LINEAR LIVE

2025 IN PICTURES 
A busy, exciting year on the road. A massive thank you all the clients we worked alongside this year: @craigdavid @the1975 @dermotkennedy @jcstewart @franz_ferdinand @bombayinsta @thecranberries @rteconcertorchestra @shawnmendes @mgaband @247productions A special thanks to the audio vendors, manufacturers and world-class crew that made everything happen: @forfey @clairglobal @eighthdaysound @murtwhelansound @solotech_uk_group @digico.official @rupert_neve @audioscapeaudio @audioscape_uk @ikmultimedia Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous new year! [Hollywood Bowl photo by @thomasfalcone ]

The new ARC ON EAR is a great companion studio or live - this will be my go to for tailoring my headphones to a custom curve (similar to my PA target trace) or use as a DAC for hotel mixing. Thanks @ikmultimedia !

Had a lot of fun demoing the @wavesaudio LV1 Classic - a very powerful little console, it packs a lot of punch!

Thank you to the team at @l.acoustics.official and @forfey for facilitating a week of K and L-ISA training in Belfast. Wonderful to catch up with the team as well as seeing a lot of familiar faces across the various days. A special thank you to @ianvennard and The Lyric for allowing me to stay behind and nerd out with the L-ISA system on demo at the theatre one evening. A very inspiring mixing experience!

@the1975 || Glastonbury 2025 I’ve found it hard to put this experience into words but I’ll give it a go. Over the past month, the band and crew poured everything into creating something truly special and i’m so proud of everyone involved. Mixing a Pyramid Stage headliner has been a dream of mine for the longest time. Hundreds of hours of programming, fine-tuning, and pushing the boundaries all led to this moment. Somehow, I even found time to look up and take it all in! Thank you @the1975 and @dirtyhit for trusting me to be part of such a monumental occasion. Massive love, hugs and thanks to the audio dream team: @francois_pare @jamietinsleyaudio @baztymms @david_mcphee

Phenomenal FOH Engineer @leemcmahon (The 1975, Lizzy McAlpine, Pale Waves) uses our D-Comp and Opto Comp as part of the analog processing for his incredible live sound work. Thank you for choosing us, Lee. We love your sound! ✨ Head to the link in bio to grab yours! ⚡️

t o u r s p o t l i g h t - @asiwyfa_music Ten years since his last outing with the Northern Irish post-rock band, FOH engineer @leemcmahon was delighted to rejoin the team for a short UK tour showcasing their new album, Megafauna. In collaboration with @forfey , McMahon designed and commissioned an audio control package that could easily scale up or down depending on venue size, while offering maximum flexibility. At the heart of the system was a @yamaha_proaudio_official DM7C, chosen for its power in a compact footprint, along with Rio3224 and 1608 D2s, all networked via @cisco switches. This was complemented by a range of outboard gear from @linear_live stock, including @soundperformancelab Transient Designer on drums, @rupert_neve 542 Tape Emulators on guitars, and the @audioscapeaudio D-Comp on the music bus. @lakeprocessing LM44 was used for system drive and @rationalacoustics Smaart V9, @cockosreaper , and @prodcom.io were all utilized at FOH via Dante Virtual Soundcard. Drum microphones included a mix of @shure , @audio_technica , and @akgaudio models, with a special mention for the @draliensmith Alien8 on kick drum duties. Guitar mics were a combination of @seelectronics VR1 ribbon mics paired with SM57s, and vocals were captured using the iconic SM58. Working closely with lighting designer @aimee__lights , a timecode solution for lighting was created using the band’s Cymatic playback system, allowing offline programming from multitrack recordings of the band’s rehearsals. A big thank you to the band/management for having us onboard again, and a special thank you to the team at Forfey for supporting this tour - as well as facilitating production rehearsals at their Belfast HQ. Photos by @ok_odessa

Today is the last day you can vote for @tpimagazine Awards 2025! Link in bio👆

t o u r s p o t l i g h t - @lizzymcalpine LINEAR LIVE director Lee McMahon was invited by @thebeehive_la to act as FOH engineer for the UK & European leg of Lizzy McAlpine’s critically acclaimed ‘Older’ world tour. This unique production showcased Lizzy’s exceptional songwriting and musicality, with a design that placed the live performance at the center of the experience. Inspired by the concept of bringing the recording studio onstage, the goal was to present her music in its most authentic form. When McMahon stepped in to finish the tour, taking over from James Butera, he was committed to preserving this vision. Audio control for the tour was provided by @clairglobal , who supplied both FOH and monitor systems with @digico.official Quantum 338 consoles. The predominantly Dante-based ecosystem supported Aviom personal monitoring on stage, as well as mic preamps from Rupert Neve Designs and AMS Neve. The show’s carefully curated microphone and DI selections included the DPA d:facto for Lizzy’s vocals, alongside AEA, AKG, Shure, Sennheiser, and Rupert Neve Designs mics throughout the input list. To further capture the studio sound on the road, the production featured an extensive array of analog outboard gear. At FOH, McMahon used a pair of Universal Audio Apollo 16 interfaces to provide DSP emulations of classic studio gear, paired with Rupert Neve Designs 5059 Satellite summing mixers and Master Bus Converter. This was combined with Rupert Neve Designs MBT and 5045, an API 2500+ compressor, an Empirical Labs Distressor, a BSS 901 EQ, and Audioscape’s Opto Compressor and D-Comp. For effects, McMahon also incorporated plugins from Valhalla DSP, Liquidsonics, and Eventide, all hosted on a Mac-based LiveProfessor rig and nearfield monitoring powered by IK Multimedia. Monitor engineer Alice Asbury, assisted by touring audio technician Matt Fury, also had a vast array of outboard gear to shape the on-stage sound, including the Universal Audio 1176 compressor, Empirical Labs Fatso, Rupert Neve Shelford Channels, and Bricasti M7 and Lexicon PCM96 reverb units. Photos by Deanie Chen, Alice Asbury and Matt Fury