Overview

 

When Sony Ericsson launched its latest Walkman range, it wanted to ensure that the launch was as high profile as possible. And ‘high’ turned out to be the operative word, with a record breaking live gig by Jamiroquai at 35,000 feet in a chartered aircraft!

The 30-minute set took place in front of invited guests and competition winners in a Boeing 757 flying from Munich to Athens, where Jamiroquai later performed a full-length set back on terra firma. The scene was set for a truly record-breaking experience, but also a nerve-wracking one for audio company Britannia Row who, having to provide the sound reinforcement for the gig, were taking a leap into the unknown.

Place:

Boeing 757; From London, via Munich to Athens 

Interview date:

02/2007

Product List

Mixers:

LS9-16

Photo Gallery

Details

LS9 Scales New Heights

Space was at an absolute minimum. The performance squeezed the six-piece band into the narrow confines of an aircraft, so the choice of mixing console was absolutely critical. It had to have excellent facilities and sound, and be able to accommodate drums, percussion, bass, keyboards, guitar, three sets of backing vocals and Jay Kay’s lead vocals while taking up as little space as possible. Enter the Yamaha LS9.

“We needed a console that that would fit on an aircraft seat, but which would be capable of doing the live mix, Jay Kay's wedge monitors, the in-ear monitor mixes for the rest of the band, backing vocalists, and a live digital recording,” says Brit Row’s Mike Lowe. “Because of the space restrictions using outboard gear was impossible, so the console also needed to have onboard effects and processing.”

He continues: “By fully using the card slots on the console, the LS9 was the ideal tool for the job. There are possibly other consoles that we could have used, but I don't know of them and if I did it would have been hard to ignore Yamaha’s reliability. There was no space to carry any back-up, so reliability was also paramount.”

Battery Powered

The entire show rig was powered by dry cell batteries, accommodated on a custom built pallet that was locked into the 'aeroquip' strips on the floor into which the seating is secured. Mike, his Brit Row colleague Dave Poynter, and Jamiroquai’s regular front of house engineer Rick Pope, pronounced themselves very happy with the rig. The LS9 and its onboard effects meant that they could make the very best of a challenging situation.

“It was a squeeze, but using the LS9 meant we did not feel compromised on the FOH, monitor, and recording mixes,” says Mike.

Of course, cost alone meant that there was only one realistic chance to stage the gig, so everything had to be perfect before the 757 took off. The LS9 allowed Rick Pope to program the mixes in advance, tweaking the settings during the technical rehearsal that took place while the plane sat in a hangar at Stansted Airport.

A Flawless Airborne Performance

Once airborne, the desk performed perfectly. “I was very surprised at how acoustically dead the plane was,” says Mike Lowe. “We ended up having to put in more speakers. But the LS9 performed perfectly and, with the additional speakers, the mix sounded really good.”

Once the plane landed at Athens and several world records were safely in the bag, a full-on celebration gig and party took place in a specially kitted out area in one of the terminals. But despite the success of the LS9 being used in such an unusual environment, for the second gig Rick Pope and Jamiroquai’s monitor engineer Jon Lewis reverted to the consoles with which they are more familiar for live work: Yamaha PM5Ds.

Sound Company

Britannia Row

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