As a female the standard question I get when a neighbor/random person(usuallly male) hears im joining a band on the road is: 'oh as a groupie?' I usually have a list ready of all things one could do on a tour other than that, to bring some realization 😂. I ll simply refer to this video now... :)
Yeah, there is a massive difference between a "roadie" and a "groupie," and I've gotten some weird looks when I tell people I'm a "roadie." It's like, I just make sure all the amps, drums, backline, merch, and FOH gear don't get accidentally shipped to the wrong city, state, country or even the wrong continent, depending on the gig. Still less stressful than working retail though!
It is fascinating to hear all that goes into a major tour. As a former sound engineer in venues with a capacity of less than 1,000, I had to juggle many of these jobs, including sound, lighting, video, and stage management. There was a saying that I always heard, no one knows what a sound engineer does until they stop doing it, which for me was fine, I liked being part of the show, but I also didn't want to be on stage front and center; I liked being invisible.
Thank you so much for remembering us truck drivers! From one truck shows to the Taylor Swift size shows it takes a lot of coordination with the production/stage manager as well as venue management and security. I will say you missed the MOST IMPORTANT people on the tour. The Catering!! No coffee and Bacon, no load in LOL!!!
@@TankTheTech awesome!! i was so super curious by this watching your EC vlog series! Who does it!? is the venue is it the bands? do all venues have kitchens?? What happens if they dont! im so intrigued haha. - Nerd from Australia.
You’re just as important as the artist/princible, . I’m venue Production, so I make sure all aspects of said tour that comes to the venue is taken care of.
bro, thanks for not forgetting us bus drivers! you said it, your safety is definitely in our hands...I would also add if were pulling a trailer our job is so much harder, these buses were not meant to pull trailers behind them and a lot of these venues are not set up to handle a bus with a trailer! you know the ones I'm talking about.
I've never had a bus, I had a band that had a gear driver. He drove the truck with amps, lights, sound, etc ... We ALWAYS took care of "Pedal" (as in gas pedal). He never bought his own cigarettes, always had food and coffee/soda, and a 6 pack after every local and a bottle after every trip of more than 2 hours. I've been lucky to always have musicians who understood we were only a small part of the band.
Technically you didn't miss most of these but I'd like to offer some elaboration on some positions for anyone that is interested. Riggers come in different varieties too. There is the actual rigger that climbs up into the rafters and mounts hanging points etc and they usually have so called "grounders" with them. Sometimes these two positions are also referred to as "Rigger up" and "Rigger down". These guys most of the times are riggers too but they stay on the ground and help the riggers to make sure everything is good on the ground, push the buttons to drive the chain motors up or down, handing materials to the rigger using a work rope etc. Sometimes grounders are in fact not "real" trained riggers. Like me 😉 I am by no means a rigger and I don't like the climbing part of that job but sometimes I have worked as a dedicated grounder or supported the rigging crew on the ground on top of my audio job. Coming to the audio crew. Since that is my part of the job, I might offer some more insights there. Tank described it generally as "Audio Tech" but there are different jobs here too. On big shows there is usually a "audio system designer/engineer". That is the person who designs the PA system for each venue. They decide on how many speakers will be used and where, the angles between each element of a line array system etc etc. They have extensive knowledge about physics and how their system works and usually use calculation software to predict how the system will work in each location. And if they don't know the location or don't have a calculation file handy, they are also in the venue very early to take measures for their calculations. And they will also tune the system once everything is set up. And these guys have "audio system techs" with them to help them set everything up. On smaller tours where there might only be the system tech who also does the calculations and tuning. As far as I know on bigger tours with lots of instruments, there is also a "UHF tech". That person controls all of the wireless equipment for the band, scans the air for already used or blocked frequencies (which is different in every city..), calculates the frequencies that will be used for the show and deploys them to all devices. The tours I have been on have never been big enough though, so it was always either the system tech or the monitor guy doing that. Sometimes there is also a Playback Tech who is in charge of everything playback or the tracks that the bands use, plus the timecode distribution to all departments that need it (like lighting) @Tank pls feel free to correct me on anything, that I might've gotten wrong 😉 And thanks for this video, even I have learnt a few things especially about managing of tours etc. Great content as always!
@@TankTheTech it would be an interesting video on how a crew grows as the band grows. From diy all the way to a big crew with all the people you mentioned.
@hisk7263 yeah, maybe @tankthetech can do a little q&a with @lordofthelostofficial because they just confirmed to me (yesterday after the 1600-ppl-sold-out concert) how they went from DIY to having the current crew. And what would await them if they grew even bigger. Tank already did interviews with Chris Harms from LOTL. So contact details shouldn't be an issue.
