ALANIS OUGHTA KNOW, 2002
Entec’s ties with multi-platinum Canadian songstress Alanis Morissette date back to the spring of 1996 when, shortly after the incredible success of Jagged Little Pill, one of the biggest selling albums of the ’90s, she toured the UK and Europe for the first time. At the time, Andy Proudfoot was her lighting designer, however, by the time of her next Transatlantic visit, in 2002, he had taken up the tour management mantle and passed the LD baton to his programmer Jim ‘Fitz’ Fitzpatrick.
Produced in conjunction with Andy, Fitz designed a dynamic asymmetric rig consisting of six trusses that accommodated randomly scattered High End Studio Colors and Martin MAC 2000s. These were joined by PARs, ETC Source Fours and Moles, and further Studio Colors and MAC 2000s on the floor. The result was a large visual canvas, bombarded with beams, rich colours and textures, projecting from all angles.
Fitz was supplied with a Vari*Lite Virtuoso lighting console – his desk of choice after having extensive experience as a VL programmer – as well as an Entec lighting crew comprising Simon ‘Boff’ Howarth and Andy Mountain, and led by Nigel ‘Skippy’ Monk.
“They are a very personal company and genuinely care immensely about what they do,” commented Fitz in 2002, upon his introduction to Entec.
More recently, he added: “I’ve always loved Entec, particularly the people, and I feel like part of the family. The Entec crews I have worked with have had my back and have been very hard working and dedicated. My fondest memories are of when I would take the train from London to the shop to prep gear. I’d get off at Northolt station, not really knowing where I was, and somehow always made the walk there.
“Noreen would always put the kettle on and I’d sit up front with her and Adam, catching up on life. These remain some of my favourite times. I always felt so welcome. Of all the people I know, Noreen and Adam have remained my favourite friends. Whenever I’m over in England I always try to call by. I can’t wait for the next time!
SOUND
Entec’s sound department was also engaged on the Toward Our Union Mended ’02 tour, which coincided with the artist’s fifth studio album Under Rug Swept. The company worked closely with Audio Rent in Switzerland, Clair Global’s European base, providing a Midas XL4 desk and outboard for FOH engineer Terry Pearson.
At the stage end, Entec supplied engineer Randy Bryant with a Midas Heritage H3000 console, effects, microphone, the company’s proprietary APW wedges, in-ear systems and cabling. Tristan Johnson and Paul Keeble were Entec’s sound crew for this, the second of three Alanis tours to date for the company.
This tour also marked Entec’s début outing of its newly-purchased Lake Contour loudspeaker processors. Dick Hayes said: “It was great to take the system out for the first time on a tour that was a fine example of inter-company fertilisation [with Clair] to produce a great result.”
