I think it might be less glamorous than you think or imagine. The major players in the UK are EST, Redburn Transfer, Stagetruck, Fly By Nite, KB, Trans-am and Stardes, but there are also a fair number of smaller operators.
Whats it all about: Getting a production from one place to another?
Money: Not very good in its basic form, most drivers do other things, say a followspot call or merchandise to boost income, there are a few perks, PDs, catering, so its possible to get a much better figure on the right tour.
How long away: I day to 3 months, however long the tour is.
Experience: Nothing really more than the ability to drive the truck, a background in production would help, you need to have an understanding of what’s in the back, but that would soon come.
There are many different types of tour, but lets say it’s a shed tour. There might be 5 - 10 trucks carrying the production for an arena tour. The catering and light trucks would be in first, somewhere around 8.00 - 9.00am, then the sound and backline trucks. The order is reversed on load out, so the poor light trucks will be out last, maybe 1.00am finish on load out. Then you can drive to the next city. Your driving job is as far as the next gig, could be 2 hours, could be 2 or 3 days. The arena tour days are mostly the same, there is catering, so you eat for nothing and during the day you sleep.
Bigger tours, say Rolling Stones will also run with an advance system, perhaps the main stage and lighting mothergrids, its normal that there is a A and B system leapfrogging the main show, as there is only so much time during a day to get production in. In this case while system B is doing the show system A is being installed somewhere else. These tours are pretty easy, a fair number of drivers involved, truck and nightliners, it’s a good laugh I think, very boring for the most part. These load ins and load outs are very tight with time, stuff fly’s out on a load out and everything has an order and place. You would be involved with the loading and in the truck would be a number of local crew, your job is to get them to put the stuff in the right place, shut the doors and let the next truck in.
I would say that any company will have a number of long term drivers who get the pick of the tours, I see the same faces all the time, it may be harder to get this kind of tour.
Down the scale a bit we get the one truck tours, doing the Odeon’s and Civic Halls. I am doing lights on such a tour at the moment, we have a nightliner for the crew and one truck from Stardes for the production. Its quite easy, midday load in and we are out by midnight. We carry no catering, but get PDs and the promoter pays a “buy out” for food. The tip is 20 minutes and about 50 mintues for the repack. This week we were in Northampton, Bolton, Fareham and Torquay, so our driver drove overnight and parked at the venues, the nightliner has 12 people on and we all shower after the gig, so we arrive an hour or so after the truck. The driver might get 4 hours sleep, then the load in and then he goes back to bed. He come is for the followspot call, show comes down and we send the stuff out in the right order and with 2 local crew he loads the truck.
Not for a light sleeper, these gigs are in the centre of towns and cities often parked on the main street with all the roaring traffic passing by. I think the driver has a tough job for the most part, not as hard as the nightliner driver perhaps, but it can be very tiring and boring. On a good tour the crack is great and a day off with all the crew and band can be a very fun time. Well that’s a sort of overview, hope it helps.
Andy
