myriad of juxtapositions - screamed style and sophistication.

French explained: "I wanted to create an environment like a luxury hotel, with a party twist! The entire production team were fantastic. Together they helped interpret every minute detail and made this year's aftershow another resounding success."

Blackout aided in the realisation of French's extraordinary set design, supplying the sensational white canapy muslin ceiling. Measuring 5,000 square metres, Blackout brought its team of seamstresses to site to join the eight enormous component sections of cloth together. The ceiling was suspended by eight strategically positioned motors, flown out to form a magnificent up-turned topology of undulating peaks and valleys.

Blackout also supplied over 1,600 square metres of red velour, which was lavishly ruched in the chill out areas adding to the overall opulent effect. In addition, Blackout dressed the interconnecting tunnels with red velour and red casement ceilings.

Lighting Designer Theo Cox fused functional, aesthetic and ambient lighting to complement and enhance the set. He explained: "The muslin canapy ceiling offered great scope and acted as a canvas for a host of projection effects, shadows from the up-lit trees and reflections from shiny surfaces. It was also perfect to showcase a series of stunning visual effects from the moving lights. Above the dance floor I used a dozen Pulsar ChromaBalls, which were suspended randomly and linked with fishing line back to the control position - this meant I could confuse, disorientate or delight the partygoers at will. This was great fun and very well received!"

Cox's dancefloor design also incorporated Blackout's stunning new StarLED starcloth, providing an ultra-bright twinkling backdrop. More than 30 VL6Cs and six VL3000 Spots were supplied by VLPS. These combined with over 200 assorted generic lights, over 100 wall lights and chandeliers, plus some antique original Optikinetics Strobeflowers. Control for Cox's intricate design was via two WholeHog 2 consoles and four Avolites Art 2000 dimmers.

Audio and special events rental house Encore was commissioned to design and supply a sophisticated d&b audiotechnik system. Appointed by French for its sympathetic approach, Encore cunningly realised French's brief for "sound to be heard and not seen". The complex system was a combination of d&b 402s, C4s, C7s, C6s and Mac B2s for bass. Control was two Yamaha DM2000 digital mixing consoles.

MJK's Maggie Mouzakitis commented: "Yet again the team created an environment that will linger until next time - the aftershow has certainly become recognised in its own right. The team pulled together on site to enable an incredibly smooth operation."

Show & Artist Photography: John Marshall © 2004 JM Enternational Ltd
Additional Photography: Mike Lethby/Gasoline Media