Entertainment for the 300 guests was provided by The Gerry Richardson Trio and various members of The Newcastle Big Band, an outfit whom Sting often played with before being catapulted to fame with The Police.
Providing the audio system for the party was Yorkshire-based Viking Sound & Light Ltd whose proprietor Steve Williams has worked with Sting on a number of occasions. "We needed to supply a compact FOH system that would give maximum clarity but, due to the very limited electrical supply in the venue, be simple to power," says Williams.
Turbosound self-powered QLight cabinets were perfect for the task, so Williams chose two TQ-445DPs and two TQ-425s from his extensive Turbosound hire stock to act as the ideal small-but-perfectly-formed PA.
"This compact rig delivers excellent sound quality and power from very small cabinets," says Williams. "In addition, due to the cabinets being self-powered, it eliminated the need for an amp rack. This made the sound system very quick to rig and also able to be run off a couple of 13 amp sockets."
By all accounts the party went extremely well with Sting - Williams says - pronouncing himself extremely happy with the sound.
Viking Sound & Light's Turbosound inventory is also keeping itself very busy on a range of other events throughout 2006. These include the Wickerman Festival, Barnard Castle Blues Festival, Dartmouth Regatta Rock, the Soul Explosion Summer tour, the Darlington Blues Festival, Barclay James Harvest's Autumn Tour 2006 and finally Slade II's Merry Christmas Everybody Tour 2006.
(Chris Henry)