American DJ and record producer John Summit recently played biggest ever headline show in Europe at the O2 Arena in London. The production created rave atmospherics with an industrial, underground feel for more than 20,000 fans with live sound from Britannia Row.
Business partners Asher Luber and Luca Sabatini of US technical production company Heavy Global have worked with John Summit for several years, the recent London show being the height of their success overseas. ‘Over the past two years, John’s blown up in terms of his touring demands, which is why we were brought in to look after his live productions,’ Asher says. ‘We’ve done lots together at this point, from festivals such as Coachella to playing a sold-out Madison Square Gardens, and this year, large format headline arena shows took off for us in Europe.’
The latter included a stop in England for another sold out arena date, this time at the O2, a space the team were keen to play yet unfamiliar with. ‘I’d always wanted to produce a show at the O2 Arena, so this was an exciting experience for a lot of reasons, but it was also important that we genuinely got it right,’ Luber continues. ‘Our production design firm worked with us on curating key elements for London but as the core team all live in Australia and the US, we knew that we’d need to rely on rental partners based in the UK to make it happen.
‘This was where was a lot of careful decision making and vetting came in. There were also recommendations from people who knew what we needed from suppliers to execute at the level we did, and Britannia Row was the clear choice for audio.
‘London was a notable gig for John,’ he says. ‘Essentially, we were coming in from the States and doing a one-off; we had to make an impact, so it was crucial to align with our chosen vendors to ensure that we had our desired technical capability. In terms of audio design, John wanted to encapsulate the arena. His highest priority over everything else is how the audience will hear his music, meaning sound is really the most important factor in his shows.’
To realise this, FOH engineer Johannes Kramer worked with Britannia Row to design an audio experience that would resonate with the audience. Britanna Row supplied an L-Acoustics K2 PA system with Kara II line array enclosure delays, KS28 subwoofers and A10 Focus loudspeakers for front fill. The system was driven by an L-Acoustics’ P1/AVB Drive System.
The FOH console was a Yamaha Rivage PM5, and monitor engineer Andrew Sharkey chose a DiGiCo Quantum 338 control surface with a Waves Sound Grid Extreme Server.
John’s DJ set-up included a Pioneer CDJ-3000 Media Player, DJM-V10 6 Channel Mixer and a Pioneer RMX1000 remix station.
Britannia Row also provided the production with a Riedel Communications Bolero wireless intercom system and technical crew. The wider team was completed by Control Technician Tim Miller, Comms Assistant Rebecca Nicol, System Engineer Dan Fathers, PA and Stage Techs Ryan Hansen and Chloe Napier, and PA/Stage Tech Assistant Luke Steed-Pridham.
‘From the first day of working with Brit Row, there was extreme professionalism and clear understanding of the venue, which instantly put us at ease,’ Luber concludes. ‘I personally think it was the best-sounding John Summit show we’ve ever done. My personal recollection was backed up by a lot of people including John’s management company, and that is thanks to Johannes working with Brit Row to specifically give the fans an optimal experience.
‘On our side, collaborating with Tom Brown [Brit Row Account Executive] from the beginning of this process made us feel very comfortable. It was a first, and it was a big deal, but we were very confident going into this show because of Brit Row, and we were all very happy with the result.’
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