BBC 1Xtra Live Tour

This week I was lucky enough to leave my usual desk job and work as a runner on the BBC 1Xtra Live tour, which was broadcast live on the Red Button and online. Working as a runner is often cited as a starting point for many people who want to 'get into TV', so I was grateful to be asked to go as these jobs are highly sought after! Fortunately my biggest responsibilities were fetching cups of tea for the Director, which meant I had loads of free time to use my AAA pass to wander around backstage and gawp at celebs. The OB trucks were set up outside each venue (1xtra were also broadcasting on the radio), and a tour bus was used as a makeshift studio to film links and interviews (which got pretty cramped at times. It was really interesting to see how a BBC TV production works (including observing the strict pre-watershed regulations!). I could talk about my experiences this week for hours, but I'm wary of going into detail about work-related stuff online so I'll leave it there for now. Although I'm still aiming towards a career in live music events rather than telly, it gave me a great insight and I'd love to do it again. And I got my first production credit on the final show!

I got to see a lot of artists live that I wouldn't have normally gone out of my way to see. Kendrick Lamar delivered a string of hits from his debut 'Good Kid, m.A.A.d city' to an eager crowd in Brixton, and Disclosure's succinct DJ set in Birmingham featuring a live version of 'Latch' was a treat. Standing on stage of the Liverpool Echo Arena watching Plan B was probably one of the biggest highlights, and I was surprisingly impressed by sets from Rudimental and Labrinth. I also loved Wiley and Skepta's medley of BBK classics (minus JME!)

These are a few snaps of my week!