INDIA: “For us, the real story of the Akon India Tour is as much about the spectacle on stage as it is about the meticulously engineered foundation that brought the entire experience together” reflects Prasad Parkar, Founder-Director of PP Sound Lights Productions – one of India’s leading and most trusted event equipment and technical services provider and the company that brought global superstar AKON’s electrifying brand of performances to life in New Delhi and Mumbai – two key cities that were part of his wildly successful India Tour.

Akon’s performances in Delhi and Mumbai far transcended a standard concert experience. They turned out to be once-in-a-generation moments — the kind that fuse nostalgia with present-day euphoria. These were shows built on emotion, memory and shared joy; but fuelled by precise engineering, rigorous preparation, and flawless technical execution. And behind the scenes, PP Sound Lights Productions orchestrated an operation of immense scale and sophistication.

Entrusted with delivering the entire technical reinforcement for both shows — including audio, lighting, LED display, trussing, staging, wireless systems and backline — the company rose to the challenge with a level of mastery that reflected years of experience and an unwavering commitment to excellence.

“What our team at PP Sound Lights Production delivered in New Delhi and Mumbai was more than technical execution. It was a demonstration of discipline, understanding and craftsmanship. It showcased what is possible when a top-tier production house combines premium gear with a highly skilled team and a passion for delivering excellence without compromise. In an era where international artists increasingly look to India as a preferred touring destination, these concerts stand as a reminder that the country’s live production capabilities are not just catching up with global expectations — they are meeting and surpassing them!” exclaims Prasad.

He explains that the process began long before the first truck rolled into either venue; with team PP working closely with the organisers to internalise the artistic vision of the show. This involved understanding how Akon moves on stage, how he interacts with audiences, the emotional transitions between songs, the dynamics of supporting acts, and the essential arc of the performance. With this creative blueprint in hand, the team conducted extensive venue surveys in both New Delhi and Mumbai.

Although separated by geography and atmosphere, the venues shared strikingly similar physical characteristics, especially in terms of layout, audience distribution, throw distances, and the long, rectangular footprint typical of large-format open-air concert grounds. This alignment allowed the PP engineering team to design a technically cohesive reinforcement strategy that could be executed consistently across both cities.

Once the architectural parameters were settled, the focus turned to the stage environment itself. Both concerts featured an expansive performance stage framed by a robust trussing infrastructure, engineered with absolute precision to support the lighting, LED, audio and scenic elements of the show. The overhead truss grid was carefully plotted to distribute load evenly, withstand wind variations, and support an ambitious lighting design without compromise. Every segment of the structure — from the main roof span to secondary trusses, delay structures, and ground-supported frames — was meticulously planned to guarantee both safety and performance integrity.

A defining aspect of the visual environment was the LED architecture. At both concerts, PP commissioned a high-brightness 3.9 mm pixel-pitch outdoor LED wall as the central visual canvas positioned directly behind the performance area. This was complemented by two auxiliary 2.6 mm pixel-pitch LED screens flanking the main display, creating a panoramic effect that beautifully framed the stage. To ensure that the massive audiences in each city had clear lines of sight, the team deployed strategically positioned iMag screens further into the audience areas. These displays eliminated the common issue of distant spectators feeling disconnected from the live performance, instead ensuring that every facial expression, every movement and every dramatic lighting cue reached all corners of the venue with immaculate clarity.

The lighting for both shows, though distinct in design, was equally immersive. In New Delhi, the visual palette was crafted through an extensive deployment of fixtures from Martin Professional. More than a hundred luminaires shaped the performance space, bathing the stage in a blend of atmospheric washes, razor-sharp beams, intricate aerial sweeps and dynamic transitional cues. Mumbai, on the other hand, embraced the distinctive character of Claypaky, with a hundred-plus fixtures — featuring a mix of iconic beams, profiles and hybrid units — creating a look that was bold, crisp and full of visual drama. While the Delhi lighting embraced warmth and expansiveness, Mumbai leaned towards punchy contrasts and crystalline beam architecture. And despite the difference in fixture families, both cities shared one unifying control philosophy, driven through the grandMA3 full-size consoles from MA Lighting which offered lighting control teams the capacity to operate with perfect synchronisation, weaving through complex timecoded sequences and live busked cues with finesse.

To deliver a sound reinforcement architecture that could easily rival international touring standards, team PP leveraged the team’s collective work ethic and extensive inventory of world-class audio gear – with the team putting together a complex architecture that saw state-of-the-art technologies deployed with thoughtful precision. And at the heart of the sound system sat the Meyer Sound Panther line array — a contemporary giant renowned for its exceptional power-to-weight ratio, immaculate tonal accuracy, and stunning long-throw capabilities.

The performance stages in New Delhi and Mumbai were adorned with stereo hangs of thirteen Panther modules per side, creating a main PA that was both powerful and remarkably controlled. These were complemented by three Panther modules per side deployed as outfill systems, ensuring consistent coverage across the lateral audience zones. Four additional Panther units were positioned across the stage lip to deliver pristine frontfill coverage, tying the entire sonic image together.

The low-frequency experience was sculpted through eighteen 1100-LFC subwoofers arranged in an end-fire gradient configuration – an approach allowed the engineering team at PP Sound Lights Production to achieve tremendous forward low-frequency energy while dramatically reducing rearward spill onto the stage — a key requirement for vocal clarity during high-energy performances.

As both venues spanned impressive longitudinal lengths to accommodate the throngs of crowds that gathered to watch Akon perform; team PP erected delay towers that each featured six Panther modules coupled with three 2100-LFC subwoofers, creating a supportive layer of tonally consistent reinforcement that extended effortlessly across the full depth of the audience area. The result was a listening experience that was astonishingly coherent, regardless of whether one stood at the barricade or beyond the half-way line.

Control of the entire audio environment rested with three units of the globally acclaimed DiGiCo Quantum 338 digital mixing console – two serving FOH and monitor positions and the third retained as a full redundant backup. Integrated through Optocore fibre networking, the consoles offered ultrafast routing, immaculate signal transport integrity, and the dynamic processing capabilities required for a show of Akon’s scale.

Onstage, the artists were supplied with a reliable RF Infrastructure that spotlighted Shure’s Axient Digital wireless system with KSM8 capsules for vocal transmission – chosen for their precision, reliability and resistance to interference. Multiple channels of Sennheiser IEM systems ensured seamless monitoring for performers and musicians, while a carefully curated backline provided every instrument, amplifier, and peripheral essential to the artists’ technical riders.

“Across both New Delhi and Mumbai; all the technical elements fused into one coherent, powerful whole. The staging felt refined and secure. The visual presentation was captivating. The lighting carried emotion. The LED displays brought intimacy. And the sound — rich, clean, powerful and perfectly balanced — carried Akon’s voice and music across thousands of hearts with breathtaking accuracy. The audience felt the impact not only of the performance, but of an impeccably engineered environment that elevated the concert into a truly global-standard experience. And all of this was possible thanks to the vision, expertise and dedication of the incredibly talented team at PP Sound Lights Productions!” exclaimed a senior member of the artist management team responsible for bringing the entire Akon India Tour together.