Loud and Proud with the PA-SYS-ONE

Life in London is rarely dull, but few dates in the British capital’s calendar are as joy-filled as Pride in London, the annual parade celebrating diversity and LGBTQ+ rights.

Loud, proud and filled with music, the 2019 parade took place on July 6^th, drawing more than 1.5 million people onto the city’s streets. Among them were members of the inclusive urban aquatics club Out To Swim, who donned their swimming costumes for a jubilant dance routine on Regent Street, complete with sound reinforcement by Flipside Soundsystem and TW AUDiO.

Marking 50 years since the birth of the modern LGBTQ+ movement, Pride in London 2019 has been hailed as the city’s largest and most diverse Pride parade to date. For fast-rising audio hire and installation specialist Flipside Soundsystem, it offered the opportunity to show support for the event with a unique mobile sound solution – a TW AUDiO PA-SYS-ONE, mounted on a moving vehicle.

“Pride in London is always special, and the idea of working with Out To Swim as they performed a dance routine down Regent Street was just too good to miss,” explains Flipside Soundsystem’s Harry Day. But there were challenges to overcome.

“The audio solution had to be compact – it needed to fit on the back of a truck or even a curtain side van, as space is always an issue and we didn’t initially know which type of vehicle we were going to use,” he continues. “We also needed to achieve very high SPL. We knew that was a must-have. Active loudspeakers might have done the job, but to really cut above the sound of the enormous Pride crowd and to make the statement that Out To Swim deserved, we needed a professional solution. TW AUDiO was the right answer.”

A long-standing TWAUDiO favourite, the PA-SYS-ONE system comprises two T24N full range tops supported by four B30 subwoofers. For the Pride parade, Flipside Soundsystem added two M12 enclosures as side fills. Power for the PA-SYS-ONE was courtesy of a SYSRACK-L with a Lab.gruppen PLM12K44, while an FP 6000Q powered the M12 fills and a Lake LM26 handled loudspeaker management.

“To solve the SPL requirement, we knew we could look straight to a PA-SYS-ONE,” says Day. “The T24N has amazingly high SPL output so using it was a no brainer – two of these cabinets coupled with four B30s is one hell of a system.

“Plus, of course, it’s compact – in particular, the B30s are incredibly compact. That meant I knew I would be able to find a suitable vehicle. I already knew the system could perform extremely well so I was very happy when Out To Swim gave the go ahead for the solution.”

Speaking for Out To Swim, club member and event organiser Michael Cox is equally enthusiastic: “This year, for the first time, Out To Swim dazzled the crowds with music, choreography, lewks and fanography. It was our first pride march with music and a choreographed dance routine. It was therefore important, with this new format, for us to hire a dedicated partner to bring the event to life.

“Flipside Soundsystem took our concept and suggested vehicle/speaker packages to match our budget. They were professional, responsive to emails and agile to adapt to changes. The TW AUDiO speakers were crisp, clear and very loud. We even had people from other floats comment on their great quality. The march went fantastically well, the crowds went wild and our members had a great time. We look forward to working with Flipside again next year.”

“Having roots in being a loudspeaker manufacturer ourselves plus the fact that we’re all audio guys at heart means that we love how music makes people dance, smile and ultimately have a great time,” Day finishes. “Music allows people to express themselves as they want and sometimes in ways that they never knew they could – and that’s exactly what Pride does as well. We’re very proud to have been part of Pride for another year, this time with TWAUDiO to make people really, really shake their behinds!"