STRANGLED IN SOUTH KENSINGTON, 1997
A rich sense of occasion loomed in the air when The Stranglers, the bad boys who lent melody to New Wave attitude in the ’70s, stepped into the Royal Albert Hall on Friday 13th June 1997 to play a special show that celebrated the 21st anniversary of their first record deal.
Seven years after frontman Hugh Cornwell’s departure, this was an event in the truest sense of the word and all about re-profiling the band. “This was our investment in the next few years of The Stranglers’ career.” said co-manager Trevor Long, “so we were eager to have a great production design.”
Also featuring the 16-piece, all-female Electra Strings, the show was captured for an Eagle Rock live video by Fuji Television’s nine-camera team and Manor Mobiles.
Multi-tasking production manager Trevor Dawkins was instrumental in securing Entec’s services to light the show with Laurence Dyer installed as lighting designer. As well as using many conventionals, Lawrence’s pick from Entec’s warehouse included six Martin RoboColor Pro 400 colour changers and 10 Clay Paky Stage Scans, all controlled from an Avolites Diamond II.
This was another chapter in Entec’s history with The Stranglers, going back as far as 1977, with several successful tours, one-offs and festival spots at Reading. “With his tasteful approach to the lighting, Lawrence was very sensitive to the whole flavour of the event,” Trevor commented.
Originally released by Eagle Vision on VHS later in 1997, Friday The Thirteenth – Live at the Royal Albert Hall was reissued twice on DVD.
