This is from a post by magicd on vincewelnick.com:
I had the honor of meeting Vince on stage the last time the Dead played the Boston Garden. I had seen Vince with Todd and I was a long time fan of the Tubes. I thought Vince was a technically superior musician. He seemed to be able to anticipate what Jerry was going to play. When Jerry soloed, Vince was like his shadow, supporting the parts and adding color.
In person Vince was friendly and real. He was as exited about the show and the music as we were.Vince played though Brents old rack of gear. I thought that was really wierd. Vince had his own keyboards, but the sound modules that were being triggered were the same ones that had been in the rack for a long time. Bob Bralove was actually in charge of what keyboard sounds were being sent to the front of house mixer. I had a chance to listen to the house mix, but also to listen to what Vince had in his own ear monitors. Vince had separate control of what he would hear as compared to what the audience was hearing. At one point in a solo Bralove started adding synth tones to what Vince was playing. Vince got a disgusted look on his face and hit a pedal to turn that stuff off so he was hearing only piano and organ. Meanwhile the audience was hearing his parts with bells and synths and all kinds of stuff added. I just thought it was really strange that the keyboard tech would have more say over the sound than the actual player. That’s when I started to understand the dysfunctional family aspect of the Dead.
I did get the impression that Vince was treated like a hired hand, if not by band members, then definitly by some of the crew.
But Vince clearly loved the music. So did I and that’s why I went. The Grateful Dead were a huge part of my life and Vince represents some of the best parts of that.
That’s weird: “I just thought it was really strange that the keyboard tech would have more say over the sound than the actual player.” I gotta see if I can get any more info on this from Bob Bralove.
That whole discussion is worth a read. Some ugly and off-topic shit, inevitably, but many kind stories about Vince.