The last 2 years have seen Wakefield Pride cancelled due to COVID restrictions and uncertainty however 2022 was the year the festival came back with a bang!
DSM initially entered talks in 2020 about bringing Wakefield Pride on as a client however the ongoing pandemic put a stop to all these plans. 2021 came and the event was put on hold yet again but on the 14th August 2022 we delivered on of the biggest event the city has ever seen!
With this being one of the biggest events that Wakefield had seen there were numerous meetings with police, local authority, organisers & various other advisory bodies and and the event management company.
Our brief was simple – they wanted to go big! A bigger stage than previous years, bigger sound than previous years and a bigger lighting show than previous years… we also had a little something up our sleeve in the sense of special FX.
The hardest thing to get right here was the sound. For example a car park surrounded by concrete buildings and tarmac roads can create a number of issues with sound reflection or the fact we were in a city centre meant we needed to control sound leaking from the site – this is where our audio expert came in. Stephen Rickard is a true master at what he does best – sound.
We brought in the dB Technologies VIO rig to look after this which delivered beyond the clients’ expectations. Stephen was able to configure the system to ensure maximum volume in the arena but minimal leakage to the surrounding area to keep environmental noise levels to a low – needless to say there were no complaints about any aspect of the sound. FOH control was run on our Allen & Heath SQ7 and we even dug out a MiniDisc player for one of the acts on stage.
Lighting was designed by Keith Harper who has toured the U.K., Europe, USA & Japan with bands throughout an extensive career spanning over four decades.
We also brought in special effects in the way of our brand new Twin Shot MKII streamer cannons – of course firing rainbow coloured streamers. Our friend, Luke Tripp, at Eleven Creative came in to support the firing and management of the SFX on the day.
Finally, we also brought the event into the hybrid era with a live stream being shown across various venues throughout the city – Our brilliant team of video techs & camera operators (Charlotte, Sam & Danni) looked after the video for the entire day. We used Panasonic pro cameras & Blackmagic ATEM production hardware to look after the streaming and switching.
The entire event from start to finish was a success! Above and beyond what the organisers of Wakefield Pride were accepting and it will be a pleasure to return in 2023 to support next years’ event!
To discuss an upcoming music event, give our team a message: events@dsmproductions.co.uk
