Production Management in Live Music

Managing the Technical Side of Touring in Today's Music Industry

Matt Doherty

• Publisher: Focal Press
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000519310
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music & Business

Production Management in Live Music: Managing the Technical Side of Touring in Today's Music Industry is a handbook for the aspiring production manager looking to forge a career in the live music industry.

This book outlines the role that a production manager performs and their key responsibilities, and takes the reader step by step through the entire process of preparing a show for a tour. From dealing with artists and management to hiring crew, from booking vendors and scheduling the day-to-day of a busy tour, this text covers everything that is needed to take the show into rehearsals and finally on the road. Every aspect of the job is covered, including the very important challenges that face today's industry in the realms of sustainability, inclusion, diversity and mental health. Whether the show be on a festival, in a small theatre or club, or in a modern arena, this book clearly lays out the tasks and challenges and offers practical solutions to ensure the smooth running of a live performance.

Production Management in Live Music is written for students in stage and production management courses and emerging professionals working in live music touring.

CHAPTER 1Introduction

DOI: 10.4324/9781003231349-1

I have often said that you never know your professional journey has started until some years have passed, and this seems particularly true for our industry. So many established music industry professionals of today could tell you a story of how they dropped out of college, or they just hung around with their mates who were in a band, how it was a hobby. And now, looking back, they see that they have forged careers out of that; raising families and buying houses … you know … like a real job! My journey is certainly one of those stories.

Understanding this then, be aware that the path to this job is not a normal one, and to make things harder the conditions that existed for us old guys and girls are probably not always present today. This is a transitory time as our industry is learning how to educate and to train. So, you will find Academy X and University Y offering this course and that one. You might have friends who are in a band. You might not know what to do because the path is not immediately apparent. I hope it will be one day, but now alas, you need to work hard to find it. I am hoping to help you.

The established industry at the present time still very much cares about hands-on experience, rather than formal qualifications. This can and should change. However, it can only work when the educational side of the industry steps up and begins to provide graduates that are suitably job qualified. If you are looking to start out now, you need to understand this. We are always cautious about someone who has not done the work. But how can you gain experience without being given a chance with a gig? This is a ubiquitous issue across all industries, but in ours where the system of qualification is still in its infancy the problem is greater. I do not pretend to have the answers but I hope with time as the music industry continues this ‘looking inward’ things will change. Heck, I am writing this book as part of this process of change.

So this book is primarily aimed at the student and the younger person trying to find the path to a career in Production Management. I am going to discuss the fundamental skills that I believe are needed to do the job correctly. I will talk about the role as it is relevant to touring through clubs, theatres, arenas, and festivals as these are the places where you will be plying your trade. From the initial conversation with a client that leads to employment, through the whole show design process to the all-important advance, rehearsals, and finally to the actual show.

I state that, in this book, I will be talking about the methods I have used and am still using to manage the productions of my clients. You should be aware that this business, although connected in several ways, has for its history been a story of hundreds of, what are in effect, small businesses travelling the globe delivering their art to mostly grateful audiences. Hence there will be many different ways that this business is conducted. Nothing is set in stone. Deals for one artist may not work for another. One client will have their ‘way’ of doing business and the next client may do it differently. Be aware of this and be ready to adapt as I will often pointOne of the many connections between the flown rigs and the grid of the venue. out. Other veteran production managers may offer you different advice at times and that is as it should be. Be a sponge and from all this information learned you will develop your ‘method’ and if you do it right, it can lead to a successful and rewarding career. Maybe one day there will be a standard that everyone works by, but I for one hope the business retains the interesting and sometimes unusual methods by which it achieves its success.

The live music industry is a very young industry, if you realise, what we consider as a familiar ‘rock show’ has only been around for the past 70 years¹. By extension, therefore, it is important to understand that many of the basic structures that are so much taken for granted in more established industries are in their very early stages in live music, or simply do not exist at all. Full regulation, a comprehensive training and education system to feed the industry, full employee, and contractor representation are some examples.

On the other hand, this business of ours is also quite advanced in many ways. We are so often tasked with achieving the very nearly impossible, and so are forced to find efficient and resourceful ways to do so. A bigger more extravagant show, a shorter timeline, more bang for the buck. We adapt what we have and we make what we need. We borrow ideas and technologies, develop them to our needs, invest in new concepts, all to the same end … the show.

As the demand for greater and more spectacular shows continues to grow, we push the limits and set new standards.

To say that the Live Music industry is full of talented individuals is quite the understatement. If you consider the path that most of us took to get where we are (and by extension the industry where it is today), it is truly remarkable.

I am not intending on this being the definitive treatise, because I do not see myself as the definitive expert, more someone who is lucky enough to have made and still is making the journey through this entertainment industry. I am very fortunate to belong to a small club of professional production managers. If you seek to join this club, then you should know that the standard is high and the road is a long one. You will start out in a vendorA company providing production goods and services to the music industry. shop or as a junior member of a crew, in whatever discipline you have a passion for. Experience will come and you will grow. I can promise you that boredom won't be a part of your working life. It will be a challenging road at times but know that commitment is the most important ingredient for success, so commit to it and work hard and you can get there.

