Shure Distribution UK put the wireless into the Wireless Festival

Shure  Distribution UK (SDUK) supplied 12 channels of Axient, Shure's flagship  wireless microphone system, and 18 channels of PSM 1000 in-ear  monitoring to PA and sound services company Britannia Row Productions  for use at Live Nation’s recent Wireless Festival, which took place from  July 12-14 and featured acts including Jay Z, Justin Timberlake, Snoop  Dogg, Nas, will.i.am, Calvin Harris, Tinie Tempah and A Tribe Called  Quest at London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

"All UK summer festivals are busy, but Wireless is one of the  busiest, with over 190 acts taking to the stages over three days this  year," explains SDUK's Tuomo Tolonen. "Different acts are on different  stages simultaneously all weekend; it's the very definition of a crowded  RF environment, and this against the background of generalised spectrum  scarcity thanks to the recent Digital Switchover. Fortunately, Axient  is designed precisely for events like these, offering high channel  counts even where the available RF spectrum is restricted, and with  extremely effective resistance to interference, plus the ability to find  interference-free frequencies and switch seamlessly to those in the  event of a problem. The PSM 1000 systems have also been popular at busy  events like Wireless, as they're the only true-diversity in-ear systems,  with two identical antennas - and the RF noise floor stays really low.  At events where the scope for interference is high, such as venues with  lots of LEDs, PSM 1000 is the perfect choice."

Axient was used on the main stage all weekend with a selection of  Shure capsules, including KSM9 and Beta, while the PSM 1000 in-ear  monitoring systems supplied by SDUK became the 'in-house' IEM systems on  the festival's Pepsi Max stage. Justin Timberlake also used 12 channels  of PSM 1000, as part of the personal equipment carried by his  engineers.

Lez Dwight of Britannia Row Productions adds, “This was Wireless  Festival’s first year at the 2012 Olympic site, and after having heavy  audio restrictions for many years in Hyde Park, all involved on the new  site, from the engineers to the paying public, were treated to a truly  great‑sounding outdoor event. Tuomo really helped us out with the Axient  and PSMs; we had planned to use them on the Pepsi Max stage, but so  many of the American artists on the main stage requested Shure mics, we  switched the Axient handhelds to the main stage.”