I began the process of ushering myself out of Live Nation's life. The box office manager in Chicago had just quit so I was helping to cover some holes there...while trying to find a replacement for myself. I rewrote the job description, posted the ads, read through the resumes...it was a little odd to try to replace myself in this way. In the end, it took a remarkably long time to make myself disappear. I worked until May 1 and Live Nation quietly let me go with a surprising amount of grace and tact (thanks entirely to my boss, of course). The other thing I remember fairly vividly was my 'last' conversation with my boss on that last day of employment. I remember running down the list of things that I had accomplished and the things that someone still would need to finish up...telling him what I had packed into a box and would be shipping to Chicago...and then I remember saying, "you know - since I'm the only one in the Twin Cities, I've been doing a lot of random little things that you probably aren't even aware of. When you recognize what it is that you still need help with, you let me know." I also remember the silence at the other end of the line and the quiet, "huh". I don't recall for certain, but I believe I was producing my first show by the end of May.
My current job is difficult to explain to people. My usual answer is, "I'm a go-between between the tour's management and the venue" and people nod knowingly. Here's what it more or less looks like:
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| One of the best pieces of merch I've seen - this was a tote bag for Tim Minchin (love him, btw) |
Once I have this information, I read through it and try to assess what my follow-up questions/concerns are as well as what items I'll need to arrange locally. Generally, these things fall into some basic areas/categories:
- Stagehands need to be hired. I look through the tour's needs and (with the venue's help because every venue's IATSE contract is a teeny bit different making it impossible to keep it all straight in my head) I try to assess if there are any changes that should be made. For example, Xcel Energy Center has a really "long pull" for the riggers. the rigging grid is much further from the floor than it is in the average building, so we will usually add at least one team of riggers to the call.
- Runners usually need to be booked. I have a team of really stellar runners in the Minneapolis market...this is one area where I am very lucky. I have a great working relationship with them, I trust them and I enjoy them. I book them myself based on the tour's needs.
- Frequently we need to rent 15 passenger vans to transport large numbers of crew to/from hotels, etc. so I make those arrangements
- Occasionally I need to hire some supplemental equipment locally - ie, recently I had Brian Regan at the Orpheum Theater and the decision was made to add video to the production since it is a larger theater and a lot of his comedy lies in his facial expressions. I arranged for the camera, projector and screen for the show as well as a crew to run it.
- Catering...there is always catering in some form. Sometimes the tour travels with a caterer and we will need to arrange for local assistants for them (people to wash dishes and/or help them with local grocery shopping). Sometimes we need to arrange the catering using a local caterer...we wind up feeding a lot of people. On a standard arena show, we're usually feeding 100-150 people for each meal.
Speaking very generally, all I'm really doing is forwarding emails to appropriate people and keeping my eye on the details so that A) nothing slips through the cracks and B) Live Nation's budget is being kept in mind.
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| THIS is what holds that heavy show above the stage - this show was "pre-rigged" the day before the tour showed up (it's rare) |
When the touring personnel show up varies greatly depending on whether they bussed in overnight and are sleeping "soundly" in bunks in the parking lot or they had a day off in town the day before and are stumbling in from a local hotel...usually we see those first touring people shortly before load-in and the day begins. I split my time during those first few hours between the production folks who are starting to unload trucks and push cases into place and those who are trying to set up dressing rooms - rearrange furniture and office paraphernalia...I generally am wearing two radios - one on each hip - one attached to the tour and one attached to the building plus my cell phone and my blackberry for email. I'm VERY "connected".
I spend the day putting out fires -
from the tour:
"I need another 6' table"
"Can we get black linens for all the dressing room hospitality tables?"
"Can we use the building's laundry facilities?"
"send me the building electrician"
"Is there shore power for these busses?"
"does the venue have a workout facility that we can use?"
"I need your pass list"
"my kid loves the Timberwolves/Wild, can I get a jersey?"
and from the building:
"we have a gift for the artist and would like a picture for 'the trades'"
"what is the camera/gift policy?"
"what time can we set the floor?"
The show goes up - the artists arrive - soundchecks happen - and an hour before showtime, the production manager, the venue production manager and myself meet on the floor to assess the show's readiness. We make sure ushers are in place, gear is safely stowed, lights are at "walk-in look", music is playing - and we make the call to open the house to patrons.
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| A 45,000 person sing-along! DMB at Wrigley Field 2 summers ago |
When the show ends, sometimes I need to be onhand to assist with meet & greets and autograph sessions but usually if these are happening, the tour carries someone who handles these things and my only responsibility is to help them find a place and/or set it up earlier in the day. So - usually I walk out of my office and make sure that the show has started coming down successfully - make sure all our stagehands showed up for "the out". Oftentimes, I'll go out on the floor and help break down chairs because a lot of that equipment can't come down and get out until those chairs on the floor are GONE. Some venues are better about this process than others, to be sure! It's usually 10:30 or 11:00 at night at this point. Once I'm sure that things are rolling nicely, I usually try to go back to my desk and dot the 'i's and cross the 't's on the paperwork - I start scanning the whole freaking pile so that I can email it immediately to the real accountants in Chicago and prep it all to be UPS'ed the next morning. The faster I can get it off my desk...the better! It usually will take 2-3 hours to get a show back on the road. These hours are always long. The nice part about this time, is other than keeping my eyes open for emergencies, my work is essentially done so I usually get to just sit and BS with whoever is still around - the venue guy for sure, the runners, or I get to sit down and blog! :) When the whole show is down and the last truck is pulling out of the building, there is generally a dozen very dirty, very sweaty, very nasty roadies (sorry guys but sometimes it's true) who can't wait to have a drink and then roll into their bunks for the night. But - first - they shower. Sometimes it can really wrinkle a girl's heart when the building is essentially empty and quiet and I find myself sitting in a hallway waiting for a bunch of dudes to shower at 1 am. But I do. Because the single worst part of my night is still to come.
Technically - towel shagging is NOT part of my duties as a promoter rep / production manager. But have I mentioned that my husband and I also rent towels? I realized a remarkably short time ago just how much money tours pay to rent towels for every show. I know. It doesn't make sense, does it? But think about it - these people literally live on a bus. And they shower nearly every day in a locker room. Picture what that bus would look and smell like if after every shower, every person hauled a wet, molding towel onto that bus with them. So they rent towels. From me. In the morning, for nearly every local show, I haul in dozens upon dozens of towels. I really should sit down and figure it out one day, but I'd guess I rent an average of 12 dozen towels for each local show. I drop them off in the production office in the morning and I pick them up at the end of every night. And let me tell you. It ain't pretty. I find towels under couches, next to urinals, literally in a sopping heap covering shower drains...full of makeup, wrapped around dirty underwear (?)...you'd be AMAZED at how many people get their haircut (apparently) in dressing rooms and catch all the hair in my towels. Did you see Lady Gaga's last tour? With the fountain of blood? Yeah - my towels wiped off all that blood and even though I knew it to be stage blood - I was SHOCKED that it all came out! So after a really, REALLY long day - I wait around until every last person (except "the building guy") has left the building and then I shag towels...haul them home...and immediately start laundry!
That is more or less my job in a nutshell. There are definite high points and definite low points. I count my blessings that I've been able to work on some of the amazing projects that I've been able to work on over the last couple of years (U2 at TCF Stadium and at Soldier Field for recent example) and I work with the most wonderful people (and some real jacka$$es too to be sure). I absolutely, positively love my job and sincerely hope that I get to keep it until I'm old and gray.
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| Not only did I get to work on U2 last summer (twice - once as a "lead"), my husband got to work WITH me. How cool is THAT? (and yes - it POURED!) |
