Staff working for/with a touring band...

BarryCreed

sorry if i got the wrong thread, cant find the right one..!!
But i've always wondered how people got jobs with touring bands, such as those who take care of logistics, etc. the people you don't see or meet. They could well be doing an everyday mundane job, but have the novelty of being in transit for certain periods...
how would you even go about asking/finding out....
ive often thought about it, and the old languages wouldnt go astray....

iamhunted

i think for a lot of the smalelr bands round ireland its a matter of being prepared to travel for little or no pay. its a way to build experience and depending on the calibre of band one would 'work' for, you;d make contacts with bigger and better paying bands

Alter-Ego

Some bands would just have their friends helping them out and as the band gets bigger it becomes a real job i guess.

Bren_M.Records

Did alot of the stuff around gigs/tours for Hybrasil but that doesnt really count cos its only on a tiny scale but I did one logistics/road manager thingy for a support band on an eight date tour round Ireland.
Use to chat with the guys who were working for the main band.
They all worked for a pro company who literally hire out everything bigger bands need to tour from roadies right through to sound desk/PA and tour buses.

The stage/production manager was a Welsh guy in his 50's and he was a feckin genius, he started of as a moniter engineer in the 70's.
The actual road manager(looking after the bands needs) was some wheeler dealer type fella and I dont know how he got involved.
Most of the lads on the crew just started off with local bands in their area and things just kinda fell into place for them.
I suppose the one thing that I did notice about them (apart from the fact they were all bloody good at their jobs) was that they were very very professional in what they did.

Dunno if that helps.

BarryCreed

cheers for the replies folks. i was watching a "behind the scenes dvd" of a concert and it focused on getting to and from gigs etc. and it sparked my curiosity on how these blokes, (usually blokes!!) got into it...

frobisher

There are many different disciplines and jobs at work behond the scenes. I've toured with a few artists in different capacities. It's great craic but after a while gets boring. But not as boring as most offices!!

Sound engineers usually do some basic traning these days after which they take whatever work they can get with bands and venues. Through that they can end up as the sound man for a certain band that goes on to some success and tour. Either that or the sound man is working for the company that have hired the PA to the tour.

Lighting techs can be attached to bands too but it's usually through working for a company hiring the gear out that they end up on tour. Video techs are similar.

Backline guys are usually closer to the bands than any other part of the crew. Often they're friends of teh band or people with alot of experience in their feild.

Riggers are riggers. They're a law unto themselves. Although I think we'll see more and more moves towards them being certified to what they do. You need to know your stuff when you're responsible for hanging 40 tonnes of gear over a band and audience!

After that you've got electricians, admin, catering staff, drivers and all sosrts of others working locally on tour dates. It's like a big circus.

ellenmelon

frobisher wrote: »

There are many different disciplines and jobs at work behond the scenes. I've toured with a few artists in different capacities. It's great craic but after a while gets boring. But not as boring as most offices!!

Sound engineers usually do some basic traning these days after which they take whatever work they can get with bands and venues. Through that they can end up as the sound man for a certain band that goes on to some success and tour. Either that or the sound man is working for the company that have hired the PA to the tour.

Lighting techs can be attached to bands too but it's usually through working for a company hiring the gear out that they end up on tour. Video techs are similar.

Backline guys are usually closer to the bands than any other part of the crew. Often they're friends of teh band or people with alot of experience in their feild.

Riggers are riggers. They're a law unto themselves. Although I think we'll see more and more moves towards them being certified to what they do. You need to know your stuff when you're responsible for hanging 40 tonnes of gear over a band and audience!

After that you've got electricians, admin, catering staff, drivers and all sosrts of others working locally on tour dates. It's like a big circus.

any half decent sound eng will NEED to do some training or have had a good bit of work experience now days..audiences and bands are more discerning when it comes to the sound coming out of the PA's. as you say, a engineer that is good at mixing live and knows what the band likes is worth his weight in gold so you'll often hear of them sticking with a band throughout its career.

ah, riggers. they crack me up cause they're so HARDCORE and stuff. its definately a skill as you say..in my course we do similar work rigging wise but im a long way off calculating how to rig speakers and the like! one day...i like hauling stuff up and down though..id love to become a flyperson (thats more a theatre thing) but im petrified of heights at the moment so maybe not..

sorry! went off on a major tangent.....:D

Miguel_Sanchez

I know a girl who has worked as tour assistant with two of the biggest English indie-rock bands.

Basically she travels with them on the bus, helps with flight bookings, food, drinks, merchandise, everything and anything really.

Pay is good but the hours are long and sleeping on a tourbus while you drive from gig to gig doesn't sound half as much fun as you'd think it would be.

I was always under the impression that bands went straight back to their hotel for a night of boozing after gigs. Mostly however these guys pile into the bus and drive straight to the next city, through the night. They only stay in hotels on days off. And this band have a couple of albums under their belt at this stage and sell out large venues.