A 153-year-old London venue, the Royal Albert Hall is a highly flexible space with various stage configurations and performance locations. It hosts diverse events, such as rock/pop concerts, orchestral performances, spoken word performances, sports, ballets, ballroom dancing, book launches, and poetry. Events rotate in and out quickly, so the venue requires a reliable, scalable communication system that can accommodate the high turnover.

Bolero provides more channels, better infrastructure, and better range, compatibility, and connectivity than the hall’s previous system. It also offers efficient configuration for a range of different events. Interoperability with other equipment means that it is ready to go if issues arise. For example, when a visiting production’s own wireless communications system failed midshow, the crew maintained continuity by switching to the Bolero system employed by the Royal Albert Hall.

The Bolero sees daily use as a production communications and talkback system. Communication extends beyond traditional stage teams and show callers. A “shout system” allows front-of-house and monitor engineers to communicate. Separate communication rings simplify interaction for lighting/show callers, audio teams, and production. The venue can increase the size of the system for complex productions by adding extra rings.

Likewise, when a large-scale event requires more than the 10 wireless packs already in permanent inventory, the venue can easily scale up by renting additional packs or antennas. For example, the 2024 Olivier Awards needed 30 packs, plus additional Riedel Artist mainframes and panels. In that scenario, the in-house system interfaced with a large Artist setup serving 30-plus users across various site locations.