How to get started on tour

[Shawncfer]

So Im just curious how people get started working on tours. I've worked load in and outs at local venues and of course there is always a crew touring with the show. How are people able to get those jobs? Is it just knowing people? Or being a union member in a certain city? Im sure you have to start off at the ground and work you're way up. But how do you start at the ground.

I know it requires time a dedication and its not something someone can just go into for a couple of months and leave. But I think sometime after college it would be an experience I would like to try, just to get an idea, before I decide to settle down.

 

[len]

A lot of ways: you know the talent and they hire you, you work for the company providing gear, you have a highly specialized skill, you know someone else who is on the crew, etc. I don't know that search engines do that much for those kinds of jobs.

 

[GBtimex]

I got started on my tour by doing applying online to the company and writing a letter. I know that sounds obvious but most big tours come from big companies and they have rules on how to hire someone. I have heard that from time to time locals have been picked up in a city and that is how they start their touring career. Personally I am suspicious of any tour that picks someone up on the spot without any kind of interview. That same tour may drop you just as fast as it picked you up. If you do not have a professional resume make one and include in there some references (in and ideal world; someone that you BOTH know) and see if you can get an interview. I had a phone interview for the better part of 2 hours before I was hired and then I got shipped to Australia less than a month later. I doubt this is the norm for everyone but it's how I got started. Look for a company you might want to tour with: FELD (if you have to), upstaging, or whomever. See if they are hiring and apply. The worst thing they can tell you is no.

Best of luck to ya,

GBTimex

P.S. if you can't be a roadie be a good local. You will make everyone on that tour happier if you can show up with a good attitude, tools ready and always ask "What's next, how do YOU want this to be done, and what comes after I get done with this?"

 

[techieman33]

If there is some down time towards the end of load in (never ask during load out) ask how they got hired on, if they know if they are hiring, etc. If you have impressed them a recommendation from them could help you a lot. Vee is another company that tends to hire younger more inexperienced hands. If you want to tour suck it up and work for one of them for a year or two, and if your good you'll have a couple of years of touring on your resume and have a much better chance of getting on with one of the better production companies.

 

[What Rigger?]

Roadie.net 2.0

Probably not the best thing to look at if you're under 18. But it does present what's real.

 

[bishopthomas]

I started touring by the "who you know" factor. Someone I know got a call for a tour, couldn't do it, and recommended me. I was on the road for about two years, traveling all over the world. There were definitely times I doubted my decision, but for the most part it was a great move, both personally and professionally.

 

[Dillon]

Out of curiosity, what department is your focus? Not all positions are hired the same way.

 

[mstaylor]

I have had abot a dozen of my local guys, including my son, by working hard and impressing the show guys. They have all been asked to submit a resume and been interviewed. A couple are still out there, others have come back and are working locally again.

 

[Shawncfer]

Dillon, My focus is electrics