Monday Jun 16, 2025
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
POWERHOUSE Arena
28 Adams Street (Corner of Adams & Water Street across from the Archway)
Brooklyn , NY
11201
About the Book.
This is the first book to tell the full story of the Grateful Dead’s unprecedented speaker system that was as tall as a school bus and more than a hundred feet wide, the “Wall of Sound.” Anderson interviewed hundreds of people associated with the band and the construction of the Wall itself, including band members, roadies, tech wizards, fans and many more. The band’s quest for a roaring yet crystal clear sound began after their formation in 1965, colliding with the ‘60s progressive social climate. Over the next few years, the Dead’s growing crew of sound-obsessed techies and eccentric roadies took their speaker system to new technological heights. But as the Dead’s relentless, drug-fueled touring schedule met this increasingly burdensome yet sonically perfect machine, in 1974, the Wall brought the band to its knees.
The two years of “Wall shows” are legend among Deadheads, this is a definitive part of the Grateful Dead’s history.
Brian Anderson has been obsessed with the Wall of Sound his whole life and now keeps a part of the Wall of Sound in his living room. He has been a Webby Award-winning senior features editor, writer, and producer at VICE in New York City (2011-2019). More recently, Anderson did a stint running the Science desk at The Atlantic (2020), where he was part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team for early pandemic coverage, and was later a senior editor at Vox (2021-2022).
About the Author.
BRIAN ANDERSON has been a Webby Award-winning senior
features editor, writer, and producer at VICE in New York City (2011-2019). More recently,
Anderson did a stint running the Science desk at The Atlantic (2020), where he was part of
the Pulitzer Prize-winning team for early pandemic coverage, and was later a senior editor
at Vox (2021-2022). His 2015 VICE feature on “The Wall of Sound” served as the jumping
off point for his first book Loud and Clear. He currently lives and works in Chicago, where a
piece of the Wall of Sound sits in his living room.
About the Moderator.
Jesse Jarnow is the author of Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America (Hachette, 2016), Big Day Coming: Yo La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock (Gotham, 2012), and Wasn’t That A Time: The Weavers, The Blacklist, and the Battle For the Soul of America (Hachette, 2018). He co-hosts the official Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast, and since 2008 has hosted The Frow Show on WFMU.