Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Adlib adds sonic magic to O2 Academy Glasgow with Academy Music Group

19/04/2019

Adlib adds sonic magic to O2 Academy Glasgow with Academy Music Group posted: 19/04/2019

Adlib's installation team has delivered another excellent touring spec system - including L-Acoustics and DiGiCo products - to one of the UK's busiest and most successful live touring venues - Academy Music Group's 2,550 capacity O2 Academy Glasgow in Scotland.

It follows similar recent Adlib installations at AMG's O2 Forum Kentish Town in London, and O2 Academy venues in Bristol and Newcastle in the last 18 months, all of which also feature L-Acoustics and DiGiCo combinations.

Led by John Hughes and Roger Kirby, Adlib collaborated closely with Jeff Woodford, applications engineer (installations) and Sergey Becker applications engineer (touring) from L-Acoustics, as the perfect system proved to be a careful blend of the requirements from these two exacting disciplines. Together, they worked with Academy Music Group's Divisional Manager (North), Steve Hoyland.

Adlib also consulted the experience and knowledge of its own production and touring crews and engineers, especially Andy Russell, who all frequently work in the venue which has a theatrical interior, including many original art deco features.

Additionally, O2 Academy Glasgow's Technical Manager Rob Watson and General Manager Chris Johnston had valuable input, as they are well acquainted with the many nuances and intricacies of the environment.

Says Roger, The collective input from all these slightly different perspectives made the process more dynamic and very enjoyable.

The success of the other recent Academy Music Group L-Acoustics installations also played a part and made the L-Acoustics and DiGiCo combination a favourite choice.

The room was initially modelled using Soundvision acoustic profiling software, which suggested that - particularly with its 270-degree seated wrap-around balcony and pros arch design - an L-Acoustics K2 system would produce the best results.

The ultimate objective was to have a versatile system that delivered superb coverage and would work well for live rock'n'roll shows, late-night club nights and spoken word and comedy events explained Steve.

Adlib's Scottish operation had provided similar PAs for some one-off events over the last year, which were a big hit with everyone, so the team was confident that K2 was an appropriate and excellent all-round solution.

It has great reputation within the industry and the PA of choice for many touring artists, often the first option on production riders. We wanted a system that was both high in quality and would stand the test of time says Steve.

O2 Academy Glasgow also happens to be one of Roger Kirby's favourite live UK venues, so he was delighted to be part of producing this sonic excellence. The layout and the d cor - much of it restored in Academy Music Group's original renovations in 2003 - is fantastic, as is the sense of proportion, and shows always have an amazing vibe!

Roger also notes that while 2,550 is a good medium' sized venue, somehow the gigs always feel intimate and personal, which is why audiences love it so much and feel involved.

The new system itself comprises left and right flown arrays of 10 K2 speakers a side - hung from new points - and 12 x L-Acoustics SB28 subs distributed on and beneath the stage.

Four ARCSII a side provide near field stalls fills, joined by two X8 passive coaxial speakers on the centre of the stage apron to fill the area just above and behind the barrier line.

All of these are driven by LA8 amplifiers located in a new climate-controlled amp room that was created in the most recent refurbishment plans.

The FOH and monitor consoles are both DiGiCo SD12s with individual D2 rack stage racks.

In addition to these being popular current touring consoles with which most engineers will be familiar, the choice was influenced by the exceptional training and tech support available from DiGiCo confirmed Roger.

Being a heritage building with Listed status, the ornate decoration, original Art Deco features and plasterwork meant there were plenty of considerations, especially when it came to the roof loading capacity, all of which had to be overcome with Academy Music Group's expertise.

Adlib supplied the two LP1000 D8 hoists - sourced from Merseyside based LTM - to hang the two K2 arrays, and the new steelwork and points necessary to fly these were designed and installed by Manchester-based structural experts, MJ Consulting Engineers.

The venue's power supply has been upgraded to accommodate the new rigging infrastructure and to accommodate all the kit in the amp room.

