Never seen a thread on Sup Forums about working in the industry.
Recently started a job as a loader/rigger and barman at a venue and wanted to hear a few stories.
>Inb4 loaders are the scum of the earth
I know
Loaders, riggers lighting techs, production crew, studio enigneers etc, feel free share your experiences
>have to travel
>work awful hours
>get paid shit
>get fired if shit goes wrong
honestly i feel bad for techs and roadies who work with bands. that shit is awful.
>loader/rigger and barman
that doesnt sound too bad. talk to your FOH audio guy, i'm sure he has horror stories for you
It's kind of funny with the in house audio guy, most bands coming through have their own engineer, so his day consists of showing the bands engineer the desk (most of them research their shit beforehand so it's usually a brief run down) and then spending the day walking around the venue snacking
Think he's a bit autistic too, not the chattiest person
Seen some funny shit the other night actually
>Liam Gallagher's crew were packing up
>didn't realize the stage is slightly slanted toward the crowd
>three flight cases roll off the stage and smash open
>mfw seeing all this happen
>crew's faces when all the lighting gear smashed on the ground
Someone definitely got fired that night
recording/balance engineer here, mostly freelancing for broadcast production
I've been doing a lot of FOH jobs lately because accepable money
fuck the live/touring industry though, the amount of hours and stress you have to put in if you want to make this work is absolutely ridiculous
the bigger the production and the more resposibility the worse
What are the challenges/differences between doing studio work and FoH?
>the bigger the production and the more resposibility the worse
Fucking Taylor Swift rocking up with 60 40ft trucks, 20 for a ramp stage set-up, 6 or 7 for dressing room shit, hot tubs, astro turf.
Fucking ridiculous shit, she showed up an hour before the show, left 40 minutes after
>What are the challenges/differences between doing studio work and FoH?
can't even compare a bit
the main point absolutely is the "it's done" factor, a show needs preparation, then you wing it and tear everything down - it's done.
in the studio post is 80% of the time you put in.
Any serious shit go down while you were on FoH yet?
of course, there's no production without any kind of shit hitting the fan
if it's only shit falling over, a dying beltpack or the FOH losing power, there's always something
the most awkward thing maybe was at some cool hip young festival the festival's own sign language 'translator' falling off the stage gesticulating away during the slot of the band I came with
>own sign language 'translator' falling off the stage gesticulating away during the slot of the band I came with
wat
Like a person?
yup, a maybe 30 year old girl.
weird mix of hilarious and holy shit that's like 2.5 meters down
the band had no idea how to react so it was incredibly awkward for a moment
Jesus christ
I did it for about a year or two. Besides seeing back stage, watching a few performances from on stage, and getting to chat with the audio techs on the off chances that we both had down time, it was literally the same experience as working at Walmart. Push this there, put that there.
I'm now working for a radio station that's looking to expand into live concerts and it's a million times better as I actually get to run the events and apply my skills. Whereas at the company I was at, you'd have to work there for years and painstakingly penetrate their cliche just to get the chance to run one shitty pipe and drape public speaker gig on your own.
Treat loaders/riggers and techs nicely. They're literally living a crushed dream.
>the main point absolutely is the "it's done" factor, a show needs preparation, then you wing it and tear everything down - it's done.
>in the studio post is 80% of the time you put in.
So true. This is what I love so much about live shows and producing live recordings. Instead of pursuing perfection you're going after the best that you can get in the circumstance. The pressure of doing it live and mixing a single take, no overdubs or redos, ignites a weird peaceful fire in me that I just don't get in the studio.
Probably because I'm not skilled enough for proper studio work, lol.
I know a lot of the production crew, been interested in the lighting and audio (setting up mics and bits) lately, considering looking into that, feels like it'd just as much of a slog as trying to make a living playing music though
Still don't know what to do with my life
It's not terrible work, the point is it's still 90% work.
IMO if you want to get into it, the smaller the production is, the more you'll get to learn and actually do, so go for small - trade off being you do NOT get access to the same level of technology that larger companies have, nor the same level of events.
I've been in a position where I had to mix and record a live band on a bunch of karaoke mics worth less than $30 each, an analog mixer, a 4 channel interface and a laptop. Audio hell and grossly underpaid, but so much more fun than working loading and rigging for a bigger company.
Festivals are also awesome places to get involved as much of the time the workers there don't know anything about gear, so if you're there to work with audio just let the first person who asks know that you know your shit, and they'll believe you.
It's a tough job but it's worth a try especially if you haven't done it - great experience to have no matter what. No matter what, no job's glamorous unless you get lucky. And I could work better paying jobs, but goddamn I would not be interested in them at all.
(On the festival point, I mean let any audio directors on site know that that's your field, and they'll get you doing better things than just loading and rigging)
my dream job is actually right in between these two and I've kinda been close:
mixing live shows for live broadcast from an OB van instead of some PA system over a screaming crowd is the most enjoyment I ever had, absolutely the best of both worlds.
the state owned broadcast I work a lot for is actually really big into that doing all kinds of smaller stuff but also the yearly wacken, rock am ring and some other big festivals where both picture and sound is live mixed and broadcasted and mostly only recorded/archived desk-out for a lot of the lineups.
unfortunately they don't outsource that kind of stuff anymore so I'll have to wait until I eventually get a hold of one of the few proper positions
>And I could work better paying jobs, but goddamn I would not be interested in them at all.
Pretty much this, I've had jobs with better hours and better pay but I lose interest after a few months, all the background stuff at a venue/festival really interests me and I actually enjoy going in to work rather than dreading it
Working in the bar at a venue is fun, everyone is always in a good mood because their going to see their favorite band or whatever
Sweet tips too
Funny story, I worked loading and rigging with a guy who was a pushy know it all asshole. He was born in a theatre-driven family, and this apparently gave him the right to tell literally everyone, in the most condescending tone of voice, how to do their jobs. Even his superiors. Of course he was really capable, so he was technically right about everything he was saying. Just a complete dick about it.
So Annie (the musical) comes through our theatre, and after an hour of unloading trucks with the motherfucker, we get to the costuming props trucks. So the director of that comes out to help show us where to move things. Short artsy tumblr looking lady, lots of tattoos. Looks very caffinated. We get the truck door up, first wardrobe out and she says where to put it - know-it-all immediately repeats exactly what she said and barks orders to everyone around.
She give him the biggest "are you kidding me look" and loudly exclaims "WOW! WHAT A FUCKING ASSHOLE!" right in his face.
I still owe that woman a beer as she shut him up for the rest of the night. He (insulted) looked around for validation and received nothing but smirks from us. It was that and (at another show) another guy who he respected as a friend losing it and letting him have it for a god-like 10 minute rant that turned him into a tolerable person for the rest of the year.
Anyway, whole crew of Annie were some great motherfuckers.
>Of course he was really capable, so he was technically right about everything he was saying. Just a complete dick about it
Is there anything worse
>wardrobe
Had to lift three overtly tall flight cases of wardrobe up two floors this morning, fucking artist's personal assistant standing behind us the whole way up, fairly sure he got pleasure out of watching us struggle to fit the fucking things under the ceiling