I'm friends with a father and son who are both Merch Managers. Hearing their stories makes it clear just how much their job matters. The father has been with Styx for decades and the son has worked with Alice Cooper, Motley Crue, and others on a regular basis.
Now you need a video on how to get to do those positions. LOL It is great for the young ones to learn how to get into this business. Some don't know where to start.
This! I started engineering because it was the closest I knew to being an audio tech. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world, but knew nothing about how to get there and nobody to guide me, so almost accidentally ended up in software engineering instead. I still like to get to concerts earlier to have a listen and look at the work audio techs do. With all the information we presume is now out there about everything, I would still have to put a lot of work to find out what'd be required to change careers.
Everytime you talk about everything happening behind the scenes it gives me even more appreciation for the shows I'm lucky to go to! So many people involved just so we can have a good time! Very thankful 🤟
Cool thing about riggers (and maybe why it's not mentioned a lot) venues often just bring in local off-duty firefighters, they're used to hanging out like that from rope rescues to skyscrapers. Local fire crew are great because they're supposed to be fairly familiar with bigger buildings anyways in case they have to do runs to them. My dad did that for awhile and has some pretty funny tour shirts re: not exactly shirts of bands he would even listen to, but he loved the gig every time.
What would also be good and educational, which you might be able to include in your next tour blog, would be a "guided tour" around a sound mixing desk and a lighting mixing desk. Lots of us see knobs lights, LCD displays keyboards and stuff but have no idea how it all works. Be cool to know a bit more, and why there are so many mixing desks and stuff like that.
Yeah, no, not gonna happen. It takes an hour to explain an analog audio console to a layperson ON-SITE. No tour bigger than 1k audience will do analog stuff these days - so it's gonna be digital. And with digital you have to actually have some experience with audio/lighting engineering to wrap your head around even the basic things.
One of the things I found surprising when I went on tour for the first time was how many of these jobs can be shared by the same person. Also surprising until you're confronted with it constantly: the existence of a "Tour Office". When I was brand new I honestly had no idea what went on in there.
soooooo much information - i already forgot at least half of it 😅 but will be paying more attention what's going on on, off and around the Stage next time i'm at a concert / Festival for sure.
Awesome information and video. Shows that shows need a lot to be able to show off the way they do 😁 I love seeing that side of bands/touring. 100x more interesting than the usual "band- interview". What I would very much like to hear about is how touring with EC and Powerwolf has shaped/changed/solidified your career/approach to being a tour manager...as they are german/european. Are there major differences to US bands, what were the minor ones that stuck out...things like that. Did you develop working relationships outside the tour? What did you hate (other than the german weather that is 🫣😏) about Germany, what did you love? So many questions...😁
Since you worked with Electric Callboy and I'm a big fan of Band-Maid I wondered about official translators. Seems necessary for a lot of bands touring these days.
This is truly awesome! So much effort you put into this and so well explained. I might be going on my very first large tour this year and I had a few questions that you just answered perfectly. Thanks!
Love learning more about how this kind of thing works and what goes into making a show happen, so I really appreciate videos like this and the tour vlogs you've done with Electric Callboy. Thanks Tank, keep it coming!
Cool video! Next do one on the entire process of booking a show with these roles involved and follow the money down the line. Like promoter pays band/tour? Promoter rents venue? Promoter keeps the difference and that’s how they make money? How ticket prices and amounts are agreed upon, etc. How these things may vary between a tour and festival, etc. Thanks!
That would be a 3 hour video, lol. I’ve worked for a venue now for 30 years. Started in the back of a truck loading out MetallicA/Ozzy after the show, and am now the Production mgr. I deal with tour mgrs on all shows.
oh wow that's so funny Ive been thinking about suggesting you to do something like that. So glad u did it! Helps to get a better understanding of what you're referring to/talking about often! More context!
Such an interesting video, thank you. I wish all our school careers talks had been more like this 😂😂 I'll watch your videos with a completely new perspective from now on 🙏
I love all your industry-explainer videos and get more appreciation for all the people and the work going into shows. I've been curious for a while now about the income or standard of living of the bands and crews. For example, if I'm seeing a band in a 1,000-person venue (and this is what they typically play in), how likely is it that they are making enough money for the band to make a halfway decent middle-class living? What about the crew, what sort of income does this bring for a fairly stressful job filled with travel, late nights, and relatively high stakes for safety and such? How much do the roadies usually need to be on the road to make a living? Also, I would totally watch a show that was like "Dirty Jobs" but instead it's about music industry jobs... The music industry has such a fascinating mix of art, science, logistics, and finance that I don't seem to get tired of hearing about it.
