Is that the way The Dead handled it - a little coral for the tape guys?
That pic is in the official recording section, yes. You can see a rail behind me. That is the division between the assigned seating area, and the open seating lawn area. It is the main access aisle into the venue, but lower in elevation by a few feet. They would rope off the taping section, and fans, for the most part, would leave us alone. I never actually recorded from there, but, would leave a deck there to be run by friends, as a safety copy, before jumping up front and experimenting, or helping out up there.
In the early days, it was tolerated to record in your purchased seat, or, where it was the best sound in general admission shows. The recording thing was tolerated by the band, but, not supported by them; meaning, you had to do whatever it took to get the gear into the show, and show security. In some rare instances, the stage rear door was a possibility, and have a staffer get it in for you.
Then in '84, they began a taping section.
The taping section was where most people went. But there was a crew of us who stayed the course, but, changed our tactics to be low profile. But, it also meant that you could walk gear through the door openly.
Where we used to run up front, at 8'++, and fully on display, we now ran at below head height, and everything stayed under the furry shadowed edges.
The best sound was an equilateral triangle to their PA array, which always measured out with the critical point of the triangle being at the main house mixing console.
So, we'd play our game right under their noses. They knew about us, and the sound tech, Dan Healy, would send his guys down to ask us to bring him copies; he supported us, but, had to toe the corporate line. But, ultimately, he is one of us.
I am a really big, broad guy, at 6'6". My job in all of this was to be the Mike Stand.
All of our gear was laid out and ready to go, but, under blankets, under seats, etc. When the band came out, I'd stand in position, and a mic stand was erected directly in front of me, and the mics were brought up to my chin to nose level. I'd settle into a deep meditative trance, because for the next three hours, I couldn't budge a musicle, as I was covering a mic stand,and, also had a set of mics up in my hair, experimenting with a developing technique.