Three years have passed since Frankfurt Messe last staged Prolight + Sound. As the entertainment world attempts a system reboot following the lengthy pause, the lights and electronics are slowly flickering on. There are signs of life, and we are slowly moving away from a world defined by video conferencing rooms, furlough schemes and face masks. Alas it’s slow and the Messe Frankfurt organisers failed to simultaneously reignite both entertainment technology and their own fortunes over the four-day exhibition.
The 2022 edition was the first Prolight + Sound without Musik Messe, which exists online only. Having evolved from these musical instrument roots as its own tradeshow platform in 1994, the show floor grew immensely over the following decade, welcoming more theatrical and concert sound manufacturers together with producers from the world of lighting and video solutions. In turn they drew an audience of dealers, distributors and end users from the entire world. It was the show and Frankfurt was the hub. The advent of an installation wing, CAVIS was thwarted by the ISE juggernaut and, over time, the Amsterdam exhibition diverted the attention of exhibitors and attendees alike from the Frankfurt show. For the past 10 years, disappearing exhibitors did not return and, with it, the gravitas and appeal of Frankfurt waned. Empires rise and empires fall.
Hall 11.0 was this year’s audio hall. Audio innovators are pioneering new IP networks, ease-of-use products, immersive technologies and greener solutions, but the organisers opted to fill up 30% of the unsold floor space with museum exhibits including old Martin Audio, EV and JBL loudspeaker systems dating back to the 1970s. Just as the audio levels rose to uncomfortable volumes later each day, these exhibits spoke volumes of the show organiser who appears to be harking back to the past and better times.
The smaller exhibits, however, yielded several gems. Premiering its MAILA line array system on the eve of the show at its Neu Anspach headquarters north of the city, LD Systems was in buoyant mood. CEO Alex Pietschmann offered some reflections. “As the first Prolight + Sound show since 2019, there was a lot more light than sound. It’s clear that volatility and uncertainty together with digitalisation is set to stay for some time. Exhibitions need to reinvent themselves in close collaboration with exhibitors. Live experiences are coming back stronger than ever because nothing beats being together in real life and looking ahead there needs to be clear added value and an element of magic and the unexpected at every live event.”
Pietschmann is a passionate advocator in sustainability and as such participated in the first Green Event Day. An attempt, perhaps, to provide further value for the €35 daily entrance fee, the organiser provided several attractions. Focusing on sustainability, the Green Day event blended presentations, keynote speeches and panel discussions from industry experts that would shed light on the status quo, future goals, specific solutions and best practices.
The entire Future Hub was built using recyclable materials and totally powered by green electricity. Aimed at a younger audience, the Future Hub combined a start-up area, career centre, campus and network lounge for connecting talents with companies. In addition to systems for live sound reinforcement and fixed installations, Studio Village enticed those looking for music production, recording and DJ-ing products in a standalone section. Manufacturers of microphones, signal processors, monitoring solutions and recording interfaces provided a background in the Studio Lab workshop area. Outside, the Live Sound Arena allowed listeners to experience the four large PA systems.
Like Adam Hall, DAS Audio was keen to showcase the fruits of its labours with a wide range of new technological solutions aimed at live and commercial installations. The LARA large-scale sound reinforcement system took central stage, the Integral Series of commercial sound solutions and the ALMA control and monitoring software took a more supporting role, and the Event-26A two-way powered line array system was demonstrated outdoors. “We have returned to Frankfurt in order to present our new speaker system LARA,” explained director of engineering, Javier Navarro. “The summer festival season is upon us, so the timing of this trade fair is great for us.”
Having taken multiple booths in previous shows, HK Audio toned down to a single booth where it served pastas and artesan gins. On display, its latest Cosmos line array rubbed birch plywood shoulders with the Move 8 and Sonar loudspeaker systems. L-Acoustics prefers to network in style but it also highlighted the latest L-ISA Studio software and the L-ISA II AVB processor. Debutants from Poland, NAV, promoted its line array and point source speaker systems attracting interest from potential new distributors as far away as South Korea. But the hole created by the absence of RCF, d&b audiotechnik and FBT was overwhelming.
Kling + Freitag presented a passive three-way line source in PIA M with patent-pending features. The column integrates a vertical opening angle of the tweeter array that can be adjusted mechanically, while the woofer housing can be switched between cardioid and bass-reflex mode using a smart mechanism. Preferring to network rather than display its products, speaker manufacturers such as EV, KME and Pan Acoustics presented a bespoke offering from their catalogues. Located in an upper-level demo room some distance from the show floor, Meyer Sound demonstrated its immersive speakers including the UP-4slim and Ultra Series enclosures with the SpaceMap Go software.
