Islington Assembly Hall upgrades FOH and monitor control with dual Allen & Heath dLive consoles

Background and context

Table of Contents

Islington Assembly Hall, one of north London’s busiest mid-size live music venues, has installed a new digital audio mixing system as part of an ongoing technical refresh.

The 1930s venue, which reopened in 2010 after refurbishment, regularly hosts a broad mix of artists and genres, from major touring acts to emerging performers. Its calendar spans folk, blues, electronic, pop, soul, rock, metal and R&B, placing varied demands on its in-house sound system and visiting engineers.

With a steady flow of touring productions and freelance crews, the technical team has been working to standardise infrastructure and ensure that the front of house (FOH) and monitor positions can accommodate changing show requirements.

Key announcement

The venue has adopted an Allen & Heath dLive configuration at both FOH and monitors, supplied by London-based audio specialist Patchwork London.

The new setup comprises:

An Allen & Heath dLive S5000 surface at FOH
A dLive S3000 surface at monitors
Two DM48 MixRacks, each providing 48 inputs and 24 outputs
Dante 64×64 networking cards installed in both MixRacks

Patchwork London became involved after a site visit in December 2024, when Senior Project Manager Chris Parker met with Islington Assembly Hall Technical Manager Tom Watt to review options for replacing the venue’s existing mixers.

According to Patchwork London’s Sales Director, Louis Jemmott, the process began with demonstrations of a more compact dLive C1500 surface and CDM32 MixRack. The venue team ultimately opted for the larger S-Class surfaces to better suit their channel and control requirements, while still maintaining a relatively small footprint at FOH and on stage.

Watt highlighted the importance of layout, operating speed and desk size for a busy room that handles frequent changeovers. He pointed to the dLive interface as a factor in streamlining show builds and troubleshooting, particularly under time pressure.

Industry impact

The installation reflects a wider trend among mid-size venues toward rider-friendly digital platforms that can serve both house engineers and visiting crews.

Islington Assembly Hall regularly receives touring engineers who are already familiar with Allen & Heath systems, including dLive. Having an S5000 at FOH is intended to reduce the need for additional rental consoles, cut changeover times and provide a more consistent experience for artists who move between UK venues of similar scale.

The inclusion of Dante networking in both MixRacks also aligns with broader adoption of networked audio in live sound, enabling straightforward integration with external recorders, broadcast feeds or additional I/O as production needs evolve.

Why this matters

For venue operators and production managers, the move underscores several ongoing priorities in live sound installations:

Standardisation for touring acts: Choosing a widely specified console platform can reduce friction for visiting engineers and lower additional equipment costs.
Efficient workflows: Intuitive control surfaces and flexible routing help in-house teams manage tight turnarounds and mixed-genre programming.
Space-conscious design: Larger channel counts need to coexist with limited FOH and monitor real estate in historic or multi-use rooms.
Networked audio readiness: Dante-enabled infrastructure supports recording, streaming and multi-room routing without major future overhauls.

For Allen & Heath, the project adds another high-profile London venue to the dLive user base. Details of the dLive S-Class range and DM Series MixRacks can be found on the manufacturer’s official website at allen-heath.com.

As venues continue to balance heritage spaces with modern production expectations, deployments like Islington Assembly Hall’s offer a reference point for similar rooms weighing when and how to refresh their core audio control systems.