Bob See, founder and CEO of See Factor Industry and one of the leading innovators in rock ‘n’ roll tour packaging, died Feb. 10, 2015. See Factor noted that he died peacefully in his sleep. He was 67.
“He was a trooper, and a gifted soul,” said lighting legend and 2004 Parnelli Lifetime Honoree Chip Monck. “He gave more than he took — a lot more. Now he goes to his reward … no more three-course proscenium brick walls … thanks, Robert, for all you’ve done. Thanks a lot.”
“Bob was a trailblazer who taught and nurtured many of the people that make up our industry,” said Elliot Krowe, who worked for See for 25 years and is currently with BML-Blackbird Theatrical Services. “We all learned from him. He will be missed.”
“Bob See was an icon in our industry,” said PLSN publisher Terry Lowe, executive producer of the Parnelli Awards. “He was one of the first Parnelli Award Lifetime Achievement winners, and appropriately so. He launched the careers of dozens of the industry’s best-known people. He was a success on many levels.”
“Bob was a force of nature, and we mourn the loss of our friend, mentor, and leader,” said Mark Friedman, executive vice president of See Factor. “We will honor his memory by continuing to operate according to the extraordinary example he set for us. Bob would want nothing more than to know that his company will continue to innovate, and to meet his high standards for serving its customers.”
“He was a good friend, and a jolly fellow,” said long time live event professional Doug Pope, who worked with See on many Neil Diamond tours. “He might have had a rough exterior business-wise, but he had a big heart. He took care of his employees … he was a gentle giant, and one of the originators of rock ‘n’ roll lighting.”
“I was a graduate of See Factor University, class of ’85,” said Nook Schoenfeld, LD and PLSN editor. “Bob See hired me straight out of college and literally worked my tail to the bone for three years continuously; all the while teaching me this lighting craft and making me a man. We worked hard, played hard, and earned our chops working for this NYC Legend. For that I am among many who will always be grateful to Bob.”
“A Whole Different World”
See was born in Brooklyn in 1947. His father was a vice principal who played piano, organ, and strings, and his mother a violinist. Summers were spent at a 47-acre farm in upstate New York where his father would conduct a small choral group. “I grew up with music around me all the time,” See said in that 2004 PLSN interview. See himself dabbled in trumpet and guitar in his youth, but he was “much more interested in what was happening behind-the-scenes even when I was a kid growing up in public school. It was more fun to move around big pieces of equipment, do lighting and sound, then being on the stage.”
He did it well in high school to the point of being known as the “local tech.” He went to his parent’s alma mater, NYU. His timing could not have been more perfect.
The young See would interviewed by lighting legend Jules Fisher, who accepted him into a then groundbreaking new technical conservatory-type program. Classmates included Michael Ahern, John Tedesco, Bob Goddard and John Chester.
Right next door to the school, Bill Graham would open the Fillmore East. “In 1968, a bunch of us were walking down the street and noticed work on what would be the Fillmore [happening],” See said. “The funniest thing of all is, written in black magic marker on the outside of the building, there was a note saying they were looking for an electrician. And we walked in into that whole different world.” See and others, along with professors, would find steady work at the Fillmore, but no one’s tenure would be as long and as deep as See’s. He worked there 10 day before it opened through a couple weeks after it closed in 1971.
There he would work for and be inspired by Graham, who he considered a mentor. Acts like Allman Brothers, the Doors, Edgar Winter, Janis Joplin and hundreds of others came through Graham’s place, giving See and the others the opportunity to raise the bar on rock productions in the comparatively small club.
“When we had Traffic, we did this gag where we would lower a big traffic light,” See said. “Another time with Jefferson Airplane, we created this big paper screen with a film of a 707 taking off on it. The band was wheeled behind in dollies and then was pushed through the screen. In was the early days of not just having a band stand up and play.” See also worked on The Who’s first presentation of the Rock Opera “Tommy” in the U.S. and on Graham’s Tanglewood concert. For all the greatness that was the Fillmore East, all that was accomplished there, See credits Graham, who he said realized he had a lot of good tech people and would listen to them. “If we had a good idea, he would let us do it.”
The See Factor
Before the doors of the Fillmore East would shut, the seeds of what would be the live event company See Factor were being planted. At first he built intercom systems and road boxes (“SOB’s” he called them for “Small Orange Boxes”). Then he started going out on the road doing lights for certain groups, most notably the James Gang. His work with that group would lead to an invitation to work with David Bowie as an LD, a gig that would last almost four years. Meanwhile See Factor grew into a model of the modern full-service shop, and always the astute business man, See was renting equipment when he wasn’t using it himself. See was also good at getting great talent onboard to help. In addition to Krowe, Tony Mazzucchi, Steve Hurston, Shelly Diamond, and of course Friedman contributed greatly to the company’s success.
