The Life of a Roadie

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AllC392Was
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The Life of a Roadie

Post by AllC392Was »

Since I started going to concerts on a regular basis, I love watching the crew set up a stage right before the band comes on. I think its so incredibly cool how they all sync in together and get it set up in such a quick time.

Has anyone here ever done something like that where they were part of a band's crew? Whats it like? Do you interact with the band at all or keep a distance? Do you make any money? Is food and hotel free? How stressful is it?

I would love some input for anyone who has done it! Some cool stories would be neat!
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Jim
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Re: The Life of a Roadie

Post by Jim »

I've been fortunate enough to do 4 tours with Black Stone Cherry in the last 12 months.

You get paid a decent (i think) weekly wage
You also weekly get paid what's called 'per diem', which is divided out into a daily allowance each. Usually around $20 a day
You generally share the tour bus with the band and other crew members so 24/7 close interactions with the band are unavoidable.

The tour ultimately gets an allowance of money which is pretty much given to the Tour Manager (TM) to handle and distribute out to the crew and band accordingly. It covers things like tour bus food and drink (which is replenished regularly every few days, 12-18 guys on the road eat alot), hotel fees for days off, per diem and crew wages (if paid in cash) etc etc..

Many things can be pre-booked or predetermined based on the itinerary to save cash being handled on the road too.

The crew's sync depends on a great number of things.. Personality, tenure in the crew, knowledge of what they're working with, love for the industry, time keeping, respect, strength.
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Fish Tacos
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Re: The Life of a Roadie

Post by Fish Tacos »

I get about $130 / day per diem when I go to Hawaii...just thought I'd throw that out there :P

I'd imagine the more stressful parts come from the unexpected / unknown where equipment just stops working.

AllC392Was
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Re: The Life of a Roadie

Post by AllC392Was »

Jim wrote:I've been fortunate enough to do 4 tours with Black Stone Cherry in the last 12 months.

You get paid a decent (i think) weekly wage
You also weekly get paid what's called 'per diem', which is divided out into a daily allowance each. Usually around $20 a day
You generally share the tour bus with the band and other crew members so 24/7 close interactions with the band are unavoidable.

The tour ultimately gets an allowance of money which is pretty much given to the Tour Manager (TM) to handle and distribute out to the crew and band accordingly. It covers things like tour bus food and drink (which is replenished regularly every few days, 12-18 guys on the road eat alot), hotel fees for days off, per diem and crew wages (if paid in cash) etc etc..

Many things can be pre-booked or predetermined based on the itinerary to save cash being handled on the road too.

The crew's sync depends on a great number of things.. Personality, tenure in the crew, knowledge of what they're working with, love for the industry, time keeping, respect, strength.

I think we may have crossed paths in Birmingham when Tremonti and BSC were co headlining. You were merch correct?
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snowman
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Re: The Life of a Roadie

Post by snowman »

I ran across an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal last year about roadies and how the job has evolved over the years. Kind of long, but I thought it was great. http://www.wsj.com/articles/roadies-unl ... 1426780184

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Jim
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Re: The Life of a Roadie

Post by Jim »

AllC392Was wrote:
Jim wrote:I've been fortunate enough to do 4 tours with Black Stone Cherry in the last 12 months.

You get paid a decent (i think) weekly wage
You also weekly get paid what's called 'per diem', which is divided out into a daily allowance each. Usually around $20 a day
You generally share the tour bus with the band and other crew members so 24/7 close interactions with the band are unavoidable.

The tour ultimately gets an allowance of money which is pretty much given to the Tour Manager (TM) to handle and distribute out to the crew and band accordingly. It covers things like tour bus food and drink (which is replenished regularly every few days, 12-18 guys on the road eat alot), hotel fees for days off, per diem and crew wages (if paid in cash) etc etc..

Many things can be pre-booked or predetermined based on the itinerary to save cash being handled on the road too.

The crew's sync depends on a great number of things.. Personality, tenure in the crew, knowledge of what they're working with, love for the industry, time keeping, respect, strength.

I think we may have crossed paths in Birmingham when Tremonti and BSC were co headlining. You were merch correct?
Yessir, great show and venue!! Really really cool night
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Jim
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Re: The Life of a Roadie

Post by Jim »

Fish Tacos wrote:I get about $130 / day per diem when I go to Hawaii...just thought I'd throw that out there :P

I'd imagine the more stressful parts come from the unexpected / unknown where equipment just stops working.
Who's your employer?! :eek :eek :eek
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Fish Tacos
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Re: The Life of a Roadie

Post by Fish Tacos »

Federal govt, so my per diem is actually tax dollars. Thanks guys! :D

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Jim
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Re: The Life of a Roadie

Post by Jim »

$130 is so much money for a daily allowance, I'm so shocked
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Fish Tacos
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Re: The Life of a Roadie

Post by Fish Tacos »

That's nothing compared to the rates when you go to other countries! Rates for Venezuela go up to $300/day and that's just for meals and incidentals (what you don't spend you keep), not for lodging. I don't travel much for work these days, just the odd trip here and there, but in the first 3-4 years working here I made >$25k in per diem alone, tax free in addition to my salary. Which is nothing compared to some of the other people that work here. Some of them go to these places all the time and get an extra 20-30k / yr.

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Jim
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Re: The Life of a Roadie

Post by Jim »

They got any more positions going?!
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Ryan
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Re: The Life of a Roadie

Post by Ryan »

Seriously. I want to quit my job.
Photobucket cash grab.

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