They are also the ones that keep the price of renting gear and producing shows down. I might be blurring the
line between shop tech and
stage hand but if a company was to hire people who knew more than how to hold a wrench costs would sky rocket because they would not work for what is currently being offered. Truth be told the average grunt
stagehand does not need to have more than the basics down, lefty loosie righty tighty, upstage,
downstage in and out. Working periodic ins and outs for the last few years no one has asked me anything about balancing the phases equally or if the
truss is deflecting too much and they really do need that other
point. They are happy if I know the correct way to
bolt truss together and show up on time.
Now on installs or
one off shows where things aren't so well prepared or they haven't been done in 20 cities before that sort of knowledge can be vital and necessary if it is your
venue and you need to put your
foot down to protect lives or property but those people are going to cost money and rightly so. Getting Bill Sapsis to come in and pull points for your show might be the best way to make sure it gets done correctly but good lucking getting someone to
foot the bill (pun 100% accidental if at all).
sorry about the derail