The saying “no road crew, no show” might be a bit of a cliché, as Roady4Roadies ambassador and music industry figure Stuart Coupe tells, but it couldn’t be more true.
The inaugural Roady4Roadies events will taking place in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth on March 10 and in Adelaide on March 24, to celebrate the industry’s unsung heroes while shining a light on alarming mental health problems within the entertainment industry and raising much-needed funds for Support Act.
“It’s a fundraiser, it’s a profile lifter, it’s a get-together for crew and musicians,” Coupe tells The Music.
“The intention is it will spread and be an annual event and will next year go to more regional cities and towns where these people plied their trade for too many years.”
In each city, the day will kick off with a leisurely 4 - 5km walk, ending with family activities, performances, a BBQ and more.
Attendees can also take part in the Crewathlon, a friendly competition for teams of roadie that will feature The Cable Comp, Stage Manager Sprint, Lighting Crew Limbo and Sound Crew Shimmy.
As the author of 2018’s Roadies – The Secret History of Australian Rock N Roll, a book that “documents the history of crew, their trials, tribulations, successes and humour”, you’d struggle to find anyone with more knowledgeable than Coupe about that side of the industry.
“I was watching an Elton John show in Wollongong and I had this really beautiful moment,” Coupe recalls.
“I was watching the beginnings of the dismantling of the stage from the show…I was standing there watching this feverish activity and an older roadie came up to me around midnight and said, ‘Stuart, this is what we do – we build pyramids, then we take them down and move them to another city.”
It’s a huge task, and with unpredictable hours, constant high-stress situations, no definable sleeping pattern and other factors, it’s not surprising the industry is overwhelmed with mental health issues and a much higher suicide rate than others.
That’s why events like Roady4Roadies are so important.
“It’s not just about roadies getting together; if you’ve been to a show and you want to show support for the technical people in the crew that put those shows on, come out for a couple of kilometres.
“It’s a family day and a day for everyone. If you haven’t been a roadie or you don’t know a roadie, that’s not a reason to not come along.
“If every person and every band who’s ever employed a roadie came to these walks, we’d close the streets, and that’s what I’d like to see; musicians and family of musicians coming down and thanking the roadie crew fraternity.”
You can find out more information via the Roady4Roadies website.
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