When playing Metaldays with my small unknown band, all bands before us were delayed by 20 minutes bc of technical issues. It was before they had a seperate stage for small bands. Anyway, we feel like it is our big break, about 1000 people listening to us and, of course, 10 minutes into the set the stagemanar walks on stage angrily that we should wrap it up asap. I told him we are 10 minutes into our 30 minute set, he told us he would cut the sound mid song, walked off. Came back a moment later to apologise cause the sound crew had told him we were right on their schedule. All this happening whilst we are playing.
Kaon here, I work as a stagehand and we get to work at the local arena with touring roadies, most have been a blast to work with during my 2 years so far
L1 here...love the breakdown, but next time explain L1, L2, A1, A2... L1 - Lighting Director, L2 - Lighting tech. There's also a DMX tech - a lighting tech that specializes in systems that convey the control signal from the lighting console to the 100's of lighting fixtures via numerous means at the same time: DMX cable (NOT to be confused microphone cable), ethernet, WiFi... Another video idea could be explaining the Touring Crew/Local Crew dynamics
Definitely wanna break into stuff like that in the future. Including all the L1, L2 positions and all of that, and all of the other little things like Dimmer Tech, etc, would have made this video WAY longer than it already is. Haha
@@TankTheTech But dimmers aren't dimmers anymore, it's all about getting conditioned tech power to the gear...I also liked how you mentioned that some of those lower in the ranks are better skilled in some areas... For my part: I design, program and operate (I busk Eos, and Hog), but need help with IT systems (I need a DMX tech if it isn't 5-pin and optisplitters)
The role of the stagehand, explaining that most of the muscle that gets the gear off the trucks and in position to be set up doesn't tour with the band. Outside of the riggers (many of whom might also be local) the heavy lifting is done by people who the arena brings in on a per show basis.
Dude your channel has helped me so much to learn how I can utilize my skills to get into this sort of career! I spent too many years grinding at something I did not enjoy, since finding your channel I have made so many steps toward getting my foot in the industry and just wanted to say thanks to you and your awesome community for existing
I just nerded out on touring info. As someone who has seen 100 concerts in my life, I like the idea of clearing up some nerdy questions I have had over the years.
in a previous post I told you I am 73 and just now learning about backstage since my son introduced me to you first and then Electric Callboy! I've watched all your sessions and vlogs and what fun they are!! I love EC and a couple weeks ago my son called saying Happy Mothers Day, we're taking you to see EC at Pier 17 on May 13th!!!!!, I have to be in the ADA section and given where it is we might even catch a glimpse of you darting back and forth! I am so psyched for this and more so because of you sharing knowledge and insights, thank you so much! 😊💓
As a lighting-video-rigging tech, it's nice to see a video about the backstage action. People have no clue how much work is involved in doing a tour. I've toured for artists like TheWeeknd, P!nk, Celine Dion, Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat, Fantasia, Chappell, Maxwell and now Meghan Trainor. Must of us don't want the spotlight to be shown on us because it's the essence of our jobs to be in the dark. If you don,t see us it's either because the show is goi g well or we are just very good at what we do. But, thank you @tankthetech for what you do, I do appreciate it! ❤
I have friends in the industry and still sometimes get confused with the managers and agents etc. indie level crews that I am more familiar with are A LOT SMALLER😅
I started working in stage productions a few months ago and video's like these really help me getting more information about the industry. Hope to meet you one day when we are both working on the same job!
Thank you for these really interesting video with so many detailed descriptions! I would say, everyone who works in the background of a band needs a huge shoutout, because these are the persons you don’t recognise as a fan, who is not interested in this business. Some jobs that I missed in this video are the local ones, that works for larger shows in their city, or also the job showcrew, which is really interesting to work as but sometimes also really annoying (blew up balloons for the audience, just as example 🥴😂) But what I also think is really interesting, the business and the women who works in there and don’t have an easy job sometimes… Greetings from a local stagehandgirl from Germany 😉🙌🏻😁
interesting breakdown! Working local crew as part-time job I've heard all this, but usually people are called out like "ask the drum tech, the guy with the blue helmet on stage" or something like it. and so much love for the riggers (absolutely amazing spiderpeople) and the truckers, who direct the case-tetris at load out
Thank you so much for this video! I have always wondered about the various jobs on tour. You explained it perfectly! I sent this to my daughter who wants to be a Tour Accountant.
