Has anyone here been one at some point? for what band? was it difficult/fun? got any interesting stories?

i once wanted to be one for this blues musician, since i didn't want to get a job but was feeling bored and could have used a bit of extra cash and some interesting stories.

Here it'd be really hard to be a roadie, unless you want to be a roadie for local band, which honestly wouldn't be that cool. I'd actually prefer being an internationally known musician with a couple of hot roadie girls after me

Same here as tulkas

I would like to have one Roadie it is much easyer with someone who prepares everything for you.As for me, well i could be a roadie for some local band...well until they become famous:)

I was never a roadie but I worked as crew at a venue. Let me tell you, it is an EXTREMELY difficult job, requiring 16 hour or more work days etc. You gotta carry a shitload of heavy equipment, set it all up perfectly and then during the show be constantly ready to solve any problems that might arise... This is a lot to do and combining manual labor with intellectually demanding tasks like sorting out the whole sound system is tough. Also, don't forget that after the show is over and the musicians are having a party, you're still there packing all the stuff, carrying all the equipment etc.

A band's crew is extremely important and most of the time, when you're seeing a band live and thinking "damn, the sound is muddy", it is actually the crew's fault.

Written by jupitreas on 29.09.2009 at 15:03

I was never a roadie but I worked as crew at a venue. Let me tell you, it is an EXTREMELY difficult job, requiring 16 hour or more work days etc. You gotta carry a shitload of heavy equipment, set it all up perfectly and then during the show be constantly ready to solve any problems that might arise... This is a lot to do and combining manual labor with intellectually demanding tasks like sorting out the whole sound system is tough. Also, don't forget that after the show is over and the musicians are having a party, you're still there packing all the stuff, carrying all the equipment etc.

A band's crew is extremely important and most of the time, when you're seeing a band live and thinking "damn, the sound is muddy", it is actually the crew's fault.

Yeh, I know the value of you people because here, no matter what kinda concert it is, the sound is always shit. It takes them hours to arrange it, and when the band starts playing, they have to fix more stuff. The only one that was bit different was Amon Amarth, because they had their own guy checking everything, so it came out pretty well. But the rest... daaamn. Honestly they're not credited as they should, when they are credited. Sad.

I've roadied for a couple of local bands consisting of some of by good good friends. one band, is a mediocre thrash group called Diary of the Dead, and the other was a pop-punk ish band called the ensomnyacks.

for Diary, i drove those guys to a concert 3.5 hrs away, hauled their' trailer, them, merch, helped him set-up, soundcheck and break-down. that was a one shot.

for the ensomnyacks. well, if it wasnt for me those kids wouldn't have made it past their' first show. seriously. i did everything and then some for those kids, from lending them my personal equipment to driving to the their' practice space to pick up a power supply before they went on stage in 30 mins to burning cds to...

diary, sadly can't get any shows that aren't local. they're stuck playing at a bar on the east end of town every couple weeks.

the ensomnyacks split up over the summer, as their more than proficient drummer moved to another state to make watches. "why not get a new drummer?" first, there is a huge lack of drummers around here (i've been busting my ass trying to find one for my band), second, i dont think there are any drummers who can follow him.

if you guys wanna check out their' respective pages here are the links:
diary of the dead can be found here http://www.myspace.com/diaryofthedeadmusic
the ensomnyacks can be found here