Arena Concert · OVO Arena Wembley
Andra: Traditional 2 at OVO Arena Wembley
LED screens, lighting and a d&b arena sound system for Andra’s sold out Traditional 2 concert at OVO Arena Wembley: a 17m main screen, two portrait IMAG screens and a live orchestra mixed for more than 12,500 people.
- Venue
- OVO Arena Wembley, London
- Artist
- Andra with Orchestra Frații Advahov
- Show
- Traditional 2
- Audience
- 12,500+, sold out
- Client
- Enjoy Events
- Role
- LED screens, lighting, sound
The story
A Romanian orchestra, a sold out Wembley.
Andra, one of Romania’s best known voices, brought her Traditional 2 concert to OVO Arena Wembley in front of a sold out crowd of more than 12,500. She performed with the Orchestra Frații Advahov and a long list of guest artists in a three hour show that moved from traditional Romanian folk music into pop, rock and hip hop.
Kudos AV supplied the LED screens, the lighting and the arena sound system, and crewed the day from a 06:00 get in to a 03:00 get out: a 17m main screen and two portrait IMAG screens, a d&b audiotechnik J8 and J12 system with full monitor world, and an overhead rig built around a circle truss and a giant X.
Bringing a concert or a large cultural event to Wembley? Talk to us about your arena production.
The film
Traditional 2 at Wembley.
Production scope
Designed. Built. Delivered.
The production disciplines brought together for this project.
LED main screen
A 17m x 7m wall of 3.9mm LED across the back of the stage, 4352 x 1792 pixels.
IMAG screens
Two portrait 3.5m x 6m LED screens carrying live camera close ups for the whole arena.
d&b arena PA
Flown J8 and J12 main hangs, V8 and V12 side hangs, a J-SUB and J-INFRA sub array and Y7P front fills.
Monitor world
DiGiCo Quantum 338, 16 d&b M4 wedges and 24 channels of Shure PSM1000 in ear monitoring.
Radio mics
14 channels of Shure Axient Digital for Andra and the guest artists.
Lighting rig
Circle and X truss design with 115 fixture positions over an 18m stage, plus followspot.
The show
An orchestra, a long guest list and one coherent show.
Around 130 people travelled from Romania for the London date, and the show had been in detailed preparation for about six months. Guests reported on the night included Zdob și Zdub, Mioara Velicu, Maria Dragomiroiu, Vlăduța Lupău and Oleg Spinu, each with their own songs, their own look and their own microphone and monitor needs.
That variety is the production challenge. Every guest needs a moment that feels like theirs, while the audience still sees one show. Lighting, screens, sound and stage management all ran to the same running order, so walk ons, mic changes and screen looks landed together.
The venue
Concert production at OVO Arena Wembley.
OVO Arena Wembley, known for years as Wembley Arena and then SSE Arena Wembley, is one of London’s largest indoor venues. Kudos AV has produced in the building before, with Morari Bapu’s nine day Katha built around a 30m wide projection screen. See all of our events at OVO Arena Wembley.
For a touring show the job is to fit an established production into a new building without losing its look or its timing. The screens arrived pixel mapped, the PA was modelled in ArrayCalc and the rig was drawn to the stage, so the day went on building and rehearsing rather than working things out.
LED screens
A 17m main screen and two portrait IMAG screens.
The main screen ran 17m wide and 7m high across the back of the stage: 238 cabinets of 3.9mm LED, mapped as two halves for a combined canvas of 4352 x 1792 pixels. Either side, two portrait IMAG screens of 3.5m x 6m, each 896 x 1536 pixels, carried the live camera close ups so the top tier of the arena could see every expression. In all, 161m² of LED on NovaStar MCTRL4K processing.
Content changed constantly through the night: the TRADITIONAL title, a misty forest, full screen close ups of Andra and her guests. Two video operators ran the screens, with seven video technicians on the build. See more of our LED screen production.
Sound
Mixing a live orchestra for 12,500 people.
A live orchestra in an arena is a problem of detail, not volume. The PA was a d&b audiotechnik system modelled in ArrayCalc: two flown main hangs of J8 with J12 at the bottom, trimmed at 14m, V8 and V12 side hangs for the wide seating, a sub array of J-SUB and J-INFRA across the front of the stage and Y7P front fills for the first rows. Everything ran on d&b D80 amplifiers through Lake processing, tuned with Smaart.