For monitors, Adlib specified and supplied a sensible general-purpose system to service a wide array of artists, based around 10 of their famous MP4 wedges driven by Linear Research 44M20 amps - a combination that is tried-and-tested, very flexible, sounds brilliant and is constantly out working via Adlib's busy hire division.

A new line system is part of the install together with an input multicore and bespoke patch panels for each of the console breakouts. This new connectivity is part of ensuring that the system is as reliable and rock solid as possible with an amount of future-proofing.

The first artists to have used and benefited from the new audio installation have included Jorja Smith, Richie Hawtin, Glenn Hughes, Daughtry and Rudimental and it's been exceptionally well received by engineers.
LINK: https://www.live-production.tv/news/shows/adlib-adds-sonic-magic-o2-ac...
See more stories from liveproduction

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

21/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: BitFires Colin Bonzey on Growing Spark Platform for Live Cloud-Based Productions

Cloud-based production isnt going anywhere, and BitFire is doubling down by prov...

21/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: AWSs Jason Dvorkin, Regina Rossi on Driving Innovation With Al-Based Workflows

The topic of artificial intelligence has a stranglehold on the sports-video-prod...

21/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: T-Mobile for Business' Jason Schnellbacher on Enhancing 5G for Sports Fans, Broadcasters

5G is still a hot topic in live event production, and this workflow continues to...

21/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: Appears Ed McGivern on Fox Sports Deal, New XM Platform, and VX Software Debut

At the 2026 NAB Show, Ed McGivern, GM and President of Appear US, discusses the ...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Studio Network Solutions launches on-premise AI suite for media production workflows

Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has announced an on-premise AI suite designed for...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Suite Studios integrates file-streaming technology into Frame.io Drive

Suite Studios has integrated its file-streaming technology into the newly announced Frame.io Drive, a desktop application from Adobe company Frame.io. The colla...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Net Insight integrates InSync FrameFormer into Nimbra Edge for media processing

Net Insight has integrated InSync Technology's FrameFormer into the Nimbra E...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Fox Sports selects Appear X Platform for live production infrastructure

Fox Sports has selected Appear as a technology partner to support the next phase...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Diversified appoints Tyler Affolter as Chief Revenue Officer

Diversified has appointed Tyler Affolter as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) to lead the company's commercial organisation. The appointment follows the firm'...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Layercake integrates Bitmovin into Streamcake platform for end-to-end media orchestration

Layercake has formalised the integration of Bitmovin's video streaming infra...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: International Judo Federation extends global content distribution partnership with SES

The International Judo Federation (IJF) has extended its distribution partnershi...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Glookast integrates Cinnafilm Tachyon plugin to enable GPU-accelerated video processing

Glookast has launched the Cinnafilm Tachyon plugin for its Media Producer and Me...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Cadena Tres selects Eutelsat for television signal distribution in Mexico

Eutelsat has entered into an agreement with Cadena Tres, a division of Grupo Ima...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Dolby and TV Azteca deploy Dolby Atmos for free-to-air broadcast

Dolby Laboratories and TV Azteca have partnered to introduce Dolby Atmos immersive audio to free-to-air television broadcasts. The implementation utilises the A...

21/04/2026

Verizon and FOX Entertainment leverage 5G and AI for remote production of Extracted

FOX Entertainment partnered with Verizon to overcome significant production hurd...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Osprey Video to showcase expanded IP infrastructure and orchestration at NAB Show 2026

Osprey Video has announced its technology showcase for the NAB Show 2026, highli...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Riedel introduces IP-based production updates including multiviewer, commentary control and audio connectivity solutions

Riedel Communications (Booth C4908) introduced a range of new solutions at NAB S...

21/04/2026

SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2026, Day 3: Live Reports From the Show Floor in Vegas

The NAB Show is in full swing, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams are chasing down the hottest stories from all over the Las Vegas Convention Center. He...

21/04/2026

NAB 2026: Blackmagic Design Announces URSA Cine Immersive 100G and URSA Cine Live Encoder

Blackmagic Design has announced the URSA Cine Immersive 100G, an immersive cinem...

