How did you drive a semi as a high-schooler? I thought you had to be 21 for a CDL?
Allan Dan Penoff via Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> writes: > While it has been many years, in the summer in junior/senior years of high > school and later before I was in tech school I used to drive a semi with a > Landoll trailer carrying a 350kW generator set and cables to be used by the > various tours as they went around the Midwest. A lot of the venues back in > that time didn’t have adequate house power to run their whole show, so they > would run the sound off house power and used our generator for lighting. > > I would often follow a given show for a week at a time, sometimes more, as > they toured around the Midwest. We also had a standing gig with Market Square > Area and the Clay Courts in Indianapolis for the same thing, so in some cases > I would be doing it during the rest of the year locally, too. > > I was first in, last out. For a typical 8:00 pm show I had to be there no > later than 8:00 am, sound check was usually around 2:00-3:00, then cool my > heels until the show started. A lot of times we wouldn’t have everything > struck at the prior venue until 2:00 - 3:00 am, which meant I might have to > high tail it a couple hundred miles to the next venue, like maybe Louisville > to Columbus or St. Louis, for example. Longer distances usually meant a > travel day in between. Lots of sleeping in the truck. > > Some of the artists I toured with: > > Rush > Fleetwood Mac > Don Henley > Stevie Nicks > Kiss > Foreigner > Phil Collins > Def Leppard > Dire Straits > AC/DC > Journey > REO Speedwagon > Pat Benatar > ZZ Top > Heart > Toto > Kenny Loggins > Steve Winwood > > I’m sure there were others, but these are the ones I recall. All I can say is > that while it was fun, sort of, it made me realize what a crappy way to make > a living it was. I had to carry a firearm because I always got paid in cash > by the road manager before the end of the show, so I always had large sums of > cash on me until the morning when I could deposit it if I could find the > right bank where we were. I was not union, so at the union (IATSE) halls I > had to have a union member “assigned” to me that made all the final > connections and I pretty much just flipped the switch and made sure all was > well. Once that was done I was free to hit the buffet if there was one for > the crew. > > My recollections about artists are as such: > > Rush was the absolute best band to work for. They had a dedicated crew that > toured exclusively with them, some of them having been with the band for some > time. Food was excellent and they (Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson) were always > very nice and came by before the show to thank everyone. Molson and cold > shrimp were some of the regular things on the after show buffet, and they > always had a “to-go” kit of food and goodies for everyone on the crew after > things were broken down/struck. A good breakfast was out on the morning of > the show, too, with lots of fresh fruit and good things to eat. > > Don Henley’s entourage was the worst. That was one of those “avert your eyes > when the “artist” is moving through the wings and backstage.” A real douche. > No buffet or food, a pile of order-out pizza and cooler full of generic soda > was all they would put out, and it was rarely enough to feed everyone. > > Keep in mind that food is always provided by the venue/promoter and costs the > act a minimal amount of money, if any, as it’s factored into the cost of the > show and spelled out in the rider in advance. That’s the contract that says > “no brown M&M’s.” So if a tour does a crappy job on food for the crew, it’s > on the tour, not the venue. > > Understand that as a crew member you rarely see the talent. If you do, > they’re moving through backstage from point A to point B with their entourage > around them, so you often can’t even see them if you tried. The only ones I > recall circulating backstage were Rush, ZZ Top and I think Kenny Loggins. > They would often hang around and chat a little bit after the sound check. As > I mentioned before, Rush would come around and thank everyone before the show. > > I really don’t recall a lot of details, as it was 40 years ago, but those are > the ones that stand out. The rest were pretty decent because they recognized > the value of keeping the help happy. It was still a crappy gig, but I got > paid pretty well for the time, I think $200/day in cash. > > -D “Yeah, I’m with the band, baby” > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
