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UK – The Rebellion Festival is the largest independently run punk festival in the UK. Hosted inside Blackpool’s historic Winter Gardens, the festival features more than 300 live acts spread across six stages. Held over four days, it brings together tens of thousands of punk fans, musicians, and artists from across the globe.

For the year’s event, multiple Martin Audio Wavefront Precision line array solutions delivered the necessary power and dynamics, including in the Winter Gardens’ magnificent main Ballroom, the Olympia Room (known as Club Casbah for the event), and the Conference Room.

The festival rigs were supplied by Liverpool-based dBS Solutions. “In the main Ballroom, we deployed an all–Martin Audio system centred on WPL large-format line arrays,” explains James Roberts of dBS Solutions. “Club Casbah featured a WPC system, and we worked with the Winter Gardens team to manage and supplement their existing WPS system installed in the Conference Room.”

THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME RUNNING MARTIN AUDIO WPL IN HERE. IT SOUNDED GREAT AND WE HAD HEADROOM FOR DAYS!

The complete Ballroom setup comprised 10 Martin Audio WPL line array elements per side, supplemented by 12 Martin Audio SXH218 subwoofers deployed in a cardioid castle wall configuration. Eight Martin Audio WPS sub-compact line array elements, arranged in four pairs of two, provided front-fill coverage, while a pair of Martin Audio FlexPoint FP12s served as outfills. The Martin Audio coverage continued on stage with XE500 floor monitors, alongside a pair of TORUS constant curvature arrays ground-stacked on a pair of SXC118 subwoofers on each side as side fills.

“The Ballroom is a large space; it’s stunning, but it has a lot of reflective surfaces,” notes Roberts. “We were able to use Martin Audio’s Hard Avoid® feature via the iKON amplifiers – particularly targeting the huge curved ceiling – to help bring down the natural reverberation in the room. That helped immensely. The castellated sub array also worked very well in providing substantial rejection back onto the stage.”

In Club Casbah, the system comprised 10 Martin Audio WPC elements per side, paired with eight SXH218 subwoofers in a cardioid configuration, while six Martin Audio XE300 wedges provided stage monitoring.

Finally, in the Conference Room, the Winter Gardens’ house system of 12 WPS sub-compact line array elements per side was supplemented by dBS-supplied Martin Audio FlexPoint FP12 cabinets as stage monitors.

“This festival is a very fast-paced environment,” Roberts adds. “We have over 120 bands across our stages during the four days of the festival. The Martin Audio systems have been fantastic – exceptionally quick and easy to deploy. We have a crew that knows the systems inside and out, which helps us achieve the sound quality and consistency we need across every room.”

The final word comes from front-of-house engineer Arran Azz Culpan, who has mixed the Ballroom stage at Rebellion for many years. “It’s a fantastic gig,” he concludes. “Rebellion is like a big family, the whole punk scene is amazing. I know this room very well, and this was my first time running Martin Audio WPL in here. It sounded great and we had headroom for days!”

UK – The Millennium Forum, a major theatre and conference centre on Newmarket Street in Derry, Northern Ireland, has celebrated its 25th anniversary by investing in a Martin Audio WPS Wavefront Precision sound system, supplied and installed by Rea Sound.

Opened in 2001, the city’s first purpose-built theatre seats around 1,000 people. “We’ve been working with them really since they opened,” begins Roger McMullan, Director, Rea Sound. “We installed the original PA system and installed or upgraded other elements of the system over the years.”

After close to 20 years, the venue began considering upgrade options around two years ago, with Rea Sound involved as part of a wider discussion on the venue. “We established they were looking for a lot more headroom, clearer sound and better coverage,” explains McMullan.

Crucially, the system needed to deliver for a wide range of productions and events. “They do everything from amateur productions for local schools through to one-man comedians, and up to big West End productions,” he says. “They needed a PA that would cater for all they do.”

Having installed Martin Audio Wavefront Precision line array systems in many theatres in Ireland, Rea Sound knew WPS would provide the solution for the Millenium Forum: “We knew Martin Audio has that signature sound that can cater to everything they wanted to do.”

THE NEW MARTIN AUDIO SYSTEM ENSURES THAT NO MATTER WHAT SEAT YOU’RE IN, YOU WON’T MISS A SINGLE SYLLABLE OF WHAT’S HAPPENING ON STAGE.THE NEW MARTIN AUDIO SYSTEM ENSURES THAT NO MATTER WHAT SEAT YOU’RE IN, YOU WON’T MISS A SINGLE SYLLABLE OF WHAT’S HAPPENING ON STAGE.

The team facilitated visits to other theatres for the Forum’s team to hear Martin Audio kit in action before the project was put out to tender in February. Rea Sound tendered along with others and won.

Installation was timed during a short dark window in the theatre’s busy calendar. “They wanted it in as quickly as possible, but it is a very busy venue,” McMullan says. “We needed three clear days, and so it went in early June. We installed the whole thing in those three days and it went very well.”

The installed system comprises 12 x Martin Audio WPS line array elements flown per side, with a further two boxes ground-stacked above a pair of SX218 subs per side. The ground-stacked elements help provide coverage under the lower balcony, where Martin Audio FlexPoint FP6 loudspeakers also act as under-balcony delays.