Austrian Audio, Microtech Gefell and Mipro were on display, but microphone brands such as Audio-Technica, beyerdynamic, Sennheiser and Shure have been absent for some time now. No DiGiCo, no Yamaha or any concert sound mixing consoles, but Lawo presented its diamond, mc²56 audio and mc²36 all-in-one broadcast and production consoles in addition to the A__UHD_Core. “As NAB is currently being staged in Las Vegas, we decided that the Prolight + Sound exhibition setup focus on IP-based products and solutions for theatre and live applications,” explained Lawo PR manager, Wolfgang Huber. “With this hands-on IP environment, we are demonstrating the leap in IP technology flexibility.”
Similarly, Riedel also divided its teams between the broadcast-centric NAB and Frankfurt, where it opted to promote a live IP link with Wuppertal ROC and present updates to its Bolero comms platform.
In contrast to the audio hall, the lighting and staging exhibits in Hall 12.0/12.1 were generally busy and vibrant. Exhibitors included ADJ, Ayrton, Chauvet, Clay Paky, Elation, ETC, Eurotruss, GLP, Harmonic Design, MA Lighting, Robe and SGM. It felt like the exhibition of yesteryear during the first two days as new fixtures beckoned with greener energy savings and IP65 themes in vogue.
As the first show to open at Messe Frankfurt, the organisers may feel that the 2022 edition is merely blip in its fortunes until travel restrictions disappear and there is a return to “the normal”. Echoing Alex Pietschmann, this exhibition needs to reinvent itself. However, before it conducts a tradeshow update, Prolight + Sound must consult with its exhibitors, past and present.
Hans Christian Stucken, AV Stumpfl:
"There’s been a great longing in the industry for people to get back together again. Although the first few hours of day one were surreal, it seemed in many ways like we were here only yesterday. Prolight + Sound is significant for several reasons. As a family-owned Austrian company, Frankfurt is the perfect place to meet German, Swiss and Austrian customers in addition to a number of international visitors involved in the rental and staging business. It is important for us to get direct feedback following the launch of our Pixera Four server. We are also showing for the first time our Any Shape product that can project mobile frames and realise these in all shapes and forms and as big as you want.
"Because of our real-time rendering power and 3D geometry capabilities within the Pixera media server system, the XR sector has become increasingly more important to AV Stumpfl. It’s a new domain and as such a plug-and-play solution for skilled professionals doesn’t yet exist as multiple components need to be synchronised to operate in unison. XR is still in its infancy, and it reminds me of projection mapping 15 years ago, but there will be much more streamlined workflows coming of age in the next five years."
"This used to be the biggest event for us prior to the pandemic. At our last showing here in 2019, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the company. In many ways, it feels like yesterday when we were here, and we are happy to be back as none of us were able to travel over the past two years. In addition to bringing the new products from the past few years, we have parked our new Robe on the Road truck outside Hall 12. This is a mobile showroom with many of our lighting fixtures and it will cruise across Europe, including appearances at the main festivals this summer for welcoming lighting designers."
"We are happy to be back and reconnecting with our friends in the industry. Over the past two years, we developed new products including the Black Marble floor in a 2.8mm pixel pitch in addition to fixed installation products. Although we have met some designers from the XR community, in addition to some installers, we really come here to touch base with the European rental companies. Our expectations were low as we had no idea how it would be post-pandemic, but the first two days of the show were busy."
"Interacting and meeting up with our clients in the industry is central at everything we do. Frankfurt presented itself as the first real opportunity to do this and it has been good. We all arrived with modest expectations and in comparison, to previous shows here and it’s a lot smaller. However, many agree that the show is better for it as there is an intimacy and enthusiasm. As such, this presents itself as a fascinating inflection point for the show as many assume that the show is diminishing its standing as there are other things changing in the calendar with ISE now in Barcelona. There is a lot of support to stage a show in a northern European venue."
"As a visitor from Johannesburg, it marks the first trip abroad in almost three years. The main reason was to meet our suppliers including L-Acoustics, Robe and DiGiCo. It was a big decision to make, but it has been worthwhile as I have had some amazing meetings with people and connecting with old friends again for the first time in three years. After all those Teams and Zoom meetings, it feels wonderful to meet people again."
Glenn Lin, Adam Hall Asia:
“It’s good to come together again after the long lockdown we experienced in Asia generally and to see familiar faces and new products. As we’re still in the pandemic, I thought that this would result in a low crowd, but I am amazed to see so many people here and without having to wearing a mask. The energy is here, and it feels fantastic.”
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