Paul Weller Live at the Barbican

Paul Weller is no stranger to performing live with an orchestra and the evening tracked his career from the early work with The Jam to brand new songs alongside invited special guests Boy George, Celeste and James Morrison.  Weller remains one of the most successful British singer-songwriters of all time, recognised for pushing the boundaries of his musical genres.

Phil Wright has been working with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for more than 20 years. As a specialist in orchestral sound reinforcement Phil has been responsible for a number of high profile pop / orchestral collaborations over the years with artists including Celeste, Lianne La Havas, Laura Mvula, Paloma Faith, Guy Barker, Jamie Cullum, Kerry Ellis, Sir Brian May, Sir Paul McCartney & Ministry of Sound.This spring, the BBC Symphony Orchestra planned a collaboration with Paul Weller, with orchestral arrangements by the renowned composer / conductor Jules Buckley. Due to covid the concert had to be delayed until May, and it was not possible to have an audience in the venue, but the concert was broadcast online by Barbican TV and will be repeated on BBC TV & Radio in June.

When Phil was approached by the BBC to handle the live sound elements of the project, Phil turned to RG Jones based on their unparalleled experience in classical music.  The company provided a DiGiCo console & stage lines system as well as D&B M4 monitors and Sennheiser IEM systems. A large compliment of high-end condenser microphones was utilised with the BBC and RG Jones sharing the supply duties. Phil’s long time partner-in-crime Leigh Davies was responsible for stage, and Ollie Weeks was responsible for RF & Guest artists.

With the project rehearsing in the world famous BBC Maida Vale studios and then moving across to the Barbican concert hall for the show, RG Jones provided additional crew & transport to facilitate the load-in and out of the rehearsals and the concert. The artists including Paul Weller, Steve Craddock, Celeste, Boy George and James Morrison were all extremely complimentary about the stage sound, and the BBC team were very happy with the sensitivity we were able to demonstrate towards the broadcast sound.

This exciting collaboration is the latest in a series of innovative concerts from the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jules Buckley featuring non-classical artists.