Red TX was at the O2 Arena in London recently to capture broadcast audio for ‘Unity – A Concert For Stephen Lawrence’.

The event featured performances from some of the biggest names in UK music, including Rita Ora, Beverley Knight and Jessie J (pictured), Emeli Sande, Ellie Goulding and Ed Sheeran. The concert was arranged to mark the 20th anniversary of Lawrence’s death in southeast London.

Paul Dugdale, who was directing the project on behalf of ACME TV, made the decision to bring Red TX on board for the project – he had worked with Red TX earlier on this year when the firm was made responsible for recording The Rolling Stones in Hyde Park. For the ‘Unity’ concert, which went out on BBC 2, red TX utilised its main Red 1 outside broadcast vehicle, with engineers Tim Summerhayes and Ollie Nesham behind the controls.

“We knew the event was going to be challenging due to a tight schedule and the shear amount of artists and tracks involved,” Dugdale commented. “As a director, it’s such a blessing having someone like Tim involved, not only because I know he’s great in those high pressure situations, but that you know the finished product will come out sounding amazing, too.”

Summerhayes added: “We recorded the concert as live because we had enough time to create snap shots during the sound check. We also had some time the following day to tidy up the audio before delivering it to The Farm where it was dubbed and made ready for broadcast on the evening of Tuesday October 1st. Although there were a large number of artists involved, it was a relatively straightforward project and we were all really pleased with the results.”

The gig was put on as part of the SL20 Campaign, which is celebrating Lawrence’s life with a number of awareness-raising events throughout 2013. All funds raised will go to The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, which aims to improve the lives of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Picture credit: Des Willie

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