Road crew

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Road crews (roadies) working on the stage construction of a concert by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at Telos Wireless Pavilion in 2013 Roadies.jpg
Road crews (roadies) working on the stage construction of a concert by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at Telos Wireless Pavilion in 2013

The road crew (or roadies) are the support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians. This catch-all term covers many people: tour managers, production managers, stage managers, front of house and monitor engineers, lighting directors, lighting designers, lighting techs, guitar techs, bass techs, drum techs, keyboard techs, pyrotechnicians, security/bodyguards, truck drivers, merchandise crew, and caterers, among others.

Contents

Road crew appearances

The road crew are generally uncredited, though many bands take care to thank their crew in album sleeve liner notes. In some cases, roadies have stepped in to help out with playing onstage. It is common for guitar, bass and drum technicians (who are responsible for setting up instruments and sound checking them) to be skilled musicians in their own right, and they are naturally familiar with the music being played, so there are many cases where they have stepped in when band members have been injured or otherwise could not perform.

Bruce Berry was a working man
He used to load that Econoline van...

Other careers

A number of roadies have gone on to join bands and write music.

Prior to establishing an acting career, Harrison Ford was a roadie for The Doors. [9]

See also

Notes

  1. Matt McGee, Aaron Sams. "U2: U2faqs.com - Live / Concert FAQ". u2faqs.com. Archived from the original on November 6, 2002.
  2. "Review: Built To Spill, 'Untethered Moon'". npr.org. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  3. Rush, Ronnie (January 17, 2022). Life of a Roadie: The Gypsy in Me (Revised ed.). Independently published. ISBN   9798795968162.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. "Two Steps Back". annotatedfall.doomby.com. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  5. DeRogatis, Jim (2006). Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma's Fabulous The Flaming Lips. Broadway Books. p.  69. ISBN   978-0-7679-2140-4.
  6. "Tim Quy". Uncut (May ed.). Retrieved April 2, 2023 via Facebook.
  7. "Keith Levene, the Clash and Public Image Ltd Guitarist, Dies at 65". Pitchfork . November 12, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  8. Baines, Josh (July 15, 2016). "Alex Paterson From The Orb Picked His 10 Favorite Punk Records Ever". Vice.
  9. Whaley, Jack (September 29, 2021). "When Harrison Ford Worked as a Roadie for the Doors". Far Out Magazine .

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