Note

1. The Moondog Coronation Ball was a concert that was scheduled to be held in March 1951 in Cleveland Ohio. Generally considered to be the first ‘rock n roll concert’, actually never got past the first song of the opening act due to the overselling of tickets.

CHAPTER 2My History

DOI: 10.4324/9781003231349-2

For me it was all about the music. I was not a good musician. In fact, I was dreadful. The band that I was in at school was a typical school rock band of the late 1970s, early 1980s. Two guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards. I played the saxophone badly and had bought a synthesiser. I could sing so I had the lead throat duties on two or three songs in the set. But it was obvious my skills lay elsewhere. I was the one who organised the rehearsal rooms, booked the gigs and rented (and set up) the PAAcronym for ‘Public Address’, refers to the main audio system. (Public Address) systems. I knew that was why my friends let me stay ‘in’ the band. We progressed past our final year at school and were getting some reasonable gigs.

One day I headed early to the rehearsal studio to find a stranger in the room I had booked. He was setting up some keyboards. I enquired as to who he was and when he told me, I realised that my band mates wanted me to leave but did not want to tell me! I waited for them to arrive and then we had a chat. I was not angry at all. I knew this was beyond my talents. I suggested that I should maybe do the sound. They all agreed wholeheartedly!

I would have to say, that day was, in fact, my ‘start’.

The next 12 months saw me attempting to gain entry to the business which meant, in reality, hanging around a particular pub in Melbourne on Saturday afternoons where the gentleman who I had rented PA systems from for my band had a regular afternoon gig. There was no money, but I would get some lunch, and I would in return help unload the truck and set up the gear. I learnt as I went and soon became competent at the set up and basic operation of the PA. Then, one Saturday my friend asked me if I could drive a truck …. ‘No’ was my answer. His response was to throw me some keys saying, “It is parked in the lane. After the load out this evening, drive it home and then be in Taralgon tomorrow at 10am”. Now this was a challenge! Nevertheless, I managed to get moving and after parking the truck overnight outside my Mum and Dad's house, the next morning I crunched and ground my way some 100 miles to the venue and I was there on time. I got paid $40.00 for my efforts and I was officially working!

That became my job of sorts even though I was still studying. My week was made up of university and three or four gigs. The next step was when I got offered a proper job at an audio company. My first tour came soon after that. It was only 6 years of touring as an audio engineer before I did my first gig as a production manager (PM) in 1991, and then began to concentrate on that role. I still occasionally stood behind a console but finally stopped mixing altogether in around 1994.

I am very fortunate to have worked with so many wonderfully talented people in my career. In my early years, I learned so much from the top PMs and their site coordinators (sitecos). There were festival promoters who supported what seemed like whacky and expensive ideas, stage, and production managers who understood that the job was about getting stuck in and working hard … not just talking about it, brilliant crew chiefs who were communicative about what worked and what did not in my methods, the loyal vendors who always delivered and managers who knew how to let you do your job without micro managing you. This industry is about the people, always has been so, and I hope it will always be that way.

CHAPTER 3Production Management

DOI: 10.4324/9781003231349-3

What makes a good production manager (PM)?

If I had to pick one quality only, then it would be consistency. I am going to say this with the following caveat. It is expected that the core skills of production management are present in the candidate. That he or she can perform the tasks that make up the job …. Now for why consistency is so important.

Consistent performances sow the seeds of confidence. Confidence in you shown by your client, your crew, your vendors, the industry. How to achieve this consistency?

Now here is a tip from an old road dog. Address every issue as soon as it hits your desk or inbox. Do it straight away. This may seem like it will disrupt a measured and planned workflow … and, yes, it will, but you should give up the idea of your own work day ever ending up as it was planned. You must jump and change and adapt constantly throughout your day in order to achieve a planned and measured day for everyone else …. THIS IS THE JOB.

The fundamental that underpins this is that the job of the Production office is one of SERVICE. You might be the boss, and I may have a whole chapter on leadership, but it starts and ends with this one key point. You provide the details, you arrange the resources, allocate the funds you are assigned by your client in the budget, map out the logistics, all of this to get to that one point in time … the show. Once these things are sorted and in place and you begin the tour, your role then shifts.

Let's deal with the ‘service’ thing.

One fundamental for success for any crew member, technical or other; is this. Do the same thing at the same time each day. This leads to order and that is the foundation for a smooth production. In the same way a band rehearses to get their performance more polished, you and your crew will, in effect, rehearse your roles; firstly in the actual rehearsals, but also when the tour begins, with the early shows, ironing out any issues and making the flow of the build, the show, and the load out go more smoothly with each time it is done.

You have hired the crew, booked the gear and planned the trucking, travel, accommodation, buses, and freight, you have advanced the shows and now it is up and running you are just there to primarily make sure that all these components are working together efficiently. So in essence you are serving the show. I am told it is often the case that many PMs like to (and I will be kind here) ‘lead from the front’. Usually with a constant barking of orders and directions. S...