With pandemic-era lifestyle modifications largely behind us, live events are back and bolder than ever. According to market intelligence from AVIXA, live events (e.g., concerts, shows) as well as performance and entertainment (e.g., fixed applications) will see very robust growth in the coming years. The venue and events market is forecast to grow from $30.7 billion in 2022 to $47.2 billion in 2027 globally (a 9% CAGR). That means we can expect to reach continual new highs in the years ahead.
Integrators like Scott Schoeneberger, managing partner at national integration firm Bluewater Technologies, headquartered in Wixom, Mich., are seeing large-venue clients ask for more lighting, finer-pixel-pitch DVLED displays and more infrastructure for “crazy-like halftime shows.”
He’s also seeing more requests pertaining to areas on the concourse. Clients want to know how they can make the concourse areas part of “cooler overall experiences” for gameday or for other events that are happening.
Immersive art is also being brought in. Fusing physical and digital-driven artwork, it’s a real attention-getter. “It really changes the dynamic of the space,” Schoeneberger remarks, adding that, even when it’s not interactive, “it’s more visually interesting.”
LED on the Rise
With the cost of DVLED coming down significantly in the last five years and pixel pitches becoming ever narrower, concertgoers and event attendees are going to see a lot more DVLED displays in large venues.
Sony Electronics’ vice president of B2B, Rich Ventura, recalls Elton John’s “Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour,” where the entire stage was an LED. “In the past, you might have some semblances of displays and projection,” he begins. “But the entire stage [and] floor, and it wasn’t even just as a background — it was used as part of the prop. When he left at the end, he was on a little elevator taking him up, and then the wall of the LED opened up to a door and he went through it.” LEDs, Ventura explains, are becoming part of the actual stage, whereas, before, that was not the case.
“The great thing about LED is it doesn’t matter the lighting…it doesn’t matter the location…you can find a way,” Ventura enthuses. “Whereas, with projection, you still have to worry about the lighting, throw distances, angles — all those things.” He adds that, with other display technologies, it’s important to be cognizant of where an event is being held. “[Those factors] make it especially [challenging] if it’s a traveling event,” Ventura adds.
Ultimately, Ventura says, LED introduces a whole new world for integrators, even though some have been doing LED for a while. “I think [integrators] are seeing more and more opportunity around it,” he declares.
One truism is that every LED display must have great content. “I think a big challenge that integrators run into is picking the right software partner [when it comes to signage],” Ventura observes. “There are 400-plus digital signage software companies, however a large portion of the work is being done by a small fraction.” He emphasizes the importance of selecting the right one to work with your application’s needs. For example, he mentions, the client may want business-intelligence analytics, facial recognition, facial detection, etc. “All those different things are important, especially in a public space,” Ventura advises. “You need to make sure you have the right software company that can support it.”
Tremblingly Good Audio
Let’s turn to audio trends in large venues. Bluewater Technologies’ Schoeneberger notes that stadiums are equipping their venues with “crazy, massive line arrays that they’ll pair with the rest of the in-stadium audio and zoned areas.” He calls this a recipe for “things [to] get louder and more exciting,” adding, “You feel it, and everything’s shaking.”
There’s nobody better to ask about line-array speakers than Commercial Integrator’s 2022 BEST Award winner for venue/line-array speakers — namely, Berkeley, Calif.-based Meyer Sound. Tim Boot, the company’s director of global marketing, notes large-scale venues want very powerful sound systems that are flexible and adaptable. Musicians with residencies — for example, those who work in Las Vegas — must be able to come in and adapt the host venue’s sound systems for the residency. That is particularly true when the entertainer does the same performance night after night for weeks at a time. In such a case, the performer wants to “make the space their own.”
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One integrator challenge that Meyer Sound has thoughtfully addressed is line-array speakers’ weight. “Venues are created at all scales, but, certainly, in the medium and large-scale [venues], they may have had a different purpose originally,” Boot begins. “And being able to put high-power systems into these venues, with maybe some structural constraints that came with the venue…basically, [integrators were not] able to hang heavy systems.” He notes that Meyer Sound has solved that weight issue with the PANTHER line. “That’s opened a lot more possibilities [for integrators] to put high-performance, high-power systems into an existing space,” he says with pride.
Boot also notes another trend: Medium and large-scale venues owning more equipment. He counterposes that with the past, recalling, “Historically, stadiums would just have a public-address system.” For content needs beyond that, they’d call in a production or rental company.
Ultimately, Boot advises integrators to look at the flexibility and adaptability of the solutions that they spec for clients. “Make sure that the people who are going to use the venue also want to use the equipment,” Boot recommends.
Ditch the Disposable Mindset
Boot laments what he describes as the disposable consumer mindset, particularly when it drifts into commercial applications. “A lot of venues around the world have been around for decades,” he says. “[The] technology you put it in should last for a long time. I would advise [integrators and clients] to think about the lifecycle of the venue and the types of systems they can put in there to get the greatest value over the long term.”
Summing up, Boot advises, “Have technology that can be used for a long lifecycle, or that can be repurposed for when [the venue] decides that the primary function time is up. Work with a company that can support you long term so that, when there’s a failure, 15 or 20 years in, they’re going to still support you.”
