| Entec
Pumps Up The Volume at Brillfest
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to Headlines
Entec Sound & Light supplied
audio and lighting production
for three of the seven stages
at Guilfest 2006 now in its
15th year. Guilfest is one
of the most popular ‘new
wave’ family festivals
on the calendar.
It’s the 5th year for
Entec Lighting and the 2nd
year that Entec Sound have
been involved at Guilfest.
The departments provided sound
and Lighting production services
to the Radio 2 Main Stage
and the Rock Sound Stage.
The Lighting Department also
installed a system into the
Theatre Tent for the Howard
Cragg’s festival team
to service.
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Having taken delivery
of their new d&b
audiotechnik J-Series
line array, Entec naturally
utilised this for the
main stage, where headliners
included Embrace, A-Ha
and Billy Idol.
The system was designed
by Stef Serpagli, and
featured eight J8’s
and two J12 elements
per side for the main
arrays, neatly tucked
in behind some elegant
triangular shaped scrimmed
PA towers. Together
with twelve J-SUBs,
this produced a phenomenally
clean, clear sound that
was virtually CD quality.
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Q7s were also
utilised for infill and front-of-house
delays, with Q10s providing
outfill.
d&b’s ROPE C remote
control software was used
by Serpagli to access and
set levels, delays and EQ
directly within the D12 amplifiers
that powered the system.
Last year’s main stage
sound design (using the d&b
Q1 line array) was such a
success in terms of containing
the noise pollution, that
this year the council increased
the decibel allowance from
95 to 98 dB at the front of
house position.
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Serpagli
had five other Entec
sound crew on his team
– including FOH
Babysitter Barry Bartlett
and monitor minder Erik
Sanderson-Evans. Serpagli
says the J-Series is
so lightweight (60 Kg
each) and quick to assemble,
that with all the bits
to hand, you can be
ready to lift an array
in 20 minutes.
The FOH set up included
a Midas XL4 console.
The ‘Toys’
rack contained a TC2290
delay, TCM2000 reverb,
and a selection of classics
including a Roland SDE
3000, a Lexicon PCM91
and Yamaha SPX990’s
. There was also a dbx
120 XP sub bass harmoniser,
though unused &
not needed!!
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| Valve compressors
included an Avalon 737 and a pair
of Summit DCL 200 stereo channel
devices. There were also 10 channels
of dbx 160A compression, 5 Drawmer
DS201 gates and the system drive/control
was via 3 Lake Contours.
All headlining acts brought
their own FOH engineers, all
of whom were extremely impressed
with the sound.
The monitor set up utilised
a Midas Heritage H3000 console,
Entec’s own APW wedges
– which Billy Idol also
found ideal for posing on, Q-SUBs
for the drum fill and d&b
C7 side fills. All were driven
by Labgruppen amps with KT processors.
Patch-meister was Jason Barton,
ably assisted by stage technician
Chris Whybrow.
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Lighting
Main stage lighting
was co-ordinated by
Russell Matthews –
known industry-wide
as Tigger. Entec supplied
a WholeHog II and expansion
wing an Avolites Diamond
4 Elite console –
all the headliners brought
their own LDs –
Dom Smith did Embrace,
JoJo Tillmann works
with Ah-Ha and Brian
Farris pressed the buttons
for Billy Idol.
It was a 15 metre Orbit
stage, so they were
fairly limited for space
and headroom. To maximise
every inch, they used
3-sections of jointed
trusses for the front
and back runs, which
hinged down and followed
the contours of the
roof, with a straight
run of truss for the
middle position rigged
by Al Beechey and Urko
Arruzza.
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Tigger had to design
a rig with as much flexibility
and latitude as possible.
He combined the specs
for the three headliners
and produced an amalgamation
of their major elements
and squeezed it into
the 15 metre Orbit!
The moving lights of
choice were Vari*Lites
– twenty-one V*L
2500 Spots and sixteen
2402 washes. There were
6 Martin Professional
Atomic strobes, four
JTE PixelLines on the
mid truss – useful
for daytime effects,
five 8 lights along
the top of the front
truss for audience blinders
and six 2-lites at the
back. Additional front
truss key lighting was
provided from 6 Source
Fours. 4 floor-mounted
vertical lamp bars provided
side-stage cross washes,
which were great for
the very neat illumination
of people’s faces.
2 DF50 Hazers and Jem
DMX Smoke Machines completed
the stage look.
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The ample
2 tier front of house
mixer position housed
three Strong 2K Super
Trouper Followspots.
Camera and film crew
chief Paul Sadler did
a fantastic job of balancing
the spots, achieving
a brightness rivalling
even the fantastic weather!
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Tigger’s
5th crew member was Niall
Hannell who was running
the Rock Sound Cave. This
saw an adrenalised array
of established, new and
up-and-coming punk and
metal-orientated bands
including The Hedrons,
Therapy?, Winnebago Deal,
Breed 77 and many, many
more. Dripping sweat and
condensation, with temperatures
peaking at 40 degrees,
each evening climaxed
with a Midnight ‘till
Bright ‘Silent’
Disco.
Hannell wasted no time
in compiling a kit list
to impress the most
cynical of rockers.
Height restrictions
didn’t deter him,
and four Pre-rigged
8ft “Power Towers”
sat proudly on the stage
with scaff and truss
strapped at every conceivable
position to create shapes,
angles and maximum impact.
The towers themselves
were fully loaded with
Mac 700 Profiles, I-Pix
Satellite LED fixtures,
bars of 6 PAR cans,
JTE PixelLine battens
and ACL bars for fingers
of light. Source Four
PARs and Profiles along
with a handful of Martin
Atomic Strobes dazzled
at every distance. A
starcloth roof and many
more MACs completed
the look for the silent
disco.
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Sound-wise,
the Rock Sound Stage was
another d&b system,
this time 8 stacks of
C4 & a pair of B2’s
& MAX in-fills provided
ample coverage. The FOH
console was a Midas XL3
complimented by KT DN370
EQ, Lexicon PCM81, SDE3000
& a brace of Yamaha
SPX990,s. Inserts used
were DBX1066 comps &
DS201 gates. At the monitor
end of the multi was another
Midas XL3, KT DN360 EQ,
Entec’s own APW212
monitors & d&b
C7 side fills. FOH was
looked after by Simon
Lambert, monitors by Mark
Portlock & the stage
was taken care of by Pete
Spong.
A more reserved look
adorned the theatre stage.
Two 30ft trusses sprinkled
with bars of 6, Source
Four PARs and Profiles
plus fresnels provided
an even coverage for the
theatre, art and dance
workshops taking place
throughout the weekend.
The kit was installed
and dismantled for Howard
Craggs by Chris “Gaddie”
Gadd and Leo Tierney.
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| Guilfest 2006
has really put itself on the
map as an established, successful,
friendly and well run event
with a wide variety of entertainment
appealing to all ages and musical
tastes
“It’s great to
have built such a trusting relationship
with one of the few remaining
independent festival promoters”
states Entec’s Noreen
O’Riordan. “Tony
Scott and his team work tirelessly
throughout the year to guarantee
an annually improved production
infrastructure and increasing
quality line-up. The commitment
from a small network of people
is astonishing. In five years
we have seen the festival grow
at a rapid pace without losing
its roots, evident by the amount
of suppliers and their expanding
guest lists returning each year
to have a drink, a chat and
a chill in Mike Lethby’s
legendary backstage bar.”
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