Brompton Technology Powers Immersive Visuals For Live Aid Musical

Brompton Technology's Tessera LED video processors recently played a starring role in Just for One Day – The Live Aid Musical, helping to recreate the energy of the 1985 "greatest gig in music history." Running through February 2026 at the Shaftesbury Theatre, the production utilized advanced LED processing to transform the stage into an immersive storytelling environment. By pairing four Tessera SX40 processors with eight XD data distribution units, the technical team achieved the high-speed, low-latency performance required to blend live camera feeds with narrative digital content seamlessly.

Written by John O'Farrell, Just for One Day – The Live Aid Musical reveals the untold story behind the greatest gig in music history. The production features hit songs by Bob Dylan, David Bowie, The Who, U2, Queen, Madonna, The Police, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Diana Ross and more of the iconic artists who performed at the simultaneous charitable concerts in London and Philadelphia on 13 July 1985. Booking until 7 February 2026, the show continues Live Aid's charitable legacy with 10% of all ticket sales going directly to The Band Aid Charitable Trust.

The production utilised four Brompton Tessera SX40 LED video processors (two primary and two backups) paired with eight Tessera XD data distribution units, all supplied and integrated by Stage Sound Services. The INFiLED DB2.6 LED wall comprises the majority of the physical set on stage; a three-sided box that is five metres high and 10 metres wide, with two sides measuring four and a half metres long, creating a complete U-shape that surrounds the entire set. A band platform sits in the centre of the U-shape, with the cast performing just downstage.

The production's technical requirements are particularly demanding, as Video Engineer and System Designer, Dan Trenchard, explains: "One of the key components for Just for One Day was latency. The production is designed to tell the story of the Live Aid concert, so a lot of the moments in the show are captured on live camera and then displayed on the LED wall. Because audiences are so much closer to the action in theatre as opposed to a stadium, latency between live action and then what's displayed on the IMAG screens becomes much more noticeable. That being said, we know that Brompton is the fastest we can get."

The video wall remains on throughout the show, serving both narrative and scenic roles. It displays everything from story-driven content to live camera feeds, with projection on flown gauzes adding further visual layers. The three-sided configuration also significantly impacts the lighting design, as Trenchard notes: "By virtue of it being a three-sided box, it also has a huge effect on lighting. It emits so much light at the cast that it was important for us to work with the lighting design team to balance this out."

The production demands exceptional colour accuracy at low brightness levels, utilising Brompton's advanced processing features throughout. Trenchard explains that theatrical applications require a different approach than traditional live events: "In theatre we don't run these products bright; we actually run them at 20% most of the time. So the Dark Magic, Studio Mode, and Extended Bit Depth features are being used all the time." This low-brightness operation allows the production to fully exploit Tessera's capabilities while maintaining the intimate atmosphere required for theatrical storytelling.

Meanwhile, dynamic brightness control is essential for the show's varied visual moments. "We always use the Live Control of brightness," says Trenchard. "We tend to hover around maximum 1,000 nits as a default, but we also like to bring it all the way down and all the way up to full brightness in some moments. We want all of that to be controlled by our media server on cue over time, so live IP control is very important to us." 

The production team has also developed a custom control interface using the Brompton API, enabling show operators to quickly fail over specific parts of the system, plus monitor freeze status, blackout status and other critical parameters in real-time.

"We're very familiar with Brompton so there were never going to be any surprises for a new show," notes Trenchard. "We're often in contact with Brompton and the support has always been really great. We always get quick responses. If a problem comes up, we need it fixed ASAP, so having a UK-based company with international support is super useful."

"Just For One Day – The Live Aid Musical demonstrates how our LED processing solutions enable theatrical productions to create immersive visual experiences that honour the scale and energy of legendary live music events, while maintaining the technical precision and reliability required for eight shows per week," concludes Patrick Goodden, Technical Sales Manager (UK and Ireland) at Brompton Technology. "It's exciting to see our technology helping to bring this iconic moment in music history to life for new audiences."