Gary Brooker's 'Band du Lac' extravaganza

Lee Baldock in Lighting and Sound International, 26 July June 2005

EAW makes HASTE to Wintershall with JHL

UK - The private estate of Wintershall near Guildford in Surrey was the glorious outdoor setting for the fifth annual Wintershall charity festival in aid of a number of local charities, in particular the Heart and Stroke Trust Endeavour, 'HASTE'. Some 4,000 guests enjoyed a star-studded evening hosted by impressionist Rory Bremner who introduced a stunning array of talent ranging from Christian rockers, the Rich Robson band to the Fabbagirls to Eric Clapton amongst others. It was a huge evening in every sense, catered for technically by John Henry's Ltd, who put their new EAW KF730 compact line array system to the test in open-air surroundings.

The main act for the night was a unique line-up known as the Band du Lac led by Procol Harum's Gary Brooker who played alongside Mike Rutherford, Andy Fairweather Low, Dave Bronze, Henry Spinetti, Paul Carrack, Graham Broad and Frank Mead. Special guests included such legends as the afore-mentioned Eric Clapton, plus Ringo Starr, Roger Taylor, and Chris Barber with a special appearance from the Drifters. There was even room for younger up-and-coming talent like Katie Melua. Paul Young also graced the stage with Los Pacaminos, bringing a flavour of Tex-Mex to the evening, and Kenney Jones (ex Small Faces, the Faces and the Who) came along with his band for a quick tour round all the old favourites from the bands of which he was a part for so many years. The evening culminated in a spectacular fireworks display and laser show.

"It was a fantastic evening," said JHL's John Henry. "So many legends of rock in such a wonderful outdoor setting was definitely an occasion to be remembered. We used a very simple configuration of 10 KF730 mid/high cabinets and two KF730 subs per side and eight SB1000 subs that were placed under the stage. While the measurements on paper showed the system more than capable of handling an audience of 4,000, we couldn't help having a few first night jitters, especially on such a prestigious occasion. It was hard to believe that such a tiny enclosure would be capable of such immense output, but we needn't have had the slightest doubt; for such a physically compact system, it packs a hell of a punch - the coverage was phenomenal and the sound quality excellent. I was personally very proud of the fact that our new system sounded so good and the night was such a success."

Thanks Jonas for finding this online

The show from this fantastic line-up is available on DVD and Blu-ray. You may order it from Amazon UK by clicking this link (DVD) or this link for Blu-ray

To order from Amazon USA, use  this link for Blu-ray