The stage at Tanglewood’s Koussevitzky Music Shed in Lenox Mass. was designed to comfortably accomodate a full symphony orchestra. It’s wide and deep and might have seemed vast to the jazz and rock musicians who participated in the run of Bill Graham-presented Fillmore At Tanglewood shows in 1969 and 1970.
Curiously, though, both Miles Davis and Santana, who performed on a triple bill also featuring the Voices of East Harlem choir on August 18,1970, elected to set up in tight, almost club-stage configurations. In the dazzling, peak-energy video of a highlight from Santana’s set, above, it looks like the musicians are nearly on top of each other: Glance over drummer Michael Shrieve’s right shoulder to see the percussionists up front, and guitarist Carlos Santana behind them (!). He’s alongside the kit on the high-hat side, sorta wedged in next to the keyboards. It’s tight quarters, but there’s eye contact in all directions. The traffic signals are clear. And the solo peaks are not solo endeavors; the entire band is in there.
To those accostumed to seeing current touring acts spread out like islands, utilizing as much onstage real estate as possible, this set-up might look a little goofy. If not claustrophobic. Just listen, though: It doesn’t take long to hear — and feel — the cohesion of this band, and, then, to track its cyclone-like whirls of energy as the music radiates from the stage into the seats.
This live at Tanglewood show has long circulated as a grey-market audio product. That’s where I heard it first, ages ago. Typically I want audio only, not audio/video, but this video is terrific — not least as an argument for how things we might barely notice, like on-stage proximity, can become crucial to the levitational potential of a live performance. While we’re at it: Nobody is using in-ear monitors. Not needed!
I wonder if it's also an analog thing, in the way not only that sound re-enforcement has changed but also in the DSP of the music; the digital wave tends to be uniform without true analog distortion, and the whole thing is cold, distant, clinical even in live setups.