Lessons

Lesson Info

Segment 3 - Day of Show and Q&A

All right so here we are day of show first thing that happens is loaded and that's not a zoomed in as I was hoping that it would be oh it's much easier to read all over in this all the advancing and you show up and if you're going to become a promoter rap nothing like getting off the bus and no one can find the promoter right? Best promoter reps the guy that's standing there usually with a cup of coffee for the production manager to be honest, I'm waiting forever the first person off the bus nine if I don't need anything in my life and pretty self contained but they usually say hi kevin ware's carrie you know I'm sitting in my area and then there's my production manager if they're not they're carries just gonna go set up the show how he wants to carrie's got are setting it up how he's putting the festival in the right place and the worst conversation is when that guy ever shows up and I'm listening on the radio and usually apology I've been before because I don't like people it just ge...

ts pretty nasty sometimes very rarely does a promoter up nose be there when we show up so motor up should be there if they see us they like oh, we're fun time everybody loves to work all right so who is on site before loading the local venue in production staff course the touring crew are buses have hopefully showed up before load in um we didn't have too long drive and have seen change time zones stagehands are going to be their loaders fork drivers runners are the people and this is a really accessible job get right off the bat is the person that runs errands local person that runs errands for the touring personal um you got a car and you know you're able to keep notes about what you're supposed to go do you could totally be a runner, you know, to keep change yeah when receiving and receipts don't lose their seats um local caters might be there there might be some security that's in place and it's really keep it's really key that power just starts going in the morning because yeah, you get you get a smooth roll to go on the day that you're gonna have a smooth day so doors are physically doors, but in our industry we always refer to doors as the time that the doors are open to the pa public. So a tw that point you'll have your box office manager and ticket sellers on ticket takers ushers all of your security staff you're concession sellers, maybe some medics and these are the jobs that your local venue are really accessible to get there's lots of them hired seasonally as well as around the around the clock and a lot of people like the general manager of the river men music center got his start as a security garden but he did the security guard job the best that he could and then became the security director and then moved up from there so I mean even like these jobs that are hourly and feel like oh, I'm just standing here it really can be a big foot in the door that leads to another thing do that job well and then you're going you're going if you're just wondering what flike doors are so important what's the bane of my existence of all this it's always some concession guy with a forklift driving a pallet coca cola third the venue when after adores it's that's our radio up everything is ready where warps up in two hours already fired up going and it's like there's a forklift driving through wait and then we have to go run and ten thousand kids have toe wait wait get part that's the toughest thing if you ever wait one minute past eleven o'clock it worked or it's a concession work with all right the show is happening the reason we're all here and the financial settlement of the show that's part of the day after the box office closes and we have all the expenses in or whatever information we need related to the deal uh to our accountant whoever settles the show and on the smooth night you leave to the next city and you don't leave your tour account still trying to figure out the receipts, I believe in the several occasions where have we don't leave me? I don't have the check yet. Um, load out is oh, by the way, tio, just clarify lodin and load out is what you're doing to the venue. You're loading the gear into the venue and you're loading the gear out of the venue. It's not what happens to the trucks? That's? What happens to the venue? So load out is the time that the's, stagehands and loaders air called back a t end of show to load the stuff out of the venue. Um, there's going to be some additional venue staff on site at that point, probably some cleanup crew and maybe some conversion people. So at an arena got to turn that back into a basketball stadium are talking hockey amazing, my friends, a lot of that kind of just knowing their schedules, the general managers of these these arenas and alex staple center, they've got to basketball teams, a hockey team, a concert, the grammys going on and how they flip that so this conversion crews and all this time, the promoter reps still there. We're gone on and it took me many, many years to realize that I didn't have to wait till the last chair usually those guys in the last ten years my days would start, you know, seven eight in the morning and go until for three or four in the morning yeah, there of near twenty four hour days, says it's great that they're really breaking it down because I think it's easy to get roles confused and this is really showing this is the entry and this is the work and this is what it actually is and how first of all, I know that one of things that we are including for people who are purchasing is an aptitude test and kind of deciding like how to decide what your role is want talk a little bit so it's actually kind of a job attributes grid and s o it's, a neat grid that will have a list of all of these jobs that we kind of talked about and some qualities related to them and kind of show what qualities go with what job and when we get into the next section where we really talk about things to consider when you're getting into jobs and careers will look a tw ce amore of what those attributes are but it's do you want to travel, not travel, walk around a lot, talking the phone hey do math it's your tone deaf like may figure out something that makes it all right guys get ready with your questions and you take one online first hygienic kevin is a degree from a college music industry program helpful or necessary or both to a job in the industry is this the way to go or is there a better way um I would say I've seen some great programs there I think the programs you if you're going to get one make sure it's a school that does shows and puts on events and really gets into it I actually spoke to the school and I got you guys get to put on shows while our administrators won't let us that's not what you want to be you have to be in the mix I'm a big proponent still of of as an entrepreneur will get into my life of having that degree meant something and just be something as a fallback I looked at that if I don't make it in what I wanted to do I could go get a job you know now I'm too old to get a job they tell me so I just work out of fear and desperation every day you've got to keep going but I believe it's a mix and it's the right person you know some