Alongside the main PA, Rea Sound delved further into the Martin Audio portfolio to specify a comprehensive monitor and infill system. This comprised six LE200 wedges along with four CDD-LIVE 12 powered speakers, specifically selected to cater to the high outputs often required by visiting DJs.

The whole system is powered by a total of 15 Martin Audio iKON series multi-channel amplifiers. Coverage of every seat in the house was a vital component of the design. “The theatre has two balconies: the lower balcony and “the gods,” along with the ground floor stalls, which go quite far back underneath the balcony where the sound desk is located,” McMullan describes. “That was very key to the audio engineers; they wanted to make sure that what they heard at the desk was what the audience heard. The system is able to do that.”

The team created a model in SketchUp before importing it into Display software. Working closely with the technical team at Martin Audio, they modelled numerous configurations to determine array heights and physical placement.

“When I heard the system in the venue for the first time I was blown away by the audio coverage. Every seat is covered,” McMullan notes. “You’re always sceptical about what the models predict, but in Martin Audio’s case it absolutely does match.”

Impressed by the system, The Millennium Forum’s Technical Manager, Chloe Harkin, highlights the difference it will make on both sides of the stage.

“The new Martin Audio system designed and installed by Rea Sound will completely transform the Millennium Forum experience. For our audiences, it will ensure that no matter what seat you’re in, you won’t miss a single syllable of what’s happening on stage. For artists and technical teams, our space will be more accessible and equipped to cater to all scales of production on a level we haven’t been able to deliver before. From theatre and musicals to conferences, rock concerts and community events, this new system will deliver a fully-immersive, accessible, and memorable experience for production staff and audiences alike.”

The project has proved a huge success for the client and a validation of Rea Sound’s partnership with Martin Audio over many decades. “We’ve represented Martin Audio for 40-odd years, so we have a very close relationship,” concludes McMullan. “This project has been an excellent example and delivered a fantastic outcome for the client. The technical manager and sound engineers are delighted, visiting tour companies have given very positive feedback, and as a local company, Rea Sound has even heard audience members tell us how good the venue sounds.”

UK – The Chalke History Festival is the UK’s largest history festival, bringing together many of the world’s most prominent historians, speakers, living history actors, performers, and musicians. The 2026 edition took place in June, drawing 25,000 heritage enthusiasts to the Wiltshire countryside to engage with more than 175 talks, debates, dynamic living history encampments, and live music entertainment. For a festival focusing deeply on the past, event production specialist Hire Frequencies deployed thoroughly modern Martin Audio sound reinforcement solutions across all five stages on the 70-acre site.

“It’s a fantastic festival,” says Will Smith, Founder and MD of Hire Frequencies. “The stages all feature panel discussions and presentations, so we provided a full AV solution including staging, lighting, LED walls, video – we filmed the entire event – and obviously the audio performance was incredibly important.”

As a new technical supplier to the festival, Hire Frequencies was tasked with substantially enhancing the audio performance and coverage compared to the festival organisers’ experiences in previous years. To achieve this, the team turned to the Martin Audio portfolio, where they found solutions for every stage on the site.

“There was a Martin Audio product suitable to cover every audio requirement of the festival,” comments Smith. “The range covers all bases, so there was no need to look anywhere else.”

THE MARTIN AUDIO KIT JUST PERFORMS.

The two main venues in terms of presentations were known as the Guildhall and the Moot.

In both locations, main left and right arrays comprised Martin Audio TORUS T1215 constant curvature enclosures combined with SXC115 subwoofers. Three pairs of Martin Audio FlexPoint Series FP8 8” point-source loudspeakers acted as delays flown overhead, with front fill provided by FP6 6” cabinets. The entire system was powered by multi-channel Martin Audio iKON amplifiers.

“We did the usual DISPLAY programming beforehand to make sure that the coverage was perfect,” notes Smith.

A third venue, known as the Forum, doubled as a presentation space by day and a music venue for evening entertainment. Here, Hire Frequencies deployed Martin Audio’s WPS Wavefront Precision line arrays, ground-stacked five cabinets per side and supplemented by high-output SXCF118 subwoofers on each side. Once again, FlexPoint FP8s were installed as delays, with ultra-compact FP6s acting as front fills.

“Due to the configuration of the site, when the live music started in the Forum we needed to actively control spill into the other presentation venues, particularly the Moot,” explains Smith. “The cardioid subwoofers and Martin Audio’s Hard Avoid optimisation feature really came into their own in this regard.”

Two smaller stages were also equipped with dedicated Martin Audio solutions. The Henge – an open-sided tent – utilised CDD-LIVE 12 and CDD-LIVE 8 coaxial active systems, while an outdoor performance stage featured FlexPoint FP12 12” point-source models combined with a pair of SXP118 subwoofers.

“We’ve had really positive feedback across the board,” Smith concludes. “Speech intelligibility was pristine and a massive improvement on last year. We’ve had nothing but fantastic comments from both the organisers and the audiences. The Martin Audio kit just performs.”