This informal listening session will explore the sonic and social legacy of David Mancuso’s Loft, the influential invitation-only, audiophile community party that came into being on Valentine’s Day 1970, sometimes referred to as the Love Saves the Day party.
Led by Tim Lawrence, the session will explore the influence of David and his figuring of the Loft as a uniquely utopian space driven by music, dance, stereo sound and, for those who wanted to partake, a tab of acid. It will be argued that from the beginning of 1970 onwards, David made a decisive contribution to the establishment of a new form of music making or musicianship that embodied the countercultural period in a far more advanced way than many other musical genres such as acid rock and progressive rock.
Why was it so important for David to reproduce sound accurately? How did the experience of listening adapt to this situation and how did it affect the modes of behaviour? Why does the Loft continue to resonate today? What are we holding on to and why?