people were you know tell me god it cost so much to go to school well and then I meet some people who have really excelled in school and really taken advantage of that education process you know, if you could if you take advantage of the education process it's still an amazing thing if you just go in there, I think you're gonna skate by and then you go I have all this college debt then you probably shouldn't have gone to school, you know, it's a tornado to toss up, you know, I know I'm not going to say you've got a degree, you're going to tell my students yeah, so I teach a columbia college in chicago producing into her life performances and I tell them it's it's not the degree that you're getting that is going to get you the job but it's the stuff that you're learning in the classroom that is going to make you better at the job and get the next job faster so our industry really values experience and hands on and that classroom does not ever replace actual doing so even if you are in school, you should be trying to work it venues work on site get some hands on experience and your class experience is going to enhance that and really take you to the next level faster I think it's a really personal thing I have a four year degree and I'm glad that I d'oh to do with school and it's hard now you know it's hard to guess have it it's tough out there in the education system what the pressure on you but you got right now is the time to get involved in anything and don't because you're just like heavy metal music say all I'm working is heavy metal shows I used to work every I love pump and I worked everyone and get experience in events it might be a rib fest it might be something in your church you know, mixing sound get us much as you can because you're all broken school are all you know everyone's broke ass in school so it's a great time to volunteer and just get out there and it doesn't necessarily all those organizational skills that you're developing will only make it go better when you start zeroing in on your career path. So utilize your time in school if you're you're doing that and actually katie biz has a question that on eleven other people wanted to know the answer this I've been working in the music industry since I was fourteen it was much easier to do then as money wasn't an issue thanks to the bank of mom and dad however, now that I'm finishing up school, what would you recommend is someone who is low on cash but does have a passion for touring going from those kind of entry level basically working for free to actually making a living well being broke on the roads more fun because people give you burritos or foodstuffs place to sleep, you'll have this and your mom's aren't harping on you to get a real job so you don't have that many expenses expenses don't work are keeper festivals, you know, there's so many festivals in america right now there's a whole traveling tribe of gypsies that aren't necessarily on the road, but they go from festival, the festival to work and it's a really cool I think that's probably direction I would have gone if I was in a different position, you know, there's so many things, and everyone needs these staffs for transportation for driving golf carts all these kind of things, you get a little money, it's hard to turn that around and being broke I really private would say that I'm never financially sound I don't think even to this day, but, you know, it was like I worked so hard every day to get something and took free gigs in between that I didn't get sound close to financially sound till after his thirty and then I blew it all starting the warden school decided how to do something else in life we're talking about, you know, it is hard and pressure, you know you might have to work two jobs you might have to take a job I know the thing I hate most is a lot of people that work for me won't go to home people and get a job on the off season they don't want to be temporary help it at kmart or wherever a stock room or go get that you you might have to work at night don't you know in the morning is doing that taking a six a m shift and working till noon because you work to show until two o'clock in the morning like they said it's not only you got have to take every job you possibly can you want to focus in on what you're doing but to make that cash what cash becomes a little more important just you know you know that that isn't the means that you know but you've got to do it and you're going to sleep four to six hours a day maybe I did for many many years but then you get the first day you can say actually notice something is it really interesting time in your life and that gets harder when you're in this business? No, I can't do that to her no I can't you know you took everything you possibly could I will talk later on about saving up so that you can choose the right up questions here in the room when you got that right here with you guys aaron aaron because they're defined really well the promoter role and the artists representation role. But you guys, as a producer, I'm wondering if you could maybe to find that a little better. You have your promoter wraps that the venue your artist raps into her managers. So when we say artist in this scenario like kevin is the artist, the warp tour is the artist. In this whole process, the and his artistic vision is to hire eighty plus bands every day to play this. So the warped tour is the whole show. Does that make sense for his part within and its meat? You're creating the show for you guys? So I guess then I'm tryingto make shuriken appropriately distinguish between the promoter, the live nation's and your role. I'm one of the few and if I'm a bear with one of the few independent one still out there, they live nation's, producing their own festivals out there. They wanted to put me out of business and we're playing no, no doubt about it. They all my friend rick and everyone on here like they put us in a room and say, how do we do what kevin does? They let me exist because I could create and I do fair deals, I make them money the minute I stopped making live nation money, I'm you know they don't care about me, but you know, I'm developing artists. I figure I fiddled mill niche role in the music business, very small natural so you have an agent who discuss negotiates with the promoter to take a risk on the warp tour, and then they should only take a risk on the work tour because we're coming out of zero guarantee we're picking up way are are paying for expensive is and they are putting the tickets on sale and there are so many stars selling tickets for the warp tour, and they start losing money on the warp tour that relationships going to change me to say on being coming and it's being creative and it is changing and evolving your properties, but we do self promote a couple of dates where there's not a local promoter and in that case, do you do everything, put the tickets on sale and market it and get all of the local requirements in addition to bringing, you know what we do every day, which is bring the tour of eight stages with sound, twenty production buses, one hundred fifty other vehicles traveling cater to each of these sites it's very hard to be an independent producer right