Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Hump(ed) day.

Man! Sheppard AFB is sucking the life energy out of me. We have experienced our first freeze, so the stand by/night guy is getting his ass handed to him because boilers and heaters are going down. This is typical when we do "seasonal startup". Once we work out all the kinks and get everything running right, we will be ok until we start up our cooling systems next spring.



So my regular visitors know I work a part time job at a music store, but I've never posted anything about my 3rd job. As my profile says, I'm also a stagehand (roadie) for the local coliseum. We do some sub contracting for Dallas venues also. I got a call yesterday from my boss wanting me to work a Paul McCartney concert in Dallas this Sunday. I don't really want to work this show because we only get paid while loading in and out the equipment. We are not on the clock while the artist is playing, unless we get a "show call". Folks who get a show call are part of the shows production (ie, spot light operator, security, house lights etc).

Since we are out of town sub contractors, we wont get show calls. We will do the load in and out, and that's it. Sometimes we aren't even allowed to watch the concert inside. We wait out back on the loading dock with the tour busses till the show is over, then we pack it all away. If the tour manager is cool, we will be allowed to watch the show back stage. So I aint taking my chances on driving 2.5 hrs, bust my ass for 3 hrs, hang out (not getting paid)while the show is happening, bust my ass for another 3-4 hrs and then have to drive back 2.5 hrs.

My boss also offered me a Dallas Bon Jovi show AND......THE ROLLING STONES!!!! Now I would definitely be willing to put up with all that crap to work a Stones show. I have to try to work things out at the music store to have off that day off.

The Rolling F'n Stones man! I'm so gonna be there. When I'm old and grey, I want to be able to tell my grandkids that I roadied for the Stones. For me, the holy grail of all shows to work would have been The Grateful Dead, The Stones, and the original KISS line up. The money isn't great (we are not in the union), but the experience of walking into a quiet empty arena, set up to make a concert possible and watching an artist work a crowd, then tear it back down to an empty, quiet building gives me a HUGE adrenaline rush.

6 comments:

Wendy said...

Stones...pffft. Bon Jovi Man! Yeah, okay, their new song and video suck huevos...

The Stones! Hey, are you sure you won't be able to see McCartney? That would be cool.

jenbeauty said...

awesome...the Stones...have a great time and I hope they are cool enough to let you guys watch the show. It really is the least they can do!!

MomThatsNuts said...

That sounds awesome!! I would love to get a job like that, only at a theater where I would just show people to thier seats and not have to lift anything...lol..I will post some pictures of the troll~ings road rash. very gross and he is soooo lucky....so are you, the STONES???

Mom

That dude Paul said...

Hey Wendy,
If it would have been PM and Wings, I'd work it. I'm not really a PM fan.

Bon Jovi might be fun, but I'm not into their new stuff at all.

But the Stones...I'm so gonna be there...

Justin Kreutzmann said...

cool...working the shows. Right on!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for working! That show rocked!