Our Work

From airport openings to rooftop parties to festival stages, here are a few of the shows we're proudest of.

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Case Study: Opening the New Wing at Portland International Airport

Client: Port of Portland, produced by Connie Wohn

Event: Opening celebration for the new terminal wing, August 12, 2024

Audience: About 2,000 guests, plus VIPs

Our role: Full audio production, audio crew, and power distribution for every vendor on site

Production team: Accend Audio (audio and power), Meyer Pro (video), Outlaw Lighting (lighting), Stages Northwest (staging)

The challenge

This show happened inside a working international airport during its opening week. The Port gave vendors strict windows to load in and out, trucks could only stage at the front curb, and personal vehicles had to go to short term parking. Every piece of gear rode a 500 to 800 foot flat push from the front doors, and the revolving doors had to be opened by airport maintenance with at least an hour's notice. On top of that, a brand new terminal had far less show power than anyone expected.

What we did

We started solving power weeks early. In planning with the Port's events team, we spelled out exactly what each vendor needed (six dedicated 20 amp circuits per team, not just six outlets) and asked to connect with the house electrician before the tech scout. On site, every department ran through Accend's power distribution.

The four day schedule:

1. Friday, Aug 9, 3:00 PM: Load in, timed to the Port's windows, with the stage going up

2. Saturday, Aug 10: Audio, video and lighting set up and tuned

3. Sunday, Aug 11: Full rehearsal

4. Monday, Aug 12: Show day

For sound, we chose a system that could fill a huge, reflective hall without fighting the architecture: L-Acoustics Kara II, six per side flown from lifts, with three SB28 subs per side, plus L-Acoustics X12, X8 and 5XT for fills and delays. Everything was mixed on an Allen & Heath dLive console.

The Result

The new terminal opened on schedule in front of about 2,000 guests and VIPs, with clear speech and music across the hall. Every vendor stayed powered through one plan, and the load out cleared within the Port's window.

“Accend made a complicated day feel seamless. They were professional, easy to work with, and on time at every step."

Jennifer Fowler, Port of Portland

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CASE STUDY: Sublime on the Portland Waterfront

Client: Brewhaha Productions

Event: Sublime with Yelawolf as first support, outdoor concert on the Portland waterfront, June 25, 2026

Audience: About 15,000 fans

Our role: Audio for the main stage, second stage and VIP area, plus audio power distribution

The challenge

A festival sized show on a riverfront field, in pouring rain that turned the site to mud. The staging company ran late, which squeezed every department's setup time. The promoter's generators sat far from the stages, so power meant long runs of heavy feeder cable across the site, and the VIP area needed its own sound.

What we did

We showed up on time and ready, alongside lighting and video, and made up the lost time once the stage was built. On the main stage we flew a full L-Acoustics K2 system, 12 boxes per side, with 16 KS28 subwoofers. The second stage got a ground stacked L-Acoustics Kara II rig, three boxes over two SB28 subs per side. We tied into the promoter's generators with our own feeder cable and audio distro.

Our crew of six ran three techs on each stage, working with about 10 of the promoter's stagehands. When the crowd rushed the second stage during a mosh pit and knocked gear over, our techs were right there. They got everything back up and the show kept going.

The result

About 15,000 fans got a full concert despite rain, mud, a late stage and a crowd surge.

"Rain, mud, a late stage, and these guys never blinked. Total pros. We'd hand them our next big show."

Brewhaha Productions

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CASE STUDY: Wieden+Kennedy Parties

Client: Wieden+Kennedy, produced by Connie Wohn

Events: Two to three private parties a year since 2022, for 300 to 2,000 guests

Our role: Audio and video, including projection mapping, alongside lighting, drape, scenic and staging partners

The challenge

W+K doesn't do ballrooms. Their parties happen in empty warehouses, old bank buildings and raw spaces with no loading dock, no house sound and no show power. Every one starts as a blank canvas and has to look and sound like a finished, designed world by doors.

Nights we've built

The founders' memorial, 2022. A celebration of life for founders Dan Wieden and David Kennedy, built across every floor of a building in Portland's Pearl District. Each level had its own production: a main PA downstairs, a separate system on a parking garage level, and 22 to 24 powered speakers placed through the rest of the building.

A tribute to Jim Riswold, December 5, 2024. When the agency lost one of its legendary creatives, W+K brought us back to the same building to honor him with a similar multi-level design. It was a nine person Accend team, including two A1s, two A2s and three stagehands, with Andrew calling the show, running L-Acoustics Kara II throughout.

Founders Day with Big Sean. A warehouse near Montgomery Park in Northwest Portland, turned into Las Vegas: disco balls, gaming tables, red velvet and drapes flowing down from the truss. We loaded in over about 10 hours and flew an L-Acoustics Kara II system with SB28 subs, angled and tuned so a wide, reflective warehouse still sounded clean and full.

