Shard of class
Access talks to Daniel Andrew, the multi-disciplinary mastermind behind View
from The Shard’s Summer of Music festival
How did the project get off the
ground?
I know The Shard’s inlay
very well, and had a dream of
having an intimate series of live
performances to do justice to the
views. Over my career, I’ve had the
right dialogues to understand the
building’s needs, and, as an agent,
I’m able to get the right acts and
provide something unique for the
space.
I’m lucky to have worked on
several projects which have
transferable skills, including the
Jack Rocks campaign, and being an
A&R at Metropolis.
It’s very much about curating
the right experience for fans when
EVENT DATES
04.08.18 – George Shelley &
Toby Anstis
10.08.18 – The Hoosiers, Eliza
& The Bear & Lauran Hibbard
11.08.18 – Roberto & Katie
Thistleton
17.08.18 – Showhawk Duo &
Karen Harding
18.08.18 – Vernon Kay & The
Mac Twins
24.08.18 –Amber Run, Seafret
& Late Night Picture
25.08.18 – Cel Spellman & Will
Manning
31.08.18 – Rickie & Melvin,
Artful Dodger & DJ Pied Piper
01.09.18 – Champagne Party
it comes to music, and I wanted
to produce an event which would
captivate audiences. We had a lot
of conversations about how we’d
go about doing this, and how the
space works. We’d done nothing
like this.
What makes the Shard a unique
spot for events, logistically?
I love the building, and the way it
looks different from various angles.
Even the two tone colouring on the
facade looks different, depending
from where you view it.
Up close, sometimes it looks big,
sometimes, narrow. I always think
SEPTEMBER | FEATURE
it looks a bit like the tower in the
Lord of the Rings.
There’s much to take into
consideration from a planning
perspective when you’re 1,000 feet
in the air. And, because it’s an event
space, the staging and comfort
is vital. It’s another way to give
people a new perspective of the
building and combine music and
visuals.
Much of the infrastructure is
there already. It’s a multi-complex
building, with a diverse array of
spaces including a viewing gallery,
the Shangri La hotel, 30 floors
with different businesses, and
restaurants including Hutong. We
call it the ‘vertical city’.
When planning an event series
such as Summer of Music, it’s vital
that we take into consideration
that this is a living, breathing
building. Being well organised is
crucial.
The building is so clever, it has
a bit of movement in it, it’s a crazy
bit of engineering you can see from
the top. We’ve had the Queen visit,
we once had Daft Punk, and we’ve
even had a live piano up there for a
Global Citizen event.
We are lucky to have such a well
thought out building. Its designers
had thought of everything. I can’t
imagine working on a similar
building 30 years ago. Putting the
music on Floor 72, which is open
top, is very different from floor 69,
which is more intimate and closed.
Both areas will be accessible for gig
goers.
How did you research the event
series’ viability?
I’ve been lucky to work with
some great audio experts, who
work with brands including
Porsche, in fact, he’s my production
problem solving guy. I asked the
experts ‘how realistic is this?’,
and they provided some in-depth
3d graphs and technical
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