A comprehensive on-site technical support centre was also set-up to provide call-out cover for the large amount of kit in use on various stages throughout the festival site, as well as to provide technical back-up to the numerous Sennheiser endorsees on the bill; these included Starsailor, The White Stripes, Faithless, Lostprophets and Haven. The technical back-up was provided by Sennheiser chief engineer Andy Lillywhite and service engineer Sam Davison, who came equipped with a full range of test equipment, spares and a tent in Sennheiser’s specially rigged 4-wheel drive support vehicle. The team provided contact information to all Sennheiser users and remained on standby for call-out across the whole site - Sennheiser being Sennheiser however, their service was only ever called upon to deliver friendly advice rather than to actually fix anything.
The ‘new bands’ stage played host to nearly 40 acts, including Cornelius, The Leaves, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci and Cornershop.
(Ruth Rossington)
