SUMMER | FEATURE
What were the challenges,
logistically and organisationally
this year?
We feel incredibly fortunate
to host Live at Chelsea within
the Royal Hospital Chelsea. It’s
been home to the famous Chelsea
Pensioners for 324 years and
as I’m sure you can imagine
this poses many challenges
throughout the eight days that
we are on site. There are over 300
veteran residents living within
the grounds, plus a large number
of staff and this is something we
are incredibly conscious of at all
times. It’s important that they
can continue their daily routine
without too much disruption
and that the hospital can operate
as normal despite the fact we
are building a concert site and
bringing in 24,000 customers over
the four show days.
Unfortunately, Sir Christopher
Wren didn’t design the site with
us in mind all those years ago.
We have to cross-load all of our
trucks from a service road due
to gate width restrictions, whilst
handballing the stage through
The Octogen, a grand York Stone
hallway between the Chapel
and the Great Hall, where the
Pensioners eat.
Made in
Chelsea
Holding Live at Chelsea in the grounds of a
historic venue requires a delicate touch, says
Kilimanjaro Live event manager Simon Skelt
22
The golden statue of the
hospital’s founder, King Charles
II, is in the middle of Figure Court
which is our concert arena. This
means that as soon as production
have finished their rig we need
to edge the cherry picker past
the statue to be able to finish the
installation of the seating. It’s like
a live game of tetris and the timing
has to be spot on as if we have any
delays it has quite a significant
knock-on effect to the rest of the
build.
We also have to be wary of how
much noise we make throughout
the whole process, especially
during sound checks as the
pensioners take an afternoon
break after their lunch, so we ask
artists to plan around a 4.00pm
start for sound checking, which
then only gives a small window till
we open the gates at 5.30pm.
Having 6,000 people within
the grounds for an evening poses
the most significant challenge to
us as we have to want to ensure
that everyone who comes has a
brilliant time but also respects the
history and home of the Chelsea
Pensioners and the Royal Hospital
itself.
Many of these challenges are
made far easier than they should
be due to the help and dedication
of the Royal Hospital’s staff, most
notably Mark Smith, the operations
manager and head porter Mick
Bolt and his team.
They tirelessly work day in
and day out to help us achieve
a wonderful concert series and
it is certainly something that I
am incredibly grateful for. The
challenges of putting on a show
in this unique venue pales in
comparison to the pure joy we all
have when we see the concert built,
the customers in, the show up and