21/04/2026

Live From NAB 2026: Clark Wire & Cables David McCarthy Showcases New Connectivity, Enclosure Solutions for Modern Broadcast Workflows at NAB Show 2026

Clark Wire & Cable is continuing its evolution from cable supplier to full-scale solutions partner for broadcast and live production. At the 2026 NAB Show, we s...

21/04/2026

Ricky Sensitively Portrays a Post-Incarceration Coming-of-Age

Rashad Frett attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Ricky at Eccles Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, UT. (Photo by George Pimentel/Shut...

21/04/2026

5 Years of Spotify in Pakistan: The Trends Shaping the Country's Music Scene

Five years ago, Spotify arrived in Pakistan, opening a new chapter in the country's music scene. Since then, local listeners have explored across genres, ge...

21/04/2026

The Next Wave of RADAR Spain Artists Arrives for 2026

Since its launch in 2020, RADAR has been our program for spotlighting emerging artists around the world. This year marks the sixth edition of RADAR Spain, our o...

21/04/2026

EverSync SP-10 from Cloudvocal

Offers compact wireless solution for pedalboards Taiwanese audio brand Cloudvocal have announced the availability of a new pedalboard-friendly wireless syst...

21/04/2026

Arturia launch Augmented Persia

Latest hybrid sampling/synthesis instrument arrives Arturia's Augmented series offerings rely on a mixture of sampling and synthesis, allowing users to ...

21/04/2026

Rohde & Schwarz to host Power Electronics Online Conference From Design to Validation in May

Rohde & Schwarz to host Power Electronics Online Conference From Design to Vali...

21/04/2026

MAS and Lockheed Martin Announce F-35 Sustainment Partnership in Quebec

MAS and Lockheed Martin partner to establish an F-35 depot in Canada, enabling in-country sustainment and creating high-skilled aerospace jobs....

21/04/2026

Nielsen data shows Australian outdoor and sport retailers are changing how they advertise to win over outdoor enthusiasts

Advertising strategies shift as competition grows for a large, active and qualit...

21/04/2026

ATSC Celebrates 3.0's Global Expansion

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/04/2026

Cinematic Feel Makes Survivor' Built to Last

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/04/2026

Live Event Technology Expands Fan Engagement

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/04/2026

MS NOW Uses Community to Build Up Its Brand

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/04/2026

Why Broadcast Is Well-Positioned to Safeguard Freedom of Speech

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/04/2026

AWS Demos AI Tools to Deliver Vertical Video

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/04/2026

Video Podcasting Leaps in Popularity

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/04/2026

Audio Systems Get Boost From Cloud and AI

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

21/04/2026

Layercake Deepens Bitmovin Integration to Power End-to-End Media Orchestration with Streamcake

Layercake Deepens Bitmovin Integration to Power End-to-End Media Orchestration w...

21/04/2026

Cobalt Digital Announces Launch of blueCORE at NAB Show 2026: Compact Powerhouse Signal Processors for SDI and ST 2110 Workflows

Cobalt Digital Announces Launch of blueCORE at NAB Show 2026: Compact Powerhouse...

21/04/2026

On-Premise AI Suite from Studio Network Solutions Debuts at NAB Show 2026

On-Premise AI Suite from Studio Network Solutions Debuts at NAB Show 2026 Melanie Ciotti April 21, 2026 0 Comments Unlimited processing, no cloud depe...

21/04/2026

IBC appoints Tim Banham as Chief Commercial Officer to dr...

London, 21 April 2026 IBC today announced the appointment of Tim Banham as its first Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), a newly created role that reflects the or...

21/04/2026

Motion Design Tools - April 2026

Motion Design Tools - April 2026 Roland Kahlenberg April 21, 2026 0 Comments Within 2 days, Maxon and Canva announced pro-level motion design apps - A...

21/04/2026

Chaos and Zero Density to Showcase Real-Time Ray Tracing for Virtual Studios and XR

Chaos and Zero Density to Showcase Real-Time Ray Tracing for Virtual Studios and...

21/04/2026

Diversified Appoints Tyler Affolter Chief Revenue Officer

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...