60
Arena dates on one tour
18
Venues on that one routing
18
UK arenas worked in
Every venue argues with the last one.
A tour is not one job repeated. Every building has different positions, a different loading dock, a different lighting rig in a different place, and a production manager who has never met you. Handled badly, that means a slightly different show every night and a get-in that starts from zero in each city.
What fixes it is a plan that travels. Positions and camera language decided once, adapted rather than reinvented, and a crew who already know where the moments are because they watched the same show last night. By the fourth venue that is worth more than any amount of kit.
We have run sixty dates on a single tour, including the O2. What made it work was not the camera count. It was that nobody had to explain the show again.
dwmedia has worked in 18 UK arenas, including The O2, AO Arena Manchester, OVO Arena Wembley and the OVO Hydro: The O2 and OVO Arena Wembley in London, AO Arena Manchester, Utilita Arena Birmingham, Utilita Arena Sheffield, Utilita Arena Newcastle, Utilita Arena Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena Nottingham, M&S Bank Arena Liverpool, first direct arena Leeds, Coventry Building Society Arena, Brighton Centre, Bournemouth International Centre, Connexin Live Hull, Swansea Arena, Vaillant Live Derby, OVO Hydro Glasgow and P&J Live Aberdeen.
The largest of those runs was Paul Smith’s HAPPY Tour 2024/25: sixty dates across fifteen arenas with UK Events Group, the same three-camera rig and the same look every night. We deliver two further arena tours each year which we are not able to name.
Single-date arena and festival IMAG through UK Events Group has included Chase & Status and Bludfest, both at Milton Keynes National Bowl.
Acts our cameras have covered on those runs include The Jacksons, McFly, JLS, Kool & The Gang, Earth Wind & Fire, Sister Sledge and Wet Wet Wet.
From village halls to the arenas. The same crew and kit that runs those sixty-date tours also covers a single-camera stream in a community hall, quoted the same honest way. See what that costs ›
What travels with us
The plan is the product.
Questions tour managers ask.
Can you cover a whole tour rather than one date?
Yes, and it is where we do our best work. One plan carried across the run means the same camera language every night, a crew who know the show, and a get-in that does not start from scratch at each stop. We have done sixty dates on a single tour.
Does it cost less per night than booking individually?
Usually, noticeably. The planning is paid once, the crew already know the show, and the rig is packed to be rebuilt quickly. A run of dates is cheaper per show than the same dates quoted separately.
Can you join a tour part way through?
Yes, though earlier is better. If we can see one show before we start covering it, everything after that is easier for everyone.
Do you work to our production schedule?
Yes, and that is most of the job. We take the get-in slot we are given and we are rigged before your line check rather than during it.
What happens when a venue will not give us a position?
It happens, usually late. Because the plan travels, we have a fallback for each key angle rather than a single arrangement that only works in one building.
Can you feed the screens and a stream on the same run?
Yes. One production can drive the IMAG walls and a broadcast feed, which is cheaper and more consistent than adding a second supplier mid-tour.
When is a tour not worth crewing this way?
A short run in similar rooms with one simple output does not need a travelling plan. If a local crew in each city genuinely covers it, that is the cheaper answer and we will say so.
Routing something?
Send us the dates and the venues while the routing is still forming. We would rather be in the advance early than quoted in late.