Calair brothers used gear1/27/2024 ![]() At the lowest level - floor level - is the foyer or entrance area of the coliseum. ![]() This high-level concourse is reinforced by another concrete concourse located one seating section below, and which also extends all the way around the building. Any sound from the stage speakers bounces directly back on to the stage area and makes any on-stage control unpredictable because of leakage problems and abnormal feedback potential. ![]() The hall is oval-shaped, and at both ends are great arcs which focus the reflected sound the stage is positioned right in the center of the focal point of one of the arcs. In the upper concourse there is a high, stark concrete wall that runs all the way around the building. ![]() “It was just a matter of identifying a sense of latent problem areas based on my experience with rooms like that.” “I didn’t actually do any acoustic testing the day of our visit,” says Bruce Jackson. Springsteen didn’t mind the design of the hall, even though it’s not as good acoustically as the Forum, the usual choice for large music concerts. Several weeks before the scheduled appearance in Los Angeles, Bruce Jackson, Springsteen, and George Travis, who is in charge of tour production, visited the Sports Arena to determine whether or not they really wanted to do the show there at all. J.) Patterson doing monitors, Stan Horine, assistant sound engineer, and “Midget” and Tony “Brokowski” Gallicchio on set-up and maintenance. Australian-born Bruce Jackson, whose credits include Elvis tours from 1971-1977, Three Dog Night, Cat Stevens, Rod Stewart, and more with Clair Brothers, is chief sound engineer. The PA company chosen to do the sound was Clair Brothers, of Lititz, Pennsylvania. This fact is brought up only to point out the climate of the concert presentation, and the family feel and dedication of all involved to provide audiences with the best possible entertainment under what proved – at least in L.A. With his own group - the E Street Band - and road crew, he spared no expense in these days of industry cutbacks by providing everyone with their own rooms at fine hotels along the itinerary. When Springsteen heard about scalper’s prices of $50, $100, and $200 a seat, he made a public announcement to the audience during each of the four shows about a pending bill in the California legislature, which the fans should support in order to put an end to the “rip-offs” in the concert business. Sports Arena show was to be more than $12.00. He’ll walk through every section of the arena to ensure that patrons in the least expensive seats will be able to see and hear as well as those in the most sought-after front-row areas. Springsteen insists on the best sound reinforcement possible and schedules a sound check for every afternoon at four o’clock regardless of whether it’s an opening night or a repeat performance. The high energy level of a concert performance – as well as the proper musical balances between players – must be maintained throughout a wide dynamic range, as the repertoire shifts from exploding, steamrolling rockers to down-to-earth, romantic street ballads. On record they produce textures of sound in concert the instruments can easily mask or muddy one another. He layers his instruments, but many overlap into the same areas. Springsteen’s music is hard to reproduce live, especially at an in-the-round venue such as the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Bruce Springsteen is one of those superstars who can sell out 16,000-plus seat venues for four nights in L.A. With inflation spiraling ever upwards, not many groups can afford to tour extensively and fill the large arena so popular a few years back. Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the February 1981 issue of Recording Engineer/Producer magazine, the forerunner to Live Sound International.
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