Waterboys back on tour with Entec Live
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Entec, head of sound, Dan Scantlebury had brought the Waterboys into the fold, at the blessing of his previous company, dbnAudile. “They introduced us to the band owing to their heavy workload - and since the two companies have similar inventories it has been an easy transition. You generally find both L-Acoustics and d&b on tour riders, and we have the latter. In this instance they fielded two hangs of d&b V series, with a Soundcraft Vi7000 console at FOH and DiGiCo SD12 on monitors.
“The major advantage is that the band has one point of contact,” says Scantlebury, who was previously the band’s system tech. “Whether a sound or lighting query, they can relay everything through me.”
An extra benefit they could provide for co-production managers Stu Condron and Neil Mahony was some classic lighting, as Entec’s experienced lighting man, Leo Tierney explained.
Although running standard MAC Vipers and Auras, he said, “the interest in the rig is the four 10K Mole Fresnels we’ve brought in from Ancient Lights as well as a pair of 5K Fresnels from our own stock.” These are to meet the requirements of LD Donal O’Lunaigh who wanted to achieve a retro film look.
Operated from an Avolites Tiger Touch, they have all been adapted to a 2000W lamp so they can be run on standard dimmers. Of the further benefits of integrated touring, he says, “I have done a number of tours where Entec have supplied a complete package, which is great because the team already know each other. It gels straight away, which is generally the case on a one truck/one bus tour when you can create a good family feel. From the point you start prepping the show you are constantly talking to each other.
“The other advantage of having one company with two divisions is the support. If one department needs spares they can check in with the other, so we are not running transport all the time. Integration and cooperation become a lot easier.”
FOH production manager, Stu Condron agrees. “It’s our first time with Entec and it’s absolutely worked well from the start. All the gear was in great shape and very well prepped. Having the old film lights is great and everything has been wonderfully straightforward when putting [production] together, even as things were changing and being tweaked. We’ve had separate sound and light companies in the past but having a crew where everyone knows each other, with Dan as a single point of contact on this tour, has made everything so much easier.”
