Soundstage

For five seasons, the hour-long live concert series Soundstage has aired performances from an eclectic group of artists, ranging from Yes and Sonic Youth to Chris Isaak and Fleetwood Mac. But this season, the show—a revival of the original PBS Soundstage, which aired from 1974 to 1985—has taped performances outside its WTTW studio, including Dashboard Confessional at Madison Square Garden and Rob Thomas at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver. The A.V. Club spoke with producer/director Joe Thomas about the show’s changing format and its similarity to Star Trek.

The A.V. Club: What was behind the decision to expand to other venues?
Joe Thomas: Well, I think not all acts are appropriate for our intimate little 450-seat theater, and rather than lose opportunities, we decided to expand it into Red Rocks and key venues around the country that we thought would expand the listening experience. No matter how nice we make that stage, it’s not appropriate for everybody.
AVC: Do you worry about losing the show’s intimacy?
JT: We love the intimacy. Our thought was always that this show should not be an intimate show—it should be shot from the perspective of somebody with an intimate seat at a bigger venue. I try to shoot the thing as you’re there in the 15th row, and it looks bigger on TV than is in person intentionally. [We do that] rather than [go] for an Unplugged vibe, for what would it be like if you could afford that 15th-row ticket. [Laughs.]
AVC: If people haven’t been watching, why should they start now?
JT: When I look at our “competition,” they’re just a bunch of one-off shows shot by different directors. There’s no consistency, no continuity. We also don’t do scripted shows. We stay out of the way of the artists. The performance is as the artist lays it down. It’s a show where you get to see a new artist like KT Tunstall, where we looked at an artist and said, “This is a career artist who just hasn’t had a career yet.” When you look at her show, we gave her a whole hour—very unlikely you’re going to see a brand-new artist with an hour. I think what we try to do is show you the developing artist at that stage in their career. Then when you go to a Peter Frampton, I hope what we showed is that here’s a guy that wasn’t just Frampton Comes Alive. He’s a really deep artist. He’s one of the most underrated guitar players ever.
AVC: You’ve said that once artists hit the stage, it’s theirs for as long as they want. Has anyone gotten especially greedy?
JT: I think “greedy” is a word that we encourage. Tom Petty was in Chicago and played at the Vic rehearsing for the more intimate Soundstage. He ended up doing 35 songs, and we encourage that because we also have material that’s never been on Soundstage that someday will probably be on a DVD. But it’s funny how if you give them a format to play, that’s what they will do. There’s no time limit, the audience loves you, they’re here to see you.
AVC: You retooled some elements of the original Soundstage when you re-launched the program. When someone else takes over, is that the approach you’d like them to take?
JT: We took great pains in negotiations with WTTW to make sure that this incarnation of Soundstage stands alone as its own. If there’s ever going to be another Soundstage, it will have a slightly different name, kind of like the difference between Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation. At that point, I think I just have to put it up in a helium balloon and let it go. Whatever they do, hopefully they’ll respect the show that was there and do right by it.
AVC: Would that make you the Captain Picard of Soundstage?
JT: [Laughs.] I’ve got all my hair, so I would be kind of like Leonard Nimoy then. No, I think I’d be Sulu because I’m driving the ship.