Sunday, June 8, 2008

Pre-show with Roy, Plant's sound guy

Just had a conversation with Roy Williams at the sound desk for tonight's Plant/Krauss show. Hailing from near Birmingham, England, he's been traveling with Robert doing his sound for the last 10 years. I asked if he records any of the shows. Roy says they record everything and it goes straight to disk, for reference purposes.

He said last night's Plant/Krauss show in upstate New York was a little different, in terms of crowd control. He called the place a shed and said the security was pretty lax, so much so that everybody rushed down to the floor. He said it didn't affect the performance per se, but it just pissed some people off a little.

We're a little over an hour from when Plant and Krauss take the stage. We just heard a Dr. John song and before that, a guy named Scott Matthews. Roy tells me Scott was the opening act for Plant and Krauss in Europe. Pretty soon, we'll hear the American choice, Sharon Little.

Roy was in London at the Zeppelin show in December, minding the sound along with another guy. It was a rock 'n' roll show and one with a lot of feedback. I asked him about that, and he said it was just in the first two songs. I asked specifically if the O2 set was recorded, and he confirmed if it was, like everything else, recorded for reference. I asked him if the quality was along the lines of something that could someday be released. He said yes it is, but everybody's running around doing other things and releasing it isn't a priority. I asked if the guys realize the demand for that recording, and he smirked as if to say, "Of course they know that." I said it wasn't just guys in Zeppelin T-shirts who want to hear that set. He said yeah, he would like to have a copy too.

Roy was in a Robert Plant and Strange Sensation tour shirt.

2 comments:

  1. Very interesting tidbits from a guy 'in the know', Steve... I'll BET he was smirking!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Y! Just glad to get these encounters.

    Roy says he gets set lists occasionally, so he'll usually know what song's coming up next. He didn't say much about "When the Levee Breaks" being dropped from the set in upstate New York. They didn't play it in Atlantic City either. But they did three songs I'm pretty sure they weren't doing on the first American leg either, so it about evens out.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated prior to publication. Comments will not be published if they are deemed vulgar, defamatory or otherwise objectionable.