British troops on exercise in Poland enjoyed a night to remember when BFBS Live Events staged a festival show line up for them in early May. Thousands of personnel deployed to Northern Poland as part of the NATO exercise STEADFAST DEFENDER, the largest land-based exercise in a generation.
BFBS Live Events has a wealth of experience delivering shows in challenging locations and got to work sourcing cast and production for this unique setting. The show was staged in a field, in the middle of the Polish countryside, a challenging spot in terms of resources.
A standard festival location would have burger vans and bars, instead there were armoured vehicles and tanks surrounding the stage. The whole team pulled together, building an impressive production solution to rival festival sites in the UK. The highly skilled British military visits team were also an essential component of the event’s success, supporting road moves and infrastructure needs to ensure smooth delivery on the night.
Angie Avlianos, Manager, BFBS Live Events writes: “When 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team approached us last autumn to see if we could deliver a show for their people we jumped at the chance. The opportunity to show our service personnel how much they are valued by providing them with an outstanding live event is a huge honour. Seeing the beaming faces of our young soldiers made our hearts happy, it’s a night we won’t forget in a hurry!”
The event kicked off with a surprise guest act – Lance Corporal Carl Mason (DJ “CarlosM”) who jumped on to the decks to give the crowd a roaring 30-minute warm-up set at the start of the night. Deployed as part of the exercise, he only found out he was going to get the opportunity on the day. He said: “To be able to DJ up there, in front of all my mates in the regiment, has been unbelievable.”
The festival-style line up continued with comedy from Jarred Christmas and music sets from cover bands Superficial Damage and Boomin. Headlining the night were drum and bass supremos Sigma with MC Degs. They played an hour long set of drum and bass bangers to a joy-filled crowd of soldiers.
Cameron Edwards from Sigma said: “I never thought I’d be in the middle of Poland playing to our troops, I’m very privileged to be here.”
Commander of 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team Brigadier Henry Searby OBE said: “This is a big exercise, it’s a big commitment over here with thousands of troops from the UK. This is a small token to show our appreciation to them for all their hard work.”