Roadie

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A roadie is an event technician who is traveling with musicians and music groups during concerts or tours. Roadies are responsible for assembling and dismantling musical instruments and amplifiers as well as PA and lighting systems. The assembly and dismantling of stage decorations can also be part of their tasks. After the artists' performances, the roadies load the material onto trucks , usually with the support of locally recruited assistants ( stagehands ), in order to unload it at another location before the next performance and to set it up again there. Then the task of the truck driver or the belt chauffeur can also be added. If several roadies are required to complete these tasks, their team leader is referred to as a road manager .

The term roadie is derived from the English word road . It shows that roadies spend a large part of their professional lives traveling. They often travel ahead of the artists in order to be able to set up in good time before the events. Many roadies spend the night on tours in specially equipped coaches, the nightliners .

job profile

The job image of the roadie , like that of the cowboy , is often the subject of romanticizing transfiguration. This idealization sometimes obstructs the view of the reality of the roadie life, which is associated with irregular (but mostly long) working hours, sometimes extremely physically demanding work, unhealthy diet and often long separation from friends and family. In the past, you became a roadie by joining from an electrician, radio and television technician or other technical (or non-technical) occupation. Mostly a hobby turned into a passion and later a profession. In Germany, the training profession for event technology was created at the end of the 1990s . Thus, for the first time in Europe, a standard for qualified specialists was established and the job description professionalized. The extension of this is the master for event technology .

Areas of responsibility and differentiation from other terms

The so-called stagehands correspond more to the widespread image of the roadie . These are often unskilled workers who do not go on tour with the production, but are only hired at the respective venue for cost reasons. To see only one sidekick in a roadie would not do justice to the varied tasks that he has to fulfill. Rather, a roadie needs to be able to qualify in a number of job your way, such as electrical engineering , structural engineer , decorator , instrument makers , carpenters , metalworkers and forwarding agent . As a rule, however, there are specialists for every trade (light, sound, video, pyrotechnics, etc.) who nowadays have the appropriate training.

Forms of activity

A specialized form of roadies is called a backliner . These mobile instrument technicians are responsible for the backline (everything that is directly behind the artists on the stage) as well as for the musical instruments and the amplifiers connected directly to them. Especially at medium-sized and large festivals that need several days to set up the PA system and then make it available to all performing artists, a complete replacement of all the equipment is practically not feasible during the renovation breaks. For this reason, the road crew (backliner) and stage crew must work together to ensure that the concert runs smoothly. This also considerably simplifies the logistical effort of the traveling staff, so that on tours, in addition to festival operations, the PA service is usually booked by local organizers for individual concerts.

Further specialists among the roadies are the grounders (working on the ground) and the riggers , who are responsible for working on the scaffolding (rigs) to which lamps, loudspeakers, projectors, etc. are attached.

reception

Well-known (ex) roadies

The public interest in people who work as roadies is naturally rather low. For this reason, the focus of public attention is primarily on former roadies, who were able to use the experience and contacts they gained as stage workers for their own music careers.

See also

literature

  • On the Road with the Ramones by Monte Melnick, Frank Meyer. Sanctuary Publishing Ltd., London 2003. ISBN 1-86074-514-8 (English).
  • Backstage by Susanne Buchheim. BoD, 2012. ISBN 978-3844818239 .

Individual evidence

  1. "King Of The Roadies": Documentary shows the longest-serving roadie in the world in rollingstone.de from May 20, 2015