Funktion-One, which has provided the audio equipment for Glastonbury’s The Glade Stage for the past 15 years, believes the set-up for the 2025 music festival in the UK was its best to date.
At the heart of The Glade Stage’s setup this year was Vero VX, Funktion-One’s medium-format, vertically arrayable loudspeaker system, which is designed to deliver midrange presence and dynamic range. It was deployed in combination with Funktion-One’s signature asymmetric bass configuration.
On one side of the stage, a monoblock of F124s was dedicated to bass frequencies and a column of newly upgraded F132s for sub-bass.
Tony Andrews, founder, Funktion-One, says The Glade Stage has become a testing ground for the company’s latest technological and system design developments. He described this year’s set-up as “probably the best sonic experience of my life”.
He added: “We’ve done The Glade for years, but this time the sound just reached another level. The depth and clarity were extraordinary. There was a moment where I swear I could see the sound. I looked around and I could tell others were feeling it too – we locked into something.”
Commenting on the performance of the F132s, Andrews continued: “We’ve sorted out the suspension, given it more control. It’s a different beast now.”
Luke Piper, organiser of the Glade area, added: “From my perspective, this was the best ever. I overheard artists, crew and, most importantly, members of the crowd all saying The Glade Stage had the best sound on site and the café and bar staff, who are out there all day and night for four days, told me the same thing. Not only that, but the reduction in unwanted sound spill this year was massive. It meant happier audiences and minimal impact on neighbouring stages. That makes my life so much easier.”
Tony Andrews has been involved in the sound at Glastonbury since the first edition in 1971.
In 1992, Andrews founded Funktion-One. In the same year, he and his new company introduced the Experimental Soundfield dance area to Glastonbury, in collaboration with electronic music group Underworld.