“In the early 1970s, there were maybe 10 people in the world who did this stuff,” See said. “We grew and developed, and people would come to me and say, ‘We want you to do this,’ and we would just figure it out.” “People” included Deep Purple, Rod Stewart, Rush, ELO, Blue Oyster Cult, and Rainbow, among many others.
It was the days of asking “why not?” rather than “why.” When Richie Blackmore left Deep Purple on his own, he asked See Factor to create a huge rainbow consisting of 2,400 40-watt light bulbs in four different colors, in one-foot wide bands, and build a giant steal truss so it looked like an arched rainbow. In doing so he was one of the first to use a computer for this type of work.
Another early highlight was creating a giant “A” of lights for Aerosmith, which would sit flat and pivot up during the opening strains of one of their more popular songs, and “they carried that around with them for forever.” Also Diamond, Billy Joel, Ted Nugent, and Foghat wanted a lot of a custom work from See Factor. “Rush’s LD [Howard Ungerleider] would come to us and say, “I got this idea—I want to make a ceiling of light,’ and we’d have to figure out how to make a 2,000-light ceiling that you could load in and load out in four hours.”
For this type of request, the See Factor developed the Rapid Deployment Lighting Module (RDLM), which was designed to fit in a truck and stack four high, with each module capable of hanging 36 lights each.
“He could be particularly expensive, but everything he did was beautifully packaged and beautifully done,” Monck said. “The electrical distribution systems were great. Nothing was going to fall apart, and it all looked really good.” Before the 1970s would end, the See Factor would expand with offices in LA and London.
Professor See of SFI
See took great pride in the talent he helped foster and nurture. “When people left us to work somewhere else, when they said they worked for See Factor, they got hired immediately.”
“A lot of people came through our doors, and Bob is a good task master,” Krowe said. “He wanted things done his way, the right way, and you had to toe the line to be there. But he was in an industry where you make it up as you go, and he knew a lot more than many other people combined.” See adds, “It all comes back to working with Bill [Graham]. You try and keep production on an excellent level, and you’re always working together.”
The 1990s came and the industry changed even more. The See Factor continued to work with acts like Rush, Neil Diamond, and Billy Joel, and also tackled Woodstock 1994. New acts included Keith Richards, Living Color, and one of See’s personal favorites, Peter Gabriel.
In the 1990 and 2000s, their next hook proved to be film and television. The Sopranos, Spin City, Sex in the City and Law and Order are just a few of the TV shows See provided for. Movies include Spider Man 2, The Departed, and the Interpreter – just some of the long list of films they’ve worked on.
Despite all his accomplishments, all his hanging out with rock stars, See always stayed grounded and was admired for it. “When the music is over, it’s over,” he said. “If you think you’re part of the band, you’re not. You’re just a hired hand and should maintain a proper decorum. If you don’t, you’ll get caught up [in it all].”
For the last few years, See worked from home, and reportedly still insisted he saw and signed off on every invoice.
“I am heartbroken,” said longtime industry professional Michael Ahern. “Robert and I met while doing stage carpentry in a summer tent theater that was the first in anything like that at the new formed School of the Arts, over 40 years ago. My wife and I were married at the See Factor shop, which Robert whitewashed, painted, and put sequential lighting that followed the bride down the aisle to a newly carpeted stage set with up-lit trusses in 1983. Operating on the very plausible believe that I was crazier and would be the first to go, he was the guardian of our children … while many know him from his contribution to the business, mostly, for me, he was my friend.”
Bob See leaves behind his wife, Annemarie; his children Robert II., Tom, and Christina; and hundreds of industry professionals grateful for getting their start in this business. A wake in celebration of Bob’s life will be held on Sunday and Monday, Feb. 15 and 16, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at Thomas M. Quinn and Sons Funeral Home, 35-20 Broadway, Long Island City, NY, 11106. A private funeral service will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 17. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Behind the Scenes (www.behindthescenescharity.org) and The Actors Fund (www.actorsfund.org).
For more on Bob See please visit www.parnelliawards.com/media. There you’ll find the tribute video for his 2004 Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award. He was also interviewed for NAMM’s Oral History project and that interview can be seen at https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/robert-see. Former PLSN editor Richard Cadena also profiled Bob See’s pioneering role as a stage electrician here.
