In this retrospective episode, legendary Grateful Dead lighting designer Candace Brightman discusses her 40+ year career lighting live music and explains her design process through four decades of technological evolution. She also reflects on being a woman in a male dominated industry and the role psychedelics played in her career. Her and host Luke Stratton discuss how she accidentally started working in the music industry, and what it was like working for such icons artists including the Dead, Santana, Bette Midler, Widespread Panic, and the GD50 Fare Thee Well shows. This episode also includes a brief phone interview with GD50 promoter and Capital Theater owner Peter Shapiro, who recalls the impact Brightman’s work had on both the band and other designers… and he settles the “Santa Clara Rainbow Rumor” once and for all.

The Light Side Podcast