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| Working in the music industry - Tour Manager |
We have just come across Raven, a 28 year old girl working in the music industry for the last 7 years who had the idea of writing a blog 'Backstage Life' about what she goes through in her job which we thought you might like to read - it is somewhat longwinded but give it a whirl, there's lots to be learnt from those out there doing it! "By the summer of 2007, I had become that manager's assistant (her name is Jenny, btw).......It was going to be an acoustic show with a larger orchestra and different arrangements of the songs. It included a special stage design with vintage furniture, velvet curtains and chandeliers. And it would be my first event without Jenny......She was sick, the promoters were long-time friends and colleagues. She would only be there by the showday, on showtime, but she would be accessible by phone in case of any problems. I was quite confident about it. A little too confident, maybe..
I didn't check names on the flight list, just got the tickets, I didn't prepare a rooming list, I didn't have the crew's ID copies, I didn't call to hotel to inform them about our arrival time and double-check the rooms, I didn't have a detailed daily schedule, I hadn't done online check-in for flights. And I went there with the band and the crew, by myself. We had two days for rehearsals and the show. After finding out that some tickets were missing at the airport, I had to buy new tickets, and after a very, very long wait in the lobby (our rooms were not ready) and an annoyingly long check-in time, everyone went to their rooms. I was answering everyone's questions there, telling people what time they needed to be where, etc. But it kept causing problems. Not all the band members heard my announcements, so someone was always late. And I had to tell the same thing to different people over and over again. It was a stupid waste of time. In the mean time, the visual artists were having problems with their flights. They needed a new flight, as they had already requested it to Jenny but the correct name wasn't on the flight list.. In that great holiday resort, while everyone was relaxing at the beach or by the pool, I was freaking out in a hotel room, trying to send text messages to everyone in the crew about rehearsal times, pick-up times, calling the drivers, answering musician calls from my room asking what time the breakfast was, sorting out per diems for everyone, all at the same time. The rehearsal day was fine, except it lasted much longer than expected, and I had to work for more than 16 hours. I was exhausted. In the evening of the show day, I was checking the dressing room riders and also I was receiving calls from the artist's invitees at the same time. I had to meet vip ones in the entrance, or if there were any problems with the invitations, I had to go to the box office to solve. Every time I went to the box office, I had to deal with the fans, receive their gifts, letters, pictures for the artist. While I was dealing with all these, just before the band was about to come to the venue, a band member called me and he basically bawled me out on the phone, asking questions. He wasn't actually asking, he was telling me all the things that I'd fucked up, such as: "I heard from the guitarist that we were gathering for dinner at hotel restaurant, why didn't I know that?" "Another one in the crew didn't know we had per diems, did you tell him?" "We had to wait for the shuttle in the hotel lobby for 30 minutes, why is that?" "All these are your responsibility, why don't you focus and do what you have to do!" I just apologised and promised I'd do better next time. This was getting too much for me, I was having a hard time handling all these. Tried so hard to keep my mood up, before and during the show, but it was difficult to accept that he was right. The concert was great as always. This was also the first time I witnessed the artist's huge ego. Normally she was a very sweet woman, but everytime she stepped down these stairs from stage, minutes after thousands of fans literally worshipped her, sang along to all intimate, personal songs of her, she became someone else. I had to interrupt her while she was talking to bandmembers as I had to tell something very urgent. I swear that I saw the joy of despising someone in her eyes that night, in that dressing room while she was telling me never to do it again, in front of everyone. Didn't make it a big deal, but I never forgot that look. Everyone went to partying afterwards, I didn't join them. I had a terrible night alone in my hotel room. I kept thinking about that phone call, listing everything that went wrong in my head. I felt like shit. In the morning, I pressed cold glass bottles from the minibar on my puffy eyes (this later became a sad ritual for me), put on a heavy make up, tried to be that positive, happy girl again. Came back home, opened excel, and prepared this:  itinerary template
In all of the events after that one, I sent the crew this spreadshit, asked if everything was ok, had it printed for everyone as a badge along with their passcards. It saved me an enormous amount of time, everyone liked having all the necessary info easily accessible, drivers, promoters, caterers all appreciated it. Today, I still appeciate that phone call from the band member. It made me realize everything quicker. For further reading please visit http://backstagelife.blogspot.com/
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