The holiday party in a downtown bank, December 2025. We covered the building's tall windows in taut drape and projection mapped onto them. The night opened in calm whites and blues and turned to deep reds as it moved into a good and evil theme. Small L-Acoustics 5XT speakers were hidden all over the room, so the sound was everywhere and the gear was nowhere.

Big Freedia at the Portland Night Market, 2023. A tighter room called for a different tool: an L-Acoustics ARCS system with compact SB18 subs, giving near field punch and high output without overwhelming the space.

The result

W+K keeps coming back, two to three times a year. Every space gets built from scratch, and every one opens on time.

"Andrew and Accend are my go-to, the best AV team in town. They take care of you, they never miss a detail, and they care more than anyone."

Connie Wohn, producer

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CASE STUDY: Nike Design Gala

Client: Nike, produced by Connie Wohn

Event: Design gala, November 19, 2025, in a warehouse near Montgomery Park, Northwest Portland

Audience: About 300 to 400 guests

Our role: Audio, plus an 11 by 20 foot projection screen with a flown projector

The challenge

The brief was a clean room: guests should move freely and never see a speaker stand, cable or projector. The lighting design called for an oval truss grid hung under spanner truss bridging the building's I-beams, all on chain motors. Everything we brought had to live in the air, coordinated with a very complex rig.

What we did

We flew our speakers from the lighting truss and rigged the projector overhead to feed an 11 by 20 foot screen. For bass, we clustered all of our L-Acoustics SB28 subs together in one corner. That design gave even low end across the room without the dead spots and phase problems that scattered subs create in a big box.

The result

A huge, open warehouse that felt designed rather than equipped. Guests saw the lighting, the screen and the room, never the gear.

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CASE STUDY: One Moto Show

Client: One Moto Show, founded by Thor, with Katie Vanderpool of Outlaw Lighting as production manager

Event: Annual motorcycle show and concert weekend at the Zidell Yards, South Waterfront, Portland. Four years running

Audience: About 20,000 over the weekend, up to 5,000 at once

Our role: Main stage audio and site wide delay speakers, alongside Outlaw Lighting and a video wall partner

The challenge

The Zidell Yards is a former World War II era shipyard: rusted steel, huge iron girders and the old chain hoists that once lowered ships into the river. It's an incredible room and a tough one for sound. Hard, reflective surfaces inside, big open areas outside, and crowds spread across the whole site.

What we did

We fly a full L-Acoustics Kara II system from line array crank towers at the main stage inside the building. Then we run about 600 feet of cable to delay speakers placed through the building and the outdoor areas, so every corner of the site gets clear, even sound.

The result

Four years in a row, and still our favorite show of the year. Great bands, great bikes, and a rock and roll weekend that sounds as good as it looks.

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CASE STUDY: A Private Estate Wedding in Central Oregon

Client: A private family, by direct inquiry

Event: A multi-day luxury wedding weekend on a 200 acre private estate near Terrebonne, Oregon, late May 2024

Our role: All audio across three separate sites, with lighting by Outlaw Lighting and video by a partner company

The challenge

One weekend, three venues, all on one huge property: a welcome party tent, the main reception tent, and an after party, each far from the others and each running on generator power with backups. The family wanted every space to sound flawless and the gear to disappear into the design. It was also three hours from our shop, so everything had to be right the first time.

What we did

Our crew moved to Central Oregon for the week, staying near the property from setup through strike. We deployed a full L-Acoustics system across the sites:

- Four L-Acoustics Syva column rigs for the main spaces

- 12 X12 and 8 X15 for stage monitoring and fills

- 16 X8 and 24 5XT tucked into the design for even coverage

The slim Syva columns let us deliver full range concert sound for the band without big black boxes breaking up the room.

The result

Three distinct parties across a 200 acre estate, all on schedule, with sound that matched the design of each space.

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CASE STUDY: InVision Gala at The Redd on Salmon

Client: InVision

Event: Corporate gala at The Redd on Salmon, Portland, July 28, 2026

Audience: About 500 guests

Our role: Audio, video and lighting. We take on lighting for select corporate events like this one

The challenge

The Redd is a restored industrial building: timber walls, steel trusses and huge old machinery still on the floor. The goal was a polished corporate gala, with honoree content on screens, clean speech for the program and a dance floor later, all without hiding the room's character.

What we did

For corporate events like this one, we can run every technical department as a single team. A row of 85 inch screens ran the program and honoree spotlights down both sides of the hall, so every table had a clear view. A distributed L-Acoustics system, built around X8 speakers, kept speeches clear at every seat and filled the dance floor later. Our lighting design washed the timber and steel in color and turned the room from dinner into a party.