Three Shows, One Hot Summer: July at Full Volume

Oh, what a busy summer we’ve had! Three huge shows back‑to‑back — Bristol Sounds, Bristol Pride, and Bristol Harbour festival— made July both fantastic and brutal with this summer’s heat. These events are our signature portfolio at King Sound, and we couldn’t be more grateful to our clients for their ongoing loyalty and trust. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at what made each event so cool this year:

1. BRISTOL SOUNDS (25–29  June)

Held once again at the stunning Lloyds Amphitheatre on Bristol’s Harbourside, this year marked the 11th edition of Bristol Sounds.

This is their official promo capturing the spirit and scale of the show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYF97jf7QCI

And here’s a couple of our owns video capturing the great atmosphere! We’re very proud of providing top class audio, crew and stage management for this amazing event — massive thanks to the team and partners who made it happen:

  • Supergrass kicked us off on June 25 with a rip‑roaring performance of their full debut album I Should Coco, celebrating its 30th anniversary — a nostalgic treat for indie‑rock fans.

  • Kaiser Chiefs, true festival veterans, brought high-energy classics like I Predict A Riot and Ruby with their unmistakable stage charisma.

  • Texas and The Fratellis drew strong crowds mid‑week and Saturday respectively, delivering sing-alongs and electric guitar moments that lit up the Harbourside.

  • Olly Murs closed out on Sunday with an upbeat, feel-good pop set — boosted by support from Lucy Spraggan— leaving everyone dancing and smiling.

The mix of iconic headliners, from 90s indie with Supergrass and Fratellis to pop charisma with Olly Murs, truly catered to all tastes. The Harbourside venue, combined with well‑organised logistics — dedicated wristbands, staggered door times, and accessible transport — made it a seamless experience. Food trucks, vibrant support acts, and that unmistakable Bristol energy sealed the vibe!

2. PRIDE 2025 (12 July)

Pride remains one of the true highlights of the summer for King Sound.

What sets it apart year after year is its vibrant, inclusive atmosphere — colourful stages, drag performances, and immersive art installations all come together to create a joyful celebration of diversity and unity. Add to that a dynamic mix of live music, Circus and of course Cabaret performances, and a crowd that radiates belonging and liberation.

And of course, technical finesse is key: King Sound’s staging, lighting, and PA systems ensure every act — from headline names to emerging local talent — delivers a flawless performance. We provide full technical production for the event across five stages including our 15m Orbit stage for the main arena, our XXL trailer stage on the Cabaret an Alustage truss stage on New Music and another Stagemobil LR stage on the dance area. We deployed L-Acoustics systems across all four outside stages with K2, Kara II and Kiva II all on duty. It’s a pretty big show these days with 38,000 through the gate and one in, one out queuing to access the 25,000 capacity site most of the day.!

This year, crazy July temperatures made rigging a real challenge and we resorted to some early starts and the odd overnight shift to get everything set in time. We are on-site for 10 days for this one day show and our hard working crews really earned their money showing some super human skills to counter mother nature’s efforts to cook us all. In the end Pride day went without a hitch and this inclusive, celibrationary, quirky and very ‘Bristol’ event lived up to reputation of being a true highlight of the year.

3. BRISTOL HARBOUR FESTIVAL (18-20 July)

Our third flagship show this summer, Harbourfest, once again transformed the waterfront into a buzzing festival arena — a tradition we've proudly continued for 26 years. We now are the sole technical supplier for the event with six areas benefitting from our sound, staging and lighting production.

Highlights included:

  • Eclectic line-up spanning folk, rock, electronic, and world-music acts — something fresh for every audience segment.

  • Waterfront atmosphere with food vendors, craft stalls, and interactive zones giving the event a carnival-like, family-friendly charm.

  • Seamless transitions between stages thanks to King Sound’s staging efficiency, which kept things flowing without the usual bottlenecks.

Despite the intense July heat, feedback was overwhelmingly positive — great atmosphere, smooth logistics, and performances that felt fresh and well-curated.

