From Routh Street to Governors Row

The Dallas places where Showco built the road

Showco’s story began before its first touring sound system was built. Its roots were already taking shape in the Dallas music business around the Quadrangle and Routh Street, where Angus Wynne III and Jack Calmes were building the relationships and ventures that helped set the stage. From there, the story moved through Jack Maxson’s garage, dedicated shops, warehouses, and offices across Dallas—places where equipment was built, problems were solved, and road crews prepared to do it all again.

The Quadrangle — where the business began

2800 Routh Street, Dallas, Texas 75201

This is the documented Dallas address behind the Routh Street chapter of the story. A 1970 Billboard directory places Showco Inc. in Suite 225. Directories from 1972 and 1973 place Jack Calmes Management and Showco in Suite 238. Here, Angus Wynne III and Jack Calmes built the concert-promotion, booking, management, and artist relationships that helped lead to the touring company. Showco Records also belongs to this early business and creative world, although the records reviewed so far do not assign the label to a specific suite.

A July 24, 1969 letter concerning Interpop Superfest, Inc. was addressed to Alex Cooley, c/o Showco, Inc., 225 The Quadrangle, 2800 Routh Street, Dallas, Texas. Other historical documentation indicates that Cooley and his team worked from this office as Interpop Superfest partnered with Showco to plan the Texas International Pop Festival.

The sound system takes shape: Beverly Drive — 1970 into 1971

Jack Calmes, Rusty Brutsche, and Jack Maxson assembled Showco’s early sound system in Maxson’s garage before the company landed its first national tour with Three Dog Night. The garage was part workshop, part testing ground, and the place where the touring side of the story began to take shape. It remains a private home, so the exact address is not published here.

The first Showco shop — 1971

Once the work outgrew the garage, Showco moved into its first dedicated shop. The new space gave the crew room to build, repair, store, and prepare more equipment as the tours—and the company—grew. The exact address is still being pieced together from alumni memories and surviving records.

The 33,000-square-foot Dallas facility — documented in 1973

A September 8, 1973 Billboard profile toured Showco’s expanding 33,000-square-foot Dallas building. By then, the company employed about 70 people and was sending ten complete sound units and four lighting-and-staging units onto the road. The facility supported set construction, special effects, equipment manufacturing, and the preparation of complete touring systems.

The article does not name the street address, and no surviving document reviewed so far connects the facility to one of the later Governors Row addresses. For now, it stands as a documented Dallas location whose exact address remains unidentified.

9011 Governors Row — late 1970s through 1983

By the late 1970s, 9011 Governors Row had become a major Showco home base. Offices, sound and lighting operations, manufacturing, research and development, and tour preparation all came together in this Dallas industrial district. Showlites was nearby at 9019 Governors Row, making the area part of the wider Showco working world.

5200 East Grand Avenue — 1983

Showco also used a warehouse at 5200 East Grand Avenue for storage and operational support. Exactly what lived there—and for how long—is one of the pieces alumni can still help fill in.

201 Regal Row — mid-1980s through the early 1990s

By the mid-1980s, 201 Regal Row was Showco’s headquarters and operating base. Sound, touring, manufacturing, Showco Communications Group and Creative Services all moved through this building, along with connected Showco and Vari-Lite activity. For many alumni, Regal Row is the address most closely tied to the company’s busiest years.

9029 Governors Row — the late 1990s through 2000

Showco later returned to Governors Row, operating from 9029 during the company’s final years. The building also served as a transition site when Showco’s assets were sold to Clair Brothers in 2000—a practical last stop in the company’s Dallas story.

Las Colinas Studios — where the tours came together

Las Colinas was not a Showco office or hangout. It was the Dallas-area rehearsal and pre-production facility where major productions came together before heading onto the road. David Bowie, Robert Plant, Genesis, Phil Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and many more rehearsed there with Showco crews and systems supporting the work behind the scenes. The historic complex remains active today as Mercury Studios.

Were you there?

Did you work at one of these locations? Do you remember when a department moved, what was built in each shop, or where that first 1971 facility stood? Share a story or correction—dates, photographs, floor plans, invoices, letterhead, and memories can all help bring these places back to life.

Sources & acknowledgments

• Billboard Campus Attractions and talent directories, 1970–1973: Showco Inc. and Jack Calmes Management at 2800 Routh Street, Suites 225 and 238

• Billboard, September 8, 1973: “Showco: Total Production Company”

• Dallas Times Herald, March 12, 1978

• Billboard International Talent Directory, 1979–1980

• Federal Register, August 18, 1981

• Greater Dallas telephone directories, 1983 and 1990–2000

• Touring and manufacturer directories, 1985–1993

• Showco asset-sale agreement, 2000