New sound system for London’s "Underworld"

Nobody seems to know how long the Camden Underworld already exists – it seems forever. It always has been, is and will be the UK’s number one venue for Rock, Metal and Alternative shows. Little is promoted about the history of the venue, although it dates back to the opening of the pub above, The World’s End, where Charles Dicken’s was named as one of its patrons.

Over the years the Underworld has become the heart of the alternative music scene in England. The legendary venue itself, as the pub above, is nowadays owned by the Glendola Leisure Group.
A privately owned company, calling a large number of public houses and bars in the capital its own.

Despite its relatively small size compared to other London venues, the Camden Underworld has gained a reputation as one of the foremost clubs to see both up and coming and well established bands from around the Rock and Metal music scene. Artists and bands who played there include Bad Religion, The Cranberries, The Foo Fighters, KT Tunstall, Magnum, Placebo, Queens of the Stone Age, Radiohead, Sheryl Crow, Slash’s Snakepit, Soundgarden, The Offspring, to name but a few.

In December 2015 the club has undergone a complete make-over including the installation of a brand new sound system. Venue manager Brendan Lucey decided on TW AUDiO’s T24N in combination with B30 subwoofers after hearing the system demo by Andy Linklater, TW AUDiO’s support in UK. “The clarity and power of the system in a compact package impressed us immediately. It sounds truly amazing. Other systems we had listened to didn’t come close. Also the feedback from the visiting sound engineers is very positive”, states Mr. Lucey.

The requirement for a powerful and high quality system was fulfilled by the installation of 4 x T24N and 6 x B30 subwoofers, all powered by Lab.gruppen D series amplifiers. The rear bar area of the venue was supplemented by 4 x M10 loudspeakers powered by Lab.gruppen IPD amplifiers.

The T24N was the perfect choice for the acoustically challenging venue with its low ceiling and high volume stage levels. The B30 subwoofer was chosen for its transient response and tight controlled sound.

2 x T24N were flown either side of the triangular stage, with the B30s fitted under the front of the stage to save space. The whole system was time aligned to the mixing position which is sited off centre. A beam steering on the subs was done to improve the sub coverage and behavior in the venue.

“Having toured with the T24N and B30 combination in the UK for the last six months, I knew this system would provide the required sound pressure levels to cut through the high stage volume whilst maintaining high quality audio”, says Andy Linklater. With the support from TW AUDiO’s technical team in Germany the system was installed quickly without the need to close the venue.