The Roadie's Tale

[pscandrett]

Hi all

 

Spotted this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/musicfeature/pip/x1tsb/

 

"The Roadie's Tale

 

Tuesday 23 May 2006 13:30-14:00 (Radio 4 FM)

Repeated: Saturday 27 May 2006 15:30-16:00 (Radio 4 FM)

 

Behind the scenes at every gig and concert is a wonderful collection of personalities; the literally unsung heroes whose lives are dedicated to making it happen.

Nick Barraclough goes on the road with The Buzzcocks and offers a fascinating, warts-and-all glimpse into the secret, subterranean world of their crew.

With contributions from The Buzzcocks, their crew, Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, Andy Kershaw and Mark Radcliffe."

 

It's available on Listen Again or (obviously) repeated on Saturday.

 

Quite interesting... any comments?

 

Regards

 

Peter

 

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[Freddie]

It seems quite obvious that its been written by an industry outsider. "Rider = Food & Drink" Seems pretty stereotyped, reminds me a bit of that article on Guardian Online a while back. A lot of "roadie = wannabe band member" type talk.

 

Still, good to get a bit of recognition for those involved, I guess.

[Seano]

I want my 1/2 hour back.

[Guest lightnix]

I missed it the first time, I'll try to catch the repeat.

 

It's often been the problem with backstage documentaries and articles produced by industry outsiders: ostensibly they admire the work we do, but cannot seem to resist stereotyping the individuals and personalities involved.

 

Mind you, it IS a bit of a "target-rich environment" sometimes ;)

 

Comments about wannabe musicians are partly based on historical fact IMO. IIRC the original roadies were people who set up the band's equipment (i.e. the instruments), often doubling as minders, runners and fixers when off-site. Instrument techs and their equipment these days are generically known as "Backline" and they are still usually employed directly by the band or even individual band members, sometimes still with nebulous "other duties" as a part of their job. All that lighting / laser / effects / PA / projection mularkey didn't start to get going until the mid-late sixties, with the arrival of Psychedelia and Flower Power, which brought with them the idea that concerts should be complete Audio-Visual Experiences, rather than just a band bashing out a few tunes.

 

One of the perks of the original roadies' often poorly and irregularly paid work, was that they got to be a member of the Inner Circle and maybe occasionally jam with the band or fill in with background stuff on recordings. In fact, I once met a guy who used to hang out with bands, back at the start of the 60s and claimed to have given Mick Jagger his first piano lessons. Then his Dad stepped in with some "sound parental advice" and by the time I met him he was working for a major European car hire company (our end client that day). Even 25+ years on, he remained fascinated by "The Life", the Things That Might Have Been and was genuinely interested in our work, beyond his company's event.

 

But I digress... what do we think the ingredients of a "good" documentary about technical crews would be? Maybe we could write one here?

 

[can of worms] ;)

 

PS - I've just remembered an old colleague of mine who was working on a book project, with a working title of Crew, which set out to examine the life, motivations and psychology of those who work backstage. I'll have to give him a call, see how it's going. Maybe point him here ;)

[paulears]

We could always go further and MAKE one - the logistics would be dreadful, but could be made to work?

[Diane]

I agree with you Seano.... was looking to fill a half an hour whilst doing VLOOKUPs (Lucky me!) .... patronising twaddle...the aural equivalent of seeing a load of IBM salesmen on their FATBOYS.... ;)

[Guest lightnix]

I caught the Saturday repeat and although there were a few cringeworthy remarks, there were a few well-observed ones, too. The comment about wearing swag from every gig you've been on, but not the one you're working on raised a smile, as did the one about, "No Moet, No Show-et; No Chandon, No Band On" :(

 

All in all, it wasn't as anger-inducing or patronising as I expected. True, it was a bit shallow and barely scratched the surface of its subject matter, but it was far from being a News of the Screws style hatchet-job and, despite a little gentle ribbing, didn't set out to deliberately mock or denigrate. The overall atmosphere of the program was warm and friendly and although it may not have educated many laymen in any depth, it probably didn't reinforce (m)any prejudices.

 

In the end, it felt to me, very much like an aural version of something you'd find in Reader's Digest; fairly interesting, if a little unstimulating ;)

[mac.calder]

Well I found it to be one of the worst researched and insulting articles I have ever seen - they did not examin what the roadcrew really does, instead settling for the stereotype we all know so well. And as for the "Well paid" comment from Dickinson, I almost broke out laughing.

 

I mean they implied that roadies actually want to be seen or want to be performers etc - without giving real though to the fact that many are in it for the buzz of putting together a great show. I also felt slightly cheapened when they implied that road crew was grunt work.

 

I also took slight offense at the comment that roadies are often badly dressed - I take great pride in my blacks being black. I mean if they wanted to do a "How do you identify a roady" the main identifying mark is the leatherman and maglite on the belt, the bulging pockets filled with a few 'essentials', the mug of strong coffee always within arms reach and the bags under the eyes from lack of sleep. Or you could be superficial and just assume that anyone that is actually working is a roadie.

 

So in conclusion, I found it was just your normal, journalistic "human interest" piece that took the stereotype and scratched it's surface as opposed to actually investigating the issue.

[london sound]

Just listened on line.

 

As to some comments above, yes there are stereotypes and I can find you a hundred with ease.

I think Bruce Dickinsons tongue was in in his cheek although I do not think £300/gig is bad money.

Explanation of a rider a good thing not a lot of people would know, although could have added the tech side of a rider.

I would dispute no famous roadie for instance Lemmy (Motorhead) was a roadie for Jimi Hendrix, also the Gallager brothers (Oasis) were roadie/local crew.

 

 

I think for a half hour program they managed to get over quite a few points that people may not have been aware of, and any way it is just a bit of fun, we on the inside know the true :) BLACK ARTS :) of putting on a show.

 

 

Ian