which of course was a huge ask given that this is an industry that ’ s been through the toughest time of its life over the last two years and the sector is really gearing up with a huge amount of activity planned .”
Nile Rodgers and Chic
‘ maybe and if ’ you have to say , ‘ on this date , at this place , on this TV network , will you come and do this ?’.”
Aside from getting the green light from the highest earning touring artist in the world , Ed Sheeran , Freeman was delighted to book in such a strong group of top talent for the event , not least Manic Streat Preachers whose Spanish Civil War-inspired anthem , If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be
Among the many other individuals and companies to volunteer their services were lighting director Tim Routledge , Chris Saunders ’ s event video specialist Ogle Hog , lighting specialist NEG Earth , Spiritland for TV audio mixing , John Henry ’ s provided backline and Dawbell handled PR .
Says Freeman , “ They came on board early as key suppliers and were all integral to the event being able to go
“ People felt proud of the fact we are an industry that can unite to achieve something remarkable like that .”
Next , he knew would be an extremely powerful element of the show .
Arranger and composer Steve Sidwell also played an important role : “ He ’ s someone I have worked with a lot over the years ; he is just brilliant . Steve and his team put together an incredible group of musicians , all volunteers , meaning we were able to offer a backing band to any artists that needed one .” ahead . We then had to look at other costs . British Airways donated flights that enabled us to bring Nile Rodgers and his band over . We needed hundreds of hotel rooms on site and Hilton Metropole provided them , and Addison Lee gave us a chunk of cars to get people around .
“ At every level people were doing whatever they could to keep costs low ,
Making an impact Freeman says that the atmosphere at the venue during the build and show itself was remarkable : “ Everyone had chosen to volunteer their services , so everybody was there in the right frame of mind and that contributed to a kind of incredible feeling of teamwork and focus . The artists all commented on it , a kind of calmness .
“ When there is no money or commerciality involved it changes the whole dynamic – nobody is walking in saying they are more important than the event . That was very much the case , everybody was just mucking in , and we saw some incredible performances from the artists . I think people felt proud of the fact that we are an industry that can unite to achieve something remarkable like that .”
The show peaked at 3.6 million viewers to become the most watched programme on air during the timeslot . Of the £ 13.4m raised on the day , around £ 3m came from commercial channels , including ticket sales , with the remainder being viewer donations .
“ That is pretty unprecedented , a phenomenal conversion rate ,” says Freeman . “ That works out at an average of around £ 3 per viewer , and clearly not everyone was able to contribute , so that was very generous . It demonstrates that when you ’ ve got such a clear-cut issue and there is such urgency around it , you can use music to reinforce a message to make a very powerful proposition .
“ Clearly we can ’ t all afford to do things for no money in this industry , particularly at times like these when we are recovering from the pandemic shutdown , but we all felt it was the right thing to do , and £ 13.4m was beyond our wildest hopes .”
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