Summing up:

July felt like a marathon — packed, hot, and exhilarating. But with our trademark attention to detail, smart scheduling helped manage the heat and energy levels, technical excellence delivered crisp sound and seamless transitions, and engaging production turned each show into an unforgettable experience for both clients and audiences.

All of this was made possible by our incredible crew and, above all, by the continued partnership and confidence of our clients. Here’s to many more summers like this one — though maybe a little cooler next time!

Need pro audio, staging, lighting or festival support? King Sound Reinforcement are one of the few companies around with the capabilities to help. We specialise in being a ‘one stop shop’ for multi stage events — with a vast array of equipment to call on, our own transport fleet and decades of experience. We’ve proven time and time again we can do it!


Get in touch: kingsr.com – or drop us a line via Instagram @kingsoundreinforcement.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! King Highlights - 2022

Here at King Sound, we’ve had a fantastic, fruitful and very busy year but we made it through and enjoyed every part of the challenge.

We provided audio, lighting, stage management and crews for the multiple shows with the audio package featuring our brand new L-Acoustics K2 system. We’ve maintained our relationships with many long term clients as they’ve recovered from the lost Covid years. Our Orbit festival stage has been very busy with our Layher upgrades being well received by all.

We’ve also taken on more full time staff, upgraded our vans to EU6 standard and launched our dry hire website, which has brought many new customers. Its been a high tempo period but its been great!

A little 'thank you' gift this Christmas for our clients

As we cruise towards the end of ‘22 and enjoy the festive period, we’d like to pause and say a heartfelt thanks to all our customers and friends for their continued faith in our fiercely independent and proudly Bristolian company as our growth continues.








New StageMobil XXL stage — just in time for Christmas!

Great news for King Sound just in time for Christmas! We’ve wrapping up 2022 with another big purchase to upgrade our hire equipment stock. Meet our brand new StageMobil XXL mobile stage!

We’ve recently placed an order and expect it to arrive in time spring. We are taking bookings now for Summer ‘23 and beyond!

Stagemobil exclusively specialises in mobile event systems and have been leaders in in the field since 1997. We’re always looking to expand our staging portfolio and, having hired in one of these excellent units for many events in 2022, we have taken the decision to invest in our own.

Why it’s particularly special?

Well, conventional stage systems are familiar to most people. Typically, they require a great deal of time and energy to build, not so with Stagemobil — the principal difference is that this stage can be towed to site then constructed within 30 minutes, with a maximum of 2 people involved in the process.

This extremely short set-up time helps to significantly save the costs whereas simple handling saves the additional use of on site plant and minimises background noise during assembly and dismantling.

With 10 m x 6 m of stage area and a clearance of 4.60 m, the XXL Mobile Staging creates an impressive space for imposing and sophisticated stage design. Due to the extensibility with side wings for rigging PA or branding, this mobile stage generates a genuine rock ‘n‘ roll feeling at any festival!

The weight of the mobile platform (3500 kg) eliminates the need for additional ballasting which is another nice bonus when it comes to impact on-site, cutting transport requirements and boosting sustainability. Despite its impressive size it can be operated quickly and easily – disassembly is as quick as set-up so, once any technical equipment is removed, a clear site can be only minutes away!

This stage is perfect for bands, festivals and events where a quick set-up is needed. With the sound wings on the XXL stage you can fly 500KG of audio per side.

QUICK FACTS:

  • Dimensions (as the trailer):  L 11,70 m x W 2,54 m x H 3,95 m

  • Dimensions (as the stage):  W 10 m x D 6,10 m x H 6,30 m x Clearance H 4,60 m

  • Height of stage floor: 1,20 — 1,40 m

  • Floor capacity: 350 kg/m2

  • Roof capacity: 1.050 kg

Come check it out, we’re confident it will be one of our most popular stages. Of course we are also able to equip the stage with high end sound and lighting options and provide any crew needed to deliver your next event.

Happy Holidays and see you at hire.kingsr.com soon!

K2 Arrival: King Sound Reinforcement is the largest stockist of L-Acoustics in the South West!

