Britannia Row Productions

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Britannia Row Productions
legal form Limited
founding 1975
Seat Twickenham , Middlesex
management Bryan Grant
Number of employees 30th
Branch Event technology
Website http://www.barkiarow.com

Britannia Row Productions Ltd. is an international service provider for event technology , today mainly PA systems , which was founded in 1975 by the technicians of the Pink Floyd group . The company was originally located in the same building complex as the band's Britannia Row Studios . In addition to Pink Floyd, customers include or included Oasis , Led Zeppelin , Robbie Williams , Nirvana , Foo Fighters , Dire Straits , Roger Waters , Depeche Mode , Cliff Richard , Stevie Wonder , The Cure and Peter Gabriel .

history

The teacher doll designed after the appearance of Mark Fisher at The Wall 1990 in Berlin.

After Pink Floyd had acquired a complex of buildings on Britannia Row in the London borough of Islington in 1975 , they encouraged their technicians to rent the equipment, including staff, to other artists between tours. The team initially consisted of the managers Robbie Williams and Mick Kluczynski († 2009), the architect Mark Fisher († 2013), the engineer Jonathan Park and the lighting technician Graeme Fleming. The sound engineer Gerry Fradley was one of them and still works for the company today. Much of the team had worked for Pink Floyd since 1972, when the group had already extensively presented their album The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) live. After the great success of the album, the intervals between the releases increased, the band was no longer on tour or in the studio almost constantly. After a short US tour in April and June 1975, the next tour was not due to begin until January 1977. The expensive equipment should not be left unused in the warehouse.

The first order from the newly founded company was the Knebworth Festival in July 1975, which attracted more than 100,000 visitors. In addition to Pink Floyd, the Steve Miller Band , Captain Beefheart , Roy Harper and Trigger, Linda Lewis , Graham Chapman and the DJs John Peel and Pete Drummond were on stage. In 1976, the Queen's concert in Hyde Park followed, with an audience of more than 150,000 people.

They always remained connected to Pink Floyd, including on the major tours for the albums Animals (1977) and The Wall (1980/81), for which the company was significantly involved in the design of the stage and the entire event technology. For example, the large, inflatable animals or the wall made of cardboard blocks were developed by or with the team from Britannia Row. From 1979 Peter Gabriel and The Cure regularly used the team for their concerts.

Since 1984 Britannia Row Productions has been completely independent of Pink Floyd's organization. Tours with Whitney Houston , Simply Red , Luther Vandross , Anita Baker , Frank Sinatra and George Benson followed. From 1987 to 1990 they worked again with Pink Floyd for the tours for the album A Momentary Lapse of Reason and in 1990 also for the The Wall show by Roger Waters in Berlin, which attracted several hundred thousand visitors. The 1990 Knebworth Festival with Paul McCartney , Elton John , Dire Straits, Cliff Richard & The Shadows, Tears for Fears , Robert Plant and Jimmy Page , Status Quo , Phil Collins and Genesis and Pink Floyd were also supervised. From 1990 on they were responsible for the sound of the main stage at the Glastonbury Festival for several years and started working with Depeche Mode.

In 1991 the company moved into new premises in Wandsworth and accompanied the Dire Straits to 300 concerts around the world by 1992. For the Summer Olympics in Barcelona in 1992 and in London in 2012 , technology and staff were provided for the opening and closing ceremonies. In London, the old companion Mark Fisher was also involved, who had set up in 1985 together with Jonathan Park.

In 1994 they were back on tour with Pink Floyd for the album The Division Bell . In the same year began the long-term collaboration with Robbie Williams , in 1996 with Oasis. In 1999/2000 the event technology for The Millennium Dome was provided .

In 2005 Britannia Row was involved in the Live8 concert in London, where Bob Geldof , The Who , Paul McCartney, Elton John and - for the first time since 1981 - Pink Floyd with Roger Waters appeared. In 2006, the celebrations for the 80th birthday of Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace , a solo tour by David Gilmour and 2007 Live Earth in London followed. In December 2007, they were responsible for the sound of the first Led Zeppelin concerts since 1980 in London, in 2010 for the concerts around the World Cup finals in South Africa and from the end of the year for the new edition of The Wall by Roger Waters, which lasted until autumn 2013 .

Technology and personnel have been provided for the Creamfields Festival since 2011 . In June 2012 the company moved to Twickenham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames .

Since November 2012, Britannia Row has also offered multi-month advanced training seminars for event technicians.

Awards (selection)

  • 2005: Favorite Sound Rental Company at the TPi Awards .
  • 2009: Favorite Sound Rental Company at the TPi Awards (nominated).
  • 2012: Favorite Sound Rental Company at the TPi Awards .
  • 2014: Favorite Sound Rental Company at the TPi Awards .

literature

  • Sharon Stancavage: On Tour: Behind the Wall. In Lighting & Sound , February 2011. pp. 34ff.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f History , Britannia Row Productions.
  2. ^ Marek "Mick" Kluczynski , brain-damage.co.uk, February 22, 2009.
  3. ↑ Knebworth 1975 on ukrockfestivals.com
  4. ↑ Pink Floyd's The Wall. ( Memento from November 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: Total Production International .
  5. ↑ 1999/2000: Millennium Celebrations, The Dome , Britannia Row Productions
  6. ^ SSL in the mix with Avicii at Creamfields. ( Memento of November 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) on lsionline.co.uk, October 15, 2014.
  7. ↑ Creamfields wins 'Best Festival' Award ( Memento November 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Britannia Row Productions.
  8. ^ Britannia Row open training center. In Sound on Sound , November 19, 2012.
  9. ^ David Gilmour gives award and thanks to Phil Taylor. brain-damage.co.uk, February 5, 2005.
  10. ↑ TPi Awards - The Nominations. ( Memento of November 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: Total Production International , February 9, 2009.
  11. ↑ TPi Awards 2012 - The Winners. ( Memento from February 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: Total Production International , February 15, 2012.
  12. ↑ TPi Awards 2014 Winners Revealed. ( Memento from November 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: Total Production International , February 2014.