now but I had put in all that I'll talk about it later about how much leg work I put in before stepped out on my own so it's patients, patients, patients is huge and I know the society doesn't re patients sometimes, but you know that relationships and things you're building up when you're not getting paid anything and you're working and things can go down the road to let you try new things that helped can I partly that really quickly into one other question about the evolution of the deal for work to her and it's been going for twenty years and the way they live? Concert production is advanced in that time, there's a much bigger focus on live music now than there was when it started. I'm sure I'm not really I mean, live music out in the world I came from, you have to realise punk rock wasn't getting radio play in nineteen ninety five, it was still about touring in clubs and venues and trying to build what we got time to build our careers. Warped tour, now in two thousand fifteen is more like nineteen, ninety five than ever I'm working with indy artists were trying to make their careers grow way have a great relationship with labels because the on ly label that existed pryor warped tour that I worked with on a regular basis was epitaph fearless, hopeless rise you know, jake from pure noise will be on later, you know? They evolved with what we do, so we have a great, like my office right now, it's like a revolving door, everyone strategizing on they're bringing the artist's knowing they can't, but I'm only gonna have six the eighty on of the three hundred that have been pitched in the last week. I listen to music, you know, and we're trying I want my seem to be strong. I know that I've been allowed existent punk rock because I haven't taken advantage of the scene. Some people might think that, but I really haven't you know, if you take advantage of a scene, I think I've given back as much as I put in and take, you know, and you were taking bigger, they get work to make my scene bigger and now it's so exciting for me because it's back to nineteen, ninety five, we were able to go into the metal world because we're allowed wanted to start the mayhem fest. We had tasted chaos, bridge and mayhem because we don't put on a good value to the fans we put on a good show for the artists like being part, they like being around our shows ultimately and that comes with having great people around you and doing great jobs and you never hear yelling at the warp tour you never hear it's rising super nice and united am where metal was a little more known for aggressive production manager good man's chill backstage it's pretty cool you know and I believe we're lucky to get to do what we do every day so let's make it really cool for you know I'm very fan friendly and try to make this show is possibly the best I can for the france sometimes the artists I I said guys, you know you we all have jobs to do put your put your egos aside for a little bit we'll talk about that later brandon kev and about thirty other people will have the same question which is one these guys here a lot. I wanted to know how one gets the opportunity to work on the warped tour are there any ways to get internships as a young person? I know that you guys have heard that a lot and so this idea of the entertainment thank you the entertainment institute it's very now is one of the ways that you guys have kind of come up with to help with that with that question we it's expensive to bring an intern on the work tour we bring a few couple way bring a couple out there but what I'm looking at is I'm looking at who's out in that field you'll see some people later today that I saw on that field working for a ban working really hard doing something and I in sparks is that instinct you get into human that you go, you know what? That person needs a chance let's see if they can fit in a normal if I bring a person to early on warped tour sometimes, but they just get eaten up it's a brutal tour it's the days are long, you're in the environment you're working with a bunch of ex convicts throw in the prison yard too soon it gets you know you could get kony jump on your first time out, but working on the production team is not the only way to be on the short, but you're out there sometimes we see him in the sponsor world, I always tell people if I were you and wanted to get started or to her, I'd be looking at all those low goes in the posters because most of our brands we work with you around are you know, every year they come back, most of them I start reaching out to who staffing their programs who's out there, I still find people a lot of times that were merged people for another, a band or someone out there let them go out to her and experience and see how they're thriving in that environment. We start doing programs, we did this some of this back stage, and you see who's showing up and wanting to make their career better. We do these things backstage where they get it. So getting a job on warp try get lots of it. Your first touring job on warped tour. Very rarely are you going to be working for the production team on your very first job on the warp tour because those hours it's e think it's I've seen people crash and burn out there. It also find the baby bands that are just starting out and don't have crew see if they need somebody to drive for them, see if they need somebody to sell. March, see what ways you can help out. So look at the bands that are on tour. Look at the the brands that are gonna have a presence on site and reach out to those it's easter. I know we do a lot of interns in our office. It's funny how interns in our office down in l a it's. Funny how way we sort through it really thoroughly who works in there but it's funny how, when jobs open up for warped tour during that spring, maybe six or eight out of the eight end up with some sort of position out there. If that's what they really want to do on the road, they'll come in and work in the office and impress enough to be able to get at least the interview with someone and then we don't recommend him just because they're our intern, but they always seem to shine a little bit more then maybe that well stirring they've gotten some additional now volunteering at your local show and you know, I would just be helpful see where you can help about how it's so mind your face like that a little later, I'll help you never know what interaction is going to lead to your next opportunity. So just approaching every single interaction, every event that you can work at is going to leave an impression on the people that you're working with and they're going to think about you. They need to make coming down on a saturday morning at nine o'clock and sitting through a class for seven hours and on a saturday is impressive. You guys take enough time to do that and people sitting out there online learning and taking your hopefully gonna walk out with a little bit more knowledge on this thing that's going on and any time you ask a question, say your name that's, a huge thing relationships and it's. It'll sink in and bed in our brains eventually, because I always say, if I have to run, if I remember your name, I'm gonna forget one. And it's. Probably my daughters have tio.