Front of house and monitors each ran a DiGiCo Quantum 338 with Waves SoundGrid, sharing SD racks on stage. Monitor world covered 16 d&b M4 wedges laid out to the orchestra’s stage plot, 24 channels of Shure PSM1000 in ear monitoring and 14 channels of Shure Axient Digital radio for Andra and the guests, plus a large mic package for violins, accordion, cimbalom, brass and drums. See more of our concert sound.
Lighting
A circle, a giant X and 115 fixture positions.
The rig hung over an 18m wide stage: a circle truss at the centre, four diagonal trusses forming a giant X around it, a row of moving heads along the stage edge and a front truss for key light. The lighting plan numbered 115 fixture positions, enough for beams fanning into the roof, gobos across the audience and a tight special for every guest.
Five lighting technicians built and focused the rig, with a followspot picking out Andra from the back of the arena. See more of our concert lighting.
Behind the build · LED layout
Mapping the screens.
The front elevation of the three screens: a 17m x 7m main screen of 238 cabinets in two halves, seven data runs a side, and two portrait IMAG screens of 3.5m x 6m, each snake cabled in three runs. Every port and every run was mapped before the screens went up.
Behind the build · Lighting plan
The lighting plan.
The rig from above: a circle truss at the centre, four diagonals forming an X, a back truss, moving heads along the stage edge and a front truss over the audience, across the 18.29m stage. All 115 fixture positions keep their unit numbers from the show plan.
Behind the build · Stage plot
The orchestra’s stage plot.
Violins, accordion, cimbalom, double bass, wind and brass on the orchestra riser, drums and accordion on the upper riser, and the front line for Andra and her guests. Each section has its own wedge mix, with monitor world and its cue wedges at the side of the stage.
Project gallery
See the room. See the detail.
Real project photography from the finished event.
The stage and the screens
The 17m main screen, the two IMAG screens and the beam rig over the orchestra.
Andra and the arena
A sold out Wembley from the stage, from beams across the crowd to phone lights in the roof.
Portraits
Andra and her guests in traditional dress, lit from the rig.
The project team
Made together.
- LED, lighting and sound
- Kudos AV
- Artist
- Andra with Orchestra Frații Advahov
- Client
- Enjoy Events
- Venue
- OVO Arena Wembley
Arena concerts and large cultural events
Planning a show at OVO Arena Wembley?
Project questions
Planning a similar event?
Useful answers based on the production delivered for this project and the way Kudos AV approaches comparable events.
01What did Kudos AV provide for Andra’s Traditional 2 at OVO Arena Wembley?
The LED screens, lighting and sound: a 17m x 7m LED main screen and two portrait 3.5m x 6m IMAG screens, a d&b audiotechnik J8 and J12 arena PA with full monitor world, and a lighting rig of 115 fixture positions, with the crew to build and run it all.
02How big was the LED screen at Wembley?
The main screen was 17m wide and 7m high, 238 cabinets of 3.9mm LED at 4352 x 1792 pixels. With the two portrait IMAG screens either side, the show carried 161m² of LED. See our LED screen production.
03What sound system works for a live orchestra in an arena?
For this show, a d&b audiotechnik system modelled in ArrayCalc: flown J8 and J12 main hangs, V8 and V12 side hangs, a J-SUB and J-INFRA sub array and Y7P front fills, with DiGiCo Quantum 338 consoles at front of house and monitors and Shure PSM1000 in ear monitoring for the musicians.
04Is OVO Arena Wembley the same as Wembley Arena?
Yes. The arena on Engineers Way has been called Wembley Arena, SSE Arena Wembley and now OVO Arena Wembley. It is a separate building from Wembley Stadium. See our events at OVO Arena Wembley.
05Can you work with a touring artist’s own production team?
Yes. Traditional 2 brought a travelling team of around 130 people from Romania. We supplied the screens, sound and lighting to the show’s design and running order and worked alongside their team from get in to get out. Send us your brief.
Planning your event
Event production at OVO Arena Wembley
Planning a concert or large cultural event at OVO Arena Wembley? Start with the show design, the audience plan and the get in and get out times. Share your rider, running order and any touring production so we can plan LED screens, IMAG, arena sound, lighting and crew around them.
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