This was a good one. I remember years ago when I first got connected with touring groups I had a call where there were multiple people on the call and I was confused who I was talking to and who is really doing what. Had a call with the keys player and the keys tech and the production manager and the tour manager was yelling at someone else on the phone in the background. Ended up the best person in the room to work with was the keys player themselves. They actually had the most technical knowledge, which is not often the case. Usually tech wise the backline techs are the best to speak with and the players/band members stay out of the way.
Tank, you are the absolute best. EXCEPT your rant about merch managers. We all know you're a merch manager first, and roadie, second. We love the merch but don't pretend this is news, we watch you every other day
One thing I'd like to know is How do bands decide what locations (Cities/Countries) to travel to and perform and what type of venue to go to. Hopefully you can elaborate on this and do a video or include it in a future video.
Im not tank ofc but i can tell you its a mix of factors. The biggest unfortunately being whether or not they're working with live Nation. But also capacity, which is a matter of numbers ofc. Sales/markets where the band/genre is most popular, whether they have enough fans in that area to justify going. And then promoters and what venues they work with. Certain venues cater to Certain types of music.
Having watched your blog videos with Electric Callboy, this video makes so much sense, and helps make those amazing blog vids even more amazing as I actually get to understand far better what all those guys were doing. Thanks so much for this!
This definitely helps alot, as a musicianist myself my band bury the coffin is starting to evolve into the music bizz and we're still new to the whole touring etc. We've done so many amazing shows last year and now we've been getting booked full of shows, we've done a couple of metal fests. But this really helps alot tho because it's very important to know these things when it comes to traveling and touring.
This is the exact kind of stuff that draws me to watching your channel Tank, thanks so much for the info! It was fun taking this info and matching it up with all the people shown in the EC tour vlogs, but that does leave me with a question - so the vlogs said that both you and Kosi were Tour Managers for the tour, so what was the difference in your positions? Was it just a matter of each of you dealing with different responsibilities?
Should also be noted. Some wear multiple hats, im the L1, Lighting designer, and lighting programmer on my current tour. But ive done tours where im the only lighting guy on the crew. Same goes for audio or video.
I’m in music uni, I’ve got my own bands im a part of and one I lead, but I do roadie roles for my friends voluntarily, I don’t expect to be paid as I get a gig out of it by lending a hand, I don’t mind being called a roadie it is the role of why I’m there I call myself it, obviously it’s not across the country tours or Europe tours for example but I always happily offer a hand as a “roadie”. It’ll help get my name out there slowly with other bands and musicians
I love this so much, thankyou for doing it! As someone trying to make a start in this industry its really interesting to see options in the roads I can take!
you missed probably the most important people on a tour - The Catering crew! not sure how it work in the US but over here in the UK, for larger tours we usually tour catering with us
This was very interesting, thank you for taking the time to explain it to us. I have a sort of unrelated question, if you dont mind answering here or in another video. How do bands choose which venues/cities/countries they play at in a tour, or which festivals? Do the booking agents reach out to promoters or the other way around? What is negotiated? Thanks again and cheers!
Crazy how many roles exist on a tour. Sometimes there are more than this and sometimes less. Regardless a lot of work goes into a tour and I'm amazed how much each person does.
One question I've had for a while: how and when do people get paid? After the tour is over, is everybody unemployed? What keeps the team members available in the future? If you were a Heartbreaker or E Street Band member, what happens when you are not touring or recording? A Tom Petty or Bruce Springsteen would get royalties from songs, but how do the other band members survive?
@@TankTheTech Sh*t my aswer got lost. Damn YT. ok once again: Great news! I am looking so forward to it as it was highly enjoyable. To me and my Wife these series is the the most enjoying content you have put out so far. Man these vlogs were great! It was also the most effective advertisement for the EC tour I can think of, man I want to be in that croud! Can't wait to see the finale of ECs Germany tour through your vlog. I really hope you and your family do the next step and move to Germany to continue your beloved work for various bands especially EC. Love you man, we really do. Watching your vlogs feels like watching a family member. Germany embraces you. Dem ist nichts mehr hinzuzufügen! Obwohl... Ehre und Stärke! ;-)
I hope you have someone learning at your right hand. You’re a guy with such an immense fount of knowledge it would be a crime if there isn’t someone soaking up what you can pass on.
Really informative, thank you Tank. I've always wondered how much it costs to actually tour. How much do you pay the venue? What cut is the merch? What does it cost to get all the gear from one country to the next? What percentage is local crew (riggers etc) and touring crew? What other overheads are there and what profit is made? I just saw that Shakira once toured with an inflatable 20ft cobra that she said cost so much to make and transport that she made a loss on that tour despite it being deemed a successful tour.
