The tour I’m currently on, I was looking forward to working on, it’s for a great cause, last year I had a ton of fun doing it. This year on the other hand, has been completely miserable, it has been a long time since I’ve dreaded going to work, the hours are long, and it’s a lot of little things that add up to make for a full day, but that’s not what I dread every day, it’s not the reason I’m miserable, long hours don’t bother me, a gigs a gig, no matter how much you have to do. The problem is the crew, some of these guys are some of the most inconsiderate, rude, self absorbed, condescending, mean spirited individuals I have worked with yet. Most of them have no morals or integrity. Even being a fellow crew member they have no respect for me or anybody around them. What’s funny is, is if you say something or complain about the fact that they are these things, people have excuses for them, it’s rock and roll, it’s this or that, or if you confront them, they purposely do things to make your day longer or suck more, I don’t think there’s an excuse for being a bad person, for being all the things that I mentioned above.
At what cost is it worth it to put up with these types of people? Are they so good at what they do their not replaceable? I mean come on, it’s not rocket science, it’s not even gym teacher science, what we do for a living, most every tech started with no schooling on how to do this, and figured it out by just gigging, you just have to have work ethic, and a little bit of common sense.
And since this is my blog I’m going to say it, I think we need to start firing the tech’s that are like this, are they really worth the headache? Is listening to their pissing and moaning really worth their mediocre job performance? And the sad part is, it’s like there’s two types of tech’s now, one half has only been in the business for a short period of time, and they all want to act like they’ve been in forever, so they act like the other half which have been in the “business” forever and talk about it all the time with such gruffness. It’s such crap, to me it’s like the longer your in the industry the more you forget what it’s like to work without bitching the entire day! There’s plenty of good tech’s out there that need work!
I agree so much man! As one of those new tech’s on the market(been working full time for just over a year) I get so tired trying to compete with no-it-alls who get hired because they can talk all day long about everything great they’ve done.
I love your blog- keep it up, and if you get a crew vacancy ever, shoot me an email and we’ll talk. I love working with people who love God and like to have a good time achieving excellence.
I’ve been praying for you, man. I thought of you the past few days when I was attending a few shows here in So Cal. I was watching some of the techs set up or during set changes, and watching them act so nonchalant, strolling around the stage as if they have all the time in the world. I know, they might have been tired, but what I wouldn’t give to be able to be on the road, learning the this trade that I’ve been sitting in a classroom and studio for 2 years and trying to learn!!!
I say fire them, maybe it will shake them up and make them realize that they need to do more than just “okay.”
Hope to see you soon, man. Take care!
PS. Love the blog… keep it up