Bill “Doc” Gans worked for Showco from 1973 to 1982, during one of the most important eras in the development of modern concert touring.

Doc came into the business with no formal audio background, learned by doing, and found himself on the road with some of the biggest artists of the 1970s and early 1980s. In this long-form road conversation, he shares stories from his years in live sound, from the Showco shop to stages with Jackson Browne, James Taylor, The Who, ZZ Top, Average White Band, Uriah Heep, and more.

We talk about the Running on Empty tour, “The Load-Out/Stay,” Merriweather Post Pavilion, monitor mixing before in-ears, loud wedges, feedback, recording trucks, stage volume, The Section, Jim Bornhorst, the Showco Superboard, Vari-Lite, and the constant problem-solving that came with doing large-scale shows before the modern touring playbook existed.

This episode started with one song, but it became much more than that.

It is a conversation about Doc’s story, Showco’s impact, and the wild, funny, difficult, unforgettable reality of life on the road in the 1970s. Some of the stories are technical. Some are hilarious. Some are from a very different era of touring. All of them are part of the history How We Got Loud is here to preserve.

The history of live sound is not just about gear.

It is about the people who figured it out as they went.

Check out the episode page at HowWeGotLoud.com for more pictures and details.