Martin Audio helps Boney M Rock 40th Henley Festival

This year marked the 40th anniversary of Henley Festival, which brought its combination of music, comedy and art. Martin Audio was deployed once again at the event, which utilised the MLA Compact, the Wavefront Precision Mini and several more of their speakers for the different stages.

Providing audio for the festival since 1983, RG Jones has used Martin Audio for the majority of his time at Henley. It’s a relationship that’s remained while the programme has changed from a fully classical programme to many more genres of music in recent years. 

The main stage this year featured performances by Sir Tom Jones, Craig David, Katherine Jenkins, Jack Savoretti, The Script and Pete Tong with the Ibiza Classics Orchestra.

The main stage, known as The Floating Stage, had its sound system managed by system technician Mark Edwards, using design by sound engineer Simon Honywill. The site is three times wider than it is deep, with three arrays on either side of the structure. 

Nine deep hangs of Martin Audio’s MLA Compact were on the outer arrays, and the inner coverage used four deep Martin Audio Wavefront Precision Mini, plus W8LMD frontfills.

The Bedouin Bar was run by Rosie Terrant, with a Martin Audio DD12/SXC118 system deemed most suitable for folk and world music. The Jazz Tent used an MLA Mini system, while The Riverside Restaurant mixed the dance band on a W8LM/WLX system.

Commenting on providing the sound for Boney M in the Big Top, Honywill said, “The result was one of those one-off joyous things which make you realise why you still do this for a living.”

This year’s event also saw LIPA student Sheridan Burns working at the event and with Honywill as part of Henley Festival’s RISE programme. Looking to support new talent, the programme’s first year saw Jones selecting Burns as the winning candidate for the 2022 event.

Regarding working with the TORUS system, Honywill said, “This is a great product; it has great flexibility while maintaining the musical, signature Martin Audio sound that I love so much. We had to redeploy the system into a 270° DJ system after Boney M finished.”