NEXUS | Boomtown 2026

A stage for growing new connections.

Themed around the proto-social world of the mycelium network, NEXUS was a stage which encouraged styles and minds to meet and one for which AF Live brought a strong new connection to into play.

An Area of Growth

New for 2026, NEXUS sought to provide a platform for many of the most innovative live performances scheduled to take place at the festival. Including fan-favourite acts to whom Boomtown had previously extended an invite, who returned this year to showcase, artistic growth, development and connection.

“Deep in the heart of utopian Botanica lies its main stage NEXUS. Formed by the mushrooms of IONA, here is a place where nature connects. NEXUS celebrates the freshest live music on the scene.”

As the name suggestions, it was an area committed to fostering new connections between disparate musical ecosystems, the exchange of ideas, the sharing of information and the replenishment of energy to reveal new and exciting possibilities through collaboration.

Linking Up

In the spirit of connection and the introduction of new ideas, AF Live invited worldwide live audio industry disruptors, PK Sound, whose robotic line array technology is shaking up ideas about what a sound system can do.

NEXUS’ maximum capacity of 3000 made it perfect for live acts whose lyrics carry meaning, juxtaposing sweatbox-club intensity with gorgeous set design and the measured weight of the PK Sound system. The result was a stage which had audience members in raptures and artist tour managers in the FOH booth, praising the engineers directly.

AF Live had direct responsibility for the technical production of NEXUS, placing among a handful of key arenas for which we provided a 360 service. The summer leading up to Boomtown had seen an ever increasing collaborative rapport develop between ourselves and PK Sound, so bringing their team on board to deliver this exciting area was a natural step.

Mushroom to Innovate

As the stage set’s fungi-informed design took shape, it became clear what a striking and special corner of the festival this was set to become – making sure the sound system was up to the same level was going to be key.

The system was designed by PK Sound’s George Packenham, with whom we had worked throughout the summer in all manor of settings from Southampton’s St Mary Stadium to the O2 Arena in London. Boomtown’s site presents a variety of challenges and with the supreme adaptability of PK’s hardware, George’s design was more than a match.

The ‘PK’ in PK Sound stands for ‘Polar Kinetic’, referring to the fact that the directional pattern radiation of these cutting edge arrays can be specified, once flown, from the ground. The units contain mechanically moving components to offer engineers precise dispersion control through their software controlled actuators.

The final design saw two main hangs of 12x T8, flanked by side fills of T18 & T8 and two delays, each comprised of a further 6x T8. This built upon a rock-solid sub array foundation of 16x T18 and an onstage monitoring system made up of 12x TX14. Once installed and adjusted using PK Sound’s one-of-a-kind robotic array system, this suite of PAs was controlled at FOH on a superlatively capable DiGiCo SD12.

Speaking about this deployment, Arlen Cormack, President & Co-Founder of PK Sound observed that “The T8 is the perfect size for this application. With respect to Boomtown’s extensively multi-venue concept as a festival, our robotic line arrays were able to shape the sound field with a high degree of accuracy to focus the impact on our audience and eliminate bleed into other areas.”

A Network of Collaboration

Working in unison alongside a range of multidisciplinary teams is one of the great sources of enjoyment at a festival like Boomtown – bringing together a breadth of skills and visions to deliver something truly show stopping. Not only did we have the opportunity to work alongside some amazing professionals, our team benefitted from passion and drive of some fantastic volunteers, whose contribution to the build of NEXUS cannot be overlooked.

Following a full development cycle through the year, leading up to build week, the technical production build was fully underway by the Tuesday before the festival began.

Once on site, experience and skill were not in short supply as project manager Thomas Deeks and system tech Bryan McClean from AF Live, worked alongside PK Sound’s George Packenham to deploy the sound system which went on to win the hearts and minds of attendees and tour parties alike. Complimenting the sound was some stellar light production, brought to the table by Light Wave. All of this was supported by NEXUS stage manager, Danny Keehan.

It was a stage which flourished once the festival got underway, welcoming a slew of outstanding performances across the weekend from acts like CasisDead, Dub Princess & Hotsteppas, Eva Lazarus, Lady Leshurr, Namesbliss, Window Kid and many more.

We cannot wait to see the growth of this stage in years to come.