Erecting “The Beast” required extensive planning and preparation. This marvel of sound and science boasted a stge with a revolving deck at the top that spouted pyrotechnics hundreds of feet into the air with multi-colored laser beams, synchronized to the music of the band, splaying an effusion of color over the stage and the audience. The sound system for the dance necessitated installing thirty Sytex Hi-Fi wireless speakers mounted on 20-foot poles, orchestrated to surround the dance floor with the “savage groans” emanating from the stage.
It took two trucks to haul the thirty tons of gear that made up “The Beast.” A crew of ten workers and technicians required two days to assemble and test the equipment. The framework of the soundstage needed to be nested on top of the original bandstand, a task that required four cranes working in tandem. The Owensburg soundstage caused problems for the installation crew. When it was originally built, the construction crew ran into unexpected bedrock and the Steel I beams driven into the ground to support the metal foundation frame were eleven inches shorter than the design called for. As a result, the Owensburg soundstage was higher than it would normally be for the design code. On its own this was not a problem, but with a behemoth like ‘The Beast” setting on top of it, a concern was raised.
Instead of settling to the ground, when “The Beast” was mounted over the soundstage an 11” gap resulted, but since “The Beast” came with 8” sliding panels around the periphery, even with them engaged, the super-stage was still sitting three inches from the ground. The panels gave the installation a finished appearance; although they did not provide any additional support for the 60,000 lb structure. To be safe, the engineers connected metal- rope guy lines to concrete blocks buried in the ground behind the stage with the other end hooked to fin plates at the top of the truss structure of “The Beast”.
The construction of the bandstand wasn’t without incident. In spite of the specialized training of the crew, several of the workers were injured; one with a shoulder dislocated by a fall from scaffolding and another with a twisted ankle from a slip off the edge of the stage.
“The Beast” needed to be tested so the band showed up on the third day to be indoctrinated on the high-tech features of “The Beast”. Bobby and his guys were fascinated by the “big time” software and hardware associated with the massive soundstage that would provide the opportunity to showcase their new material that seemed to fit right in with “The Beast’s” pyrotechnics and laser show’s “warp and woof”. This gig was the chance of a lifetime for Bobby and his crew.
Immediately after the rehearsal, a bus with the name Bobby V and the Rhythm Riders in psychedelic letters and colors emblazoned on both sides and on the back, headed south for a gig that night in Bluefield, West Virginia. * * *
On Anniversary “eve” the soundstage program manager met with the Dance Sub-committee to sign-off on the preparations. With everything given the okay, they just had to wait until the next evening. The program was set to begin at 8pm sharp.