To mark the close of Bradford’s year as the UK City of Culture in 2025, tube uk provided the sound for the closing performance Brighter Still, held at Myrtle Park (Bingley).
More than 10,000 attendees and thousands of viewers watching online were able to enjoy a high-quality audio experience at this special event.
Based in Manchester, tube uk collaborated with sound designer Pete Malkin and Bradford Culture Company, the charity responsible for delivering this landmark year for the district.
Brighter Still was a multimedia show combining large community choirs, solo vocal performances, pre-recorded music, dance and special effects. It was created and directed by Dan Canham and Emily Lim, featuring a community cast of over 200 people and nine professional performers. The project was commissioned by Bradford 2025’s creative director, Shanaz Gulzar.
The project featured a d&b sound system designed for an in-the-round circular setup. It included almost 50 radiofrequency channels with personal, headset and handheld microphones, as well as an extensive fibre optic network and a Green-GO communications system with coverage of up to 120 metres.
The system design and project management were led by Melvyn Coote, and it was implemented on site alongside Bradford 2025’s Director of Production Ben Pugh and Production Manager Hannah Blamire. Melvyn and his five-strong sound crew faced extreme weather conditions — torrential rain, strong winds, thick mud and freezing temperatures — to ensure that the shows, presented over two nights, sounded flawless as Bradford’s cultural year came to an end.
A series of striking moments from Brighter Still reflected “all the hopes and possibilities of what is still to come when we unite as human beings in an explosion of joy and positive energy for the city”, said Emily.
The performance space was a 60 x 60 metre area with a circular stage at the centre and four runways extending from it at 90-degree angles, each ending in a small circular platform. The action unfolded across these points, with 5,000 spectators per show positioned in the four quadrants between the runways, surrounding the space and ensuring everyone was close to and engaged in the performance.
It was a challenging environment for sound design, requiring ingenuity and unconventional solutions — a task Melvyn approached drawing on tube uk’s extensive experience in outdoor events and special productions. A left and right array of d&b V-series with Y7P front fills and a KSL-SUB was installed to cover each of the four quadrants.
Each of the four platforms had its own dedicated system to reinforce voices, consisting of six d&b E8 speakers mounted on 6-metre-high poles, ensuring visual and sonic consistency. The main systems acted as delays to support sound between platforms up to 60 metres apart, while the outward-facing E8s helped maintain a defined local sound image in each area.
The sound radiated from the centre, supported by the platform speakers projecting it outward. This complex and unique design was the result of multiple strategies developed over several years to deliver the richest and most complete sound for this type of event, explained Melvyn.
For control, tube used a large network infrastructure, with the backbone based on NETGEAR M4250-26G4F-POE AV Line switches. The network architects were Adam Taylor and Harry Park.
Most of the show’s sound came from a playback source composed by Warren ‘Flamin’ Beatz’ Morgan-Humphries and Benji Bower (also musical director), with sound design and programming by Pete Malkin. Everything was played back through QLab running on two Mac Studio machines.
The QLab file contained around 120 audio cues for the 45-minute show, making the pace intense and fast-moving. The Mac Studios played back via Dante into a Yamaha DM7-EX console, which sent the stems to a Yamaha DME7 DSP engine, used as a multi-point delay matrix to perform all the calculations needed for balanced and rich sound throughout the system configuration.
The amplifier rack and radio receivers were located beneath the west runway, where incoming fibre signals were distributed to three Yamaha RIO3224 stage boxes and three d&b DS10 network bridges, feeding 12 d&b D80 amplifiers and six d&b D20 units.
The wireless microphone system included 42 personal belt-pack microphones, combining Sennheiser SK6000 and SK5212 models, plus two SKM5200 handheld microphones, chosen for their reliability and sound quality. Each personal microphone was fitted with a DPA6066 headset microphone. In total, up to 46 RF channels were used, including an additional pair of handhelds.
The Green-GO communications system had to cover 10 stage entry and exit points, each with an assistant stage manager, making optimisation a major challenge. In total, 16 wireless and 8 wired belt packs were in operation.
The system operated over a 120-metre range using six new Green-GO STRIDE antennas, allowing wireless belt packs to roam seamlessly and ensure the coverage required. “It worked brilliantly,” noted Melvyn.
Alongside Melvyn, Adam and Harry, FOH sound operator John Redfern was mixing from an enclosed space, managing the rapid-fire cues, while Melvyn provided on-site supervision. Matt Waltho served as the PA technician, and Stuart McPartland was kept extremely busy managing nearly 50 wireless microphones, with the miking process starting at least two hours before each performance.
This show presented many unusual challenges. The space design, the scale of the setup, the number of microphones, the location and the weather conditions all made it complex. While our previous experience was a great help, it also allowed us to keep learning and improving in every aspect. It has been a pleasure to collaborate with an exceptional creative and production team, sharing the same passion for delivering a great show. It was truly inspiring to be part of a project that reflected the strength, diversity and potential of the human spirit, explained Melvyn.
Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, a year-long celebration for the city and district, has laid the foundations for long-term transformation through its cultural programme, welcoming more than 3 million people, alongside training opportunities, education initiatives, artist development and capital investment.
Shanaz Gulzar concluded: “Bradford 2025 has created a powerful narrative for our city and district. We are grateful to tube uk for their incredible effort and for being part of the extended team, helping to make this extraordinary year a success. Having also worked with tube uk on our opening event, Melvyn and his team have helped share Bradford’s rich cultural life with the world”.
Photos: James Glossop, Pete Malkin and courtesy of the tube uk team
