Commonwealth Games 2022

In 2022 Delta Live were awarded the sole audio provider contract for the 2022 Commonwealth Games Ceremonies in Birmingham, after a competitive tender process against the UK’s largest rental houses. The scope of works for this contract consisted of the design and supply of a complete audio solution with broadcast integration in the Alexander Stadium. This covered the opening and closing ceremonies, and all offsite rehearsals. This project lasted a total of 11 weeks, with many months of pre-production prior.

The PA solution utilised twenty-four ground stacked arrays of L-Acoustics K2 and KS28 subs used exclusively for the opening and closing ceremonies, and sixteen flown arrays of KARA II with KS21s for public address. The entire solution required over four hundred line-array cabinets, two hundred subs, and one hundred and fifty amplifiers. The volume of equipment was more than one rental provider could be reasonably expected to own; in this instance we relied on our international rental network to supplement our stock of loudspeakers and amplifiers without passing on a cost to the client.

To manage all signal distribution around the stadium, twenty-four Optocore node points were set up on the ground and in the roof, with sixteen managing local PA returns, and eight managing inputs into DiGiCo mixing consoles from all around the field. All microphone inputs were actively split to broadcast teams and back-up SD-Racks. The entire system relied on duplication of all equipment and signal paths, with even multiple mixing consoles running in parallel during the broadcasts in case of failure.

The Opening and Closing ceremonies hosted tightly choreographed performance art alongside quick moving musical segments with artists such as Duran Duran, UB40 and Black Sabbath playing live. Delta managed all artist requirements, including monitoring, radio mics and IEMs, with multiple redundant paths and equipment for added resiliency. The majority of artist and performance rehearsals occurred off-site, requiring duplicate setups and crews to piece together the final show viewed by audiences all around the world.