tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post7143493958131715558..comments2024-03-25T06:33:12.809-07:00Comments on Lost Live Dead: October 1, 1972 Springfield Civic Center, Springfield, MA Roberta FlackCorry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5493557313410969282.post-4951479481256974602015-07-05T01:21:03.348-07:002015-07-05T01:21:03.348-07:00Dawson says that Garcia & Owsley "showed ...Dawson says that Garcia & Owsley "showed up to see Flack and hear how well my gear worked." <br /><br />I don't know how interested they were in Roberta Flack (he says Owsley fell asleep!), but their visit was likely very professional in nature. <br />By late '72, the Dead had a PA committee that would check out concert venues before they played them, to see what sound/space issues there might be and how the Dead's system should be set up accordingly. If the Dead could set up early for a show, so much the better. (The Stanford Daily reported that "part of the contract for [the 2/9/73 Maples Pavilion show] was that the sound system would be set up and tested the night before.”) <br /><br />So Owsley & Garcia might not have been alone. The Dead had played in Washington DC the day before, and a day off, so the sound crew had some time to check out the Springfield Civic Center. McNally writes that Dan Healy & Ron Wickersham "rendered architectural drawings and plots of room acoustics, then offered them to the halls [they played in], which in the case of the Springfield Civic Center, resulted in vastly improved acoustics." (McNally p. 446) <br /><br />And if another professional soundman was doing a show while the Dead's team were studying a hall? All the better! They may have been friends with Dawson, but the meeting was probably more to compare notes & check out his system. <br /><br />I don't think Owsley or anyone else in the Dead sound crew have ever credited Dawson with any ideas for the Wall of Sound, which is not too surprising since it seems they rarely credit each other for much either. (Some engineers are also eager to promote themselves for others' discoveries.) A territorial business! Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.com