L-Acoustics Rental Partner, King Sound Reinforcement takes delivery an L-Acoustics world renowned K2 system! Affectionately dubbed as “lightweight heavyweight” in the industry, the K2 system is a high end, rider friendly large format line array system.

Really excited to be featured by L-Acoustics who have published a story about our K2 purchase!

Read a full story here!

It’s been long time coming but we were finally able to take delivery of 24 L-Acoustics K2

Adding to our existing stock of Kara II Kiva II systems, this latest investment cements King Sound as the largest stockist of L-Acoustics in the South West.

We look forward to enjoying the K2 during the crazy busy summer and beyond. Meanwhile we’d better give a good clean as it’s back from the fantastic Queen’s Platinum Jubilee concert last weekend at the palace 👑 🔊🇬🇧


Bringing #BRISTOLTOGETHER at Christmas 2021 with 24 beautiful lighting projections!

Hi everyone! Holiday season is upon us and we wanted to share one of the jobs we’re part of and really enjoying — lighting up some iconic Bristol buildings this Christmas!

Expect glowing building frontages, Christmas movie quotes and famous song lyrics across the city centre -- from Arnolfini and St George’s to Cabot Circus (incl. King St, Corn St, Broadmead and Bristol Shopping Quarter) to Waitrose on Queen’s road. 

The project is part of the bigger Bristol City Centre BID’s #BRISTOLTOGETHER initiative (we were part of their #LoveBristol campaign earlier this year designing and installing glittering disco balls in Bristol’s streets). This Christmas their festive arts campaign ‘Bristol Adventures’ promotes the recovery of the city, bringing together many wonderful local business to help create a festive trail. 

Now in its second year, Included for this year is Redcliffe and Temple BID, which means even more iconic locations and sites added to the project.

The projections started on November 17th near Park Street and Queens Road with Cabot Circus and Redcliffe sites joined on November 24. Further cheery messages appear on buildings every night up to December 1st when Harbourside and Old City lights go live, full festive lighting stays in place till December 24th, giving Bristolians a chance to take in every one of the 24 sites.

Our busy team of ‘Lighting Elves’ has worked tirelessly to bring this year’s light trail to the life and here are some snaps featuring the beautiful, huge projections! 

Hope you enjoy and if you can, please do come into the City Centre to explore over a mile of festive lightings and perhaps enjoy the areas that you might not usually visit.

Watchet music festival 2021 production

Festival Production from King. Great to be back in action this busy weekend after long lockdown. Our 15M Orbit is out at Watchet Music Festival, we are also doing main stage audio on the show. Great to get all the toys out including some L-Acoustics. We have limited availability next year for our full production package including stage, lights and audio. Please get it touch - 2022 will be a busy one! Enjoy our video and photos from last two days…

DAY 1.

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DAY 2.

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New PA Towers from ALC truss

Check out our new PA Towers from ALC truss as our founder and MD, Paul King is sharing some cool features of these powerful structures in this new video! They join our existing rigging stock of ALC S60 10m towers. Exquisitely designed product from an excellent Belgian company. Available to hire from today!

Bringing sparkle onto Bristol's streets! #LoveBristol campaign from Bristol City Centre BID.

Our wonderful team worked hard this week (definitely not easy in the extreme temperatures!), installing bespoke street decorations in Bristol’s City Centre as the city continues on its path to recovery. 

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We were commissioned to design, produce and install the glittering and fully functional disco balls in Bristol’s streets to mark the last stage of reopening the city’s businesses as part of the #LoveBristol campaign from Bristol City Centre BID.

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A giant pink heart was installed on King Street along with huge disco balls on Corn street, St Nicholas street, Harbourside and Frogmore street.

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We are very excited here at King Sound to be part of this fantastic project. The last 18 months of restrictions have seen many businesses (including our city’s world renown restaurants, bars, clubs and venues) hit hardest so we share their excitement to be able to re open finally and safely welcome people back. We also fully join in the BID’s campaign message that says lets ’’enjoy the city centre, whilst being respectful of each other and putting safety at the heart of everything we do’’!