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Sound Division parties in Hospital
The official launch party
for the Hospital in Covent Garden took place last
month. Brainchild of artist and producer Dave
Stewart and Paul G. Allen co-founder (with Bill
Gates) of Microsoft, the Hospital is a multi-million
pound music, state-of-the-art television and arts
complex located in the heart of London’s
Covent Garden. Naturally the launch was a star-studded
event attended by A-list celebrities from throughout
the world of music and media. Sound Division Hire,
the rental department of the Sound Division Group,
was asked to supply the entire entertainment system
for the event, including audio, lighting, staging
and DJ equipment.
Sound Division’s Chris
Baxter confirmed that this was a technically complex
event. “We set up a big DJ system in the
Studio on the lower ground floor with a PA based
on EAW KF850s and JBL monitors with a Soundcraft
mixing console. We were also required to supply
a substantial stage for the guest DJs and five
separate dance podiums clad in white foamex for
the display of graffiti art plus a number of huge
screens for the same purpose, all of which had
to be lit appropriately. When we first received
the spec, I confess that I was wondering how it
would all turn out, but the finished effect was
fantastic.” Body painted dancers occupied
each of the five dance podiums whilst Old Skool
DJs Grand Wizard Theodore and Busy Bee entertained
people on the decks.
The Hospital’s inaugural
event included the opening of a three-month exhibition
in the Gallery called Yes, Yes, Y’all: Hip
Hop From Scratch for which Sound Division is also
providing the necessary AV equipment. The exhibition
is a celebration of Hip Hop’s first ten
years, tracing its progress from the streets of
the south Bronx in New York to the worldwide phenomenon
that Hip Hop is today. “I was particularly
pleased to be providing the equipment for this,
as it’s a subject very close to my heart!”
says Chris Baxter. “As far as the launch
itself was concerned, it went off fantastically
well. The room sounded great, and the atmosphere
with the dancers and the Old Skool MCs was electric.
I think all concerned are pleased with a job well
done, and we’re already looking forward
to the next event.”
November
2003 |
