NAKED CITY – THE REAL ROAD WARRIORS
It’s a job that carries a lot of romance and generates its own mythology, not to mention a close association with the famous. But according to recent media reports it’s also a profession fraught with numerous mental health issues and an alarming suicide rate. When we go to a pub gig or large arena concert, we take the PA system for granted, but it’s the ‘roadies’ who do all the hard slog in making it happen.
A call by ARCA (the Australian Road Crew Association) to introduce a ticket levy of five cents per head at concerts and gigs in support of roadies has highlighted a suicide rate double the national average in the entertainment industry. ARCA reports that one in five roadies die by taking their own life, with both moderate and severe depression rampant throughout the industry.
It’s little wonder that the crewing industry suffers this malaise, given the nomadic and high pressure lifestyle that its members lead, punctuated by lack of sleep, psychical exertion and often bad diet. During the golden days of Australian pub rock in the 1980’s, road crews crossed crossed the country with monotonous regularity, often overnighting from one capital city to the next to meet an exhausting schedule. Whilst the large arena and concert shows enjoyed the services of a fleet of freight company trucks, it was the smaller three-to-four-man crews, working for a touring band, that endured the hardest grind.
It was not uncommon for a crew to finish a gig in Sydney around 1.00am, pack up the PA and set out for Melbourne around 2.30am in the morning. In those days the often two-lane Hume Highway was definitely not for the faint hearted, especially at night when it was clogged with semis and notorious for accidents. It wasn’t labelled ‘the deadly Hume’ for nothing. If the crew made it to Melbourne by late morning they could expect no more than three or four hours sleep before they were setting up at the next gig.
Thankfully a lot of the madness associated with the 80’s has dissipated, although the average roadie still faces a potentially debilitating burn out factor, despite the obvious camaraderie within the industry and the loyalty of many bands who do their best to look after their crews. Sadly, whilst many Australian musicians have put pen to paper in recent years to recall the ‘wild old days’, little exists in tales from those on the less glamorous side of the mixing desk.
Chat up any long time or old school roadie and they will regale you for hours with tall tales and true. One of my favourite anecdotes, dating back to the 1980’s concerns a crew doubling from a gig in the outer west to Selinas at Coogee on the same night (or something along those lines). Packing up at the outer west venue, they found one totally inebriated punter who they promptly loaded into the truck in a spare road case along with the rest of the gear. Unloaded at Selinas, and still none the wiser, the punter was positioned on a comfortable seat only to awake hours later wondering just how the hell he had got there! Road crews – you have to love them! Totally deserving of five cents a head per gig!
