Welcome to Summer 2025. I’m sure purists out there will insist that Summer doesn’t officially begin until June 20, with the arrival of Summer Solstice (the longest day of the year). However, for most of us in the live audio biz, the summer “Sound Season” starts around Memorial Day — the busiest time of the year for many of us. Sound companies get swamped with graduations, festivals, winery shows, street fairs, rodeos, state / county fairs — often all falling over the same two-week period. And at the same time, summer ushers in the height of the touring season, and open-air sheds begin reopening.
In the summer of 1962, AM radios everywhere were blaring Nat King Cole’s “Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer,” a perfect anthem for that halcyon era. And today, 63 years later, the AM radios have gone the way of rotary telephones and fax machines, yet the arrival of summer puts people in a party mood and music has always been part of that equation.
We’ve noticed that here as well, and — despite the on-again / off-again threats of tariffs — business in the live event industry seems to be healthy. Thousands of audio pros are headed to this month’s InfoComm; and you’re reading the largest issue of FRONT OF HOUSE this year. In fact, I’d say this may be our best issue ever, with spotlights on four tours; a sneak preview of gear debuting at InfoComm; an historic look at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival (Bob Dylan’s first electric gig); Brad Diven’s account of his greatest touring fear in “Welcome to My Nightmare;” and so much more. You’re gonna like it!
Anyway, enjoy the season and travel safe.
—George Petersen, Editor, FRONT of HOUSE Magazine
