Is Spatial Audio The Future Of Live Music?

What’s being touted as the first spatial audio music festival will be held in London from May 2nd through the 4th at the Italian Terraces in South East London’s Crystal Palace Park. Polygon Live LDN aims to make history and pave the way for the future of live events. Despite the prevalence of Dolby Atmos in commercial theaters and the growing popularity of spatial audio in streaming media, spatial audio is almost impossible to find in live events outside of a handful of dedicated venues, like The Sphere in Las Vegas. Many Audioholics readers are devoted fans of sound innovation and lifelong music-lovers, yet most of us have never been to a fully immersive soundstage at a concert or festival. There are some pioneering groups putting on such events, but they’re only just starting to gain visibility. One such pioneer is a company called Polygon, which is promising to reimagine the live sound experience and take spatial audio to spaces never thought possible. Polygon believes that spatial audio can exist “beyond headphones. Beyond controlled environments. To fields and festivals. To parks and arenas. To dance floors and installations near you.”

To that end, Polygon has designed enclosed hemispherical domes that can be constructed on-site for outdoor concerts and music festivals, and then moved to the next site, not unlike a high-tech circus tent. These domes are “rigged with more subs and speakers than any concert of its size you’ve likely attended before,” according to Polygon. The company’s spatial sound engineers work with the artists to mix their sets specifically for the 360° Polygon Live stage. Specialized hardware and software are used to create what Polygon calls “a cocoon of sound,” putting the listener at the center of music “moving around you from all angles.” The live music experience becomes a combination of “3D sound and immersive art,” according to the company. The domes also feature a lattice of “perfectly synchronized” lighting. The network of LEDs is “programmed to shimmer, pulse, and swirl with the music.” Adding another element to the multi-sensory experience, the artists can select delicate scents to be dispersed at key times. Polygon says that the experience is like a live wire running “direct from the ears and eyes and nose to the heart and mind.”

It feels like a vortex. You’d be transported to another dimension if the dancing didn’t keep you grounded.
...And you’re going to dance. We guarantee it.

— Polygon

Polygon’s domes use a 12.1.4 immersive system comprising 12 L-Acoustics speaker arrays around the audience, a wall of “festival-grade” subwoofers, and four overhead line arrays “raining crystal-clear sound from above,” according to Polygon. The total count comes to nearly 100 speakers in 26 unique positions. Polygon says that’s five times as many speakers as you’d find at a typical stage of similar size. Of course, it’s not just the number of speakers that defines good sound. Polygon uses a complex system to spatialize the music, paying special attention to how it appears to move around the audience.

Step into our space and you’ll immediately notice how different it sounds. This isn’t stereo. Far from it. This is spatial audio. 360 degrees of music moving around you, above you, through you. Every element teased from the original track to create a completely immersive soundscape. The bass thundering from below, bells tinkling behind you, high hats climbing to a crescendo overhead. And you’re at the heart of it all. …Polygon places you inside the music. It sounds better than anything else on the planet. Apart from the laws of physics, nothing’s holding us back.

— Polygon

The Polygon Live LDN Festival

From May 2nd through 4th of 2025, Polygon Live LDN will transform Crystal Palace Park into “a multi-sensory playground,” according to Polygon. For the first time, the company will erect two hemispherical domes side-by-side, for double the space and double the sound. The global debut of Polygon’s dual-dome design will allow for a larger audience. Polygon thinks that using two smaller domes, rather than designing one bigger one, will allow the company to avoid compromising the sound quality and intimate experience that Polygon stages have become known for. The domes will be entirely covered, so attendees will stay warm and dry regardless of the weather.

Our events are big enough to be wild and small enough to be intimate. You’re never far away from our artists, our speakers, or our lights. It’s how music was always meant to be enjoyed. We turn concerts into music experiences that change you.

— Polygon

The lineup is still being finalized, but it seems to focus on electronic music with “exquisite grooves and powerful beats” that will be accentuated by the domes’ “mind-bending system,” according to Polygon. Artists who have committed to perform in 360° live spatial audio include the following: Tinariwen, Nitin Sawhney, Arooj Aftab, Gold Panda, Cosmo Sheldrake, Max Cooper, Weval, Kaityln Aurelia Smith, Halina Rice, Jon Hopkins, and Photay.

I think the demand for immersive or spatial audio is largely driven by our desire for experiences that we can’t get at home. Events, productions, and installations that involve all of the senses have become a source of interest. We want to go to shows that offer something different, that amaze us, and show off the latest innovations — in terms of what we see, hear, and feel. And we want to share them.

— Jordan Tani, Product and Technology Marketing Engineer at L-Acoustics

VIPs Enjoy Unique Audio Experience

Many music festivals sell VIP packages offering perks like fast-tracked lines, access to a VIP backstage area, and private bathrooms. But at Polygon Live LDN, VIP customers get a “truly exclusive space that has been carefully curated for discerning audiophiles and music-lovers who accept nothing but the best.” The VIP backstage area prioritizes sound, and includes a viewing platform with its own dedicated spatial audio sound system, allowing listeners to experience full spatial audio without needing to go into the crowd. “It’s the energy without the intensity; the movement without the masses,” according to Polygon.

Bonnaroo 2025

If electronic music is not your scene, or if you aren’t about to hop on a plane to the UK, Polygon Live will also be powering a new open-air stage at the Bonnaroo music and arts festival, taking place in Manchester, Tennessee from June 12th to 15th, 2025. The Infinity Stage at Bonnaroo will see Polygon’s unique 360° spatial audio and synchronized lighting rig running across three hemispherical domes — another first for the company. The Infinity Stage will be found in Centeroo, the site’s main festival area. Headliners at Bonnaroo 2025 include Luke Combs, Olivia Rodrigo, Avril Lavigne, Hozier, Vampire Weekend, Queens of the Stone Age, and many more. The artists performing at the three-dome Infinity Stage have yet to be announced, but Polygon says that they will be “musicians capable of demonstrating the full power of this has-to-be-seen-to-be-believed system.”

More Information on Polygon Live LDN: Polygon Live LDN

Bonnaroo tickets: https://www.bonnaroo.com/tickets