Loud and Clear: The Grateful Dead's Wall of Sound and the Quest for Audio Perfection- Brian Anderson

Published 2025 by St. Martin's Press

"A rig of such magnitude necessitated stages be equipped with a one-inch plywood floor, set 10 feet above ground, bolted and tied to the scaffolding, because the force of such sound pressure could bounce the system by as much as a foot when the musicians pushed it."

In Loud and Clear, Brian Anderson explores the band’s search for sonic purity. The Wall of Sound wasn’t just a PA—it was a skyline three stories high containing some 600 speakers powered by McIntosh amps stacked like steel towers.

Anderson steers away from a sterile schematic of gear, wires, and meter readings meant only for audiophiles. Instead, the Wall becomes a living, sweating organism—built by idealists armed with soldering irons and speaker cones. But perfection came at a cost: four semis, a leapfrog crew and endless money and labor just to keep the system upright. In barely over a year, the Wall collapsed under its own weight. The paradox Anderson reveals is how a system designed to eliminate distortion in the live experience became, by sheer scale, a distortion field of its own.

What makes the book click for me is its attention to people, not just parts. Anderson traces the Dead’s history through Owsley “Bear” Stanley, Dan Healy and the Alembic crew as they imagine and build a PA system so radical it reshaped the concert experience.

Loud and Clear captures the Dead at work: building the conditions for the music, not just playing it. The Grateful Dead didn’t chase “normal” success. They chased the impossible until it became impractical… and then they chased the next impossible thing. Their own record label. Film projects. Egypt. Selling tickets directly to fans. The DIY ethic loomed large across the greater Deadisphere.

An instant addition to the essential GD canon and my favorite read of 2025, Loud and Clear will resonate with the newly indoctrinated, seasoned Heads, entrepreneurial dreamers, and anyone fascinated by the messy intersection of idealism and impracticality.

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TRUCKIN' 7/31/74 Dillon Stadium, Hartford, CT

When thinking of the Wall of Sound, I give special thanks to Michael “Meesh” Metivier for helping me see Hartford’s Dillon Stadium in a completely different light. In high school, back when I was a somewhat-semi-kinda-functional athlete, I played a handful of games there in the early ’80s. Dillon, for me, equalled chalk lines and whistles.

“Meesh”, who had seen Dead shows going back to Gaelic Park, rewired that association. A multitalented builder and life-long tinkerer, he’s a real-life McGuyver who rides motorcycles, sails boats and climbs mountains. The man can engineer anything. And, like Zelig or Forrest Gump, he always seemed to be in the orbit of amazing events. (When The Ramones came up in conversation, he pulled out Super-8 film he shot of the band in 1975 or 1976.)

Decades ago, we’d listen to shows on cassette while playing darts (through speakers he built himself). He shared the story of how he and his friends snuck into Dillon Stadium days before the ’74 show and dug a hole under the bleachers to bury a keg of beer. Audacious.

Equally audacious is the absolutely explosive jam on the Truckin’ from Dillon. Over. The. Top. I’m thrilled the show finally got the official-release SBD treatment, but I’ll admit I’ve always had a preference for audience tapes. There are multiple audience sources from Dillion, and each feels like a different seat in the same fever dream. The build-up goes one extra notch, to eleven, before tumbling, bumbling and crumbling back to earth. Later, as Jerry brings the first section of the jam to a close, you can literally hear audience members gasp, ooh and ahh. It’s a gorgeous landing with a false intro to "Wharf Rat" before the music weaves into a jam whispering of "Dark Star" before shifting into “Heaven Help/Mind Left Body” and "Spanish Jam" and finally setting into "Wharf Rat" for reals..