Clark O’Neill is a Sydney-based roadie who has been a part of the production of dozens of large-scale events from festivals to stadium shows, most recently working as the follow spot on AC/DC with the best view in the house. With Mumford & Sons, Taylor Swift, Neil Diamond, the ARIAs and dozens of shows coming up over the busy summer season, Clark kindly shared his story and how he got into this line of work with The Void. Read on for the biggest shows that have hit town, the magic moments (like working on Black Sabbath), why tour techs out-rank textbooks and more.
Name: Clark O’Neill.
Location: Sydney, Australia.
Current Gig: Neil Diamond, Mumford & Sons.
How did you get into your current gig?
I got into the industry purely by accident. I was working in a music shop in Crows Nest run by two brothers that ran the place like their own boys club, and my work schedule was being screwed around, so I’d been scratching my head as to what I wanted to do with myself. One afternoon when I’d been hanging out with my cousin, work got brought up and I mentioned I had no idea what to do, and he said that the guitarist in his band was in another band with a guy who was the operations manager for a local crewing company and asked if I’d be interested in asking him how to get on board. I said ‘yeah, sure’ and he got back to me a couple of days later with how to apply for the company, started working for them soon after and I’ve been doing it ever since.
How does it feel having just done follow spot for AC/DC? For regular folks, what the hell does that mean?
So a follow spot operator is someone who operates a spotlight to light up the musicians and performers during a show, which for me meant I was pointing a bloody big two metre long and very hot light from atop a roughly 20 metre tall truss tower at Brian Johnson for about two hours.
It was an experience I’ll take to my grave. I had a bird’s eye view of the entirety of ANZ stadium and probably the best seat in the house to experience the show and the crowd getting into the music. I was up there singing along as loud as I could as I followed Brian dancing around the stage for both shows. The LD (Light Designer) who gives us our cues in our headsets was a pleasure to work with and very clear and friendly. It was a privilege to be up there for the show, letting alone being paid for it!
What’s coming up next that you’re working on?
Well from spring going through to about mid/late April is our busy season so it’s a hectic time running around between gigs. As far as big names go, this week I’m working on Neil Diamond at Allphones and Mumford & Sons at The Domain, I’m working on The ARIAS and Taylor Swift at the end of the Month, so far next month I’ve been confirmed to work for Sam Smith and Oprah, and all through January I work for Sydney Festival in the Festival Village in one of their Spiegeltents as the inhouse Backline Tech.
What was your first gig and how long did it take you to get into doing what you do now?
My first gig was helping push the stage in and out for the pre show entertainment at the 2011 NRL Grand Final, which was a bit overwhelming going from working desk jobs to being in a packed stadium surrounded by TV cameras where everything had to be done fast and having no idea what was going on. It took me a while to get into the swing of being in this line of work, both mentally and physically, and I don’t think it was I was until I’d been doing it for at least 18 months that I fully got the grasp of how things work and how to deal with the lack of sleep and being physically drained but still managing to push on and get that extra bit of strength out of you to get the job done.
How many different kinds of roadies are there?
Well on big international concerts and festivals there’s two umbrella groups I guess of what the everyday person would refer to as a ‘roadie’; there’s local crew/stagehands, which is what I do, and then there’s the actual guys who tour with the artists and handle their gear where ever they go, which are commonly referred to as the tour techs.
You are also a musician who plays in a number of bands – is this work a good fit for making a lot of music?
As far as writing my own music goes, the amount of times I’ve gotten off a job and still had the adrenalin pumping through me and been really keen to go home and get some ideas out of my head, and then only to get home and hit the floor from fatigue has been ridiculous, so I guess it’s more of a hindrance haha. But it is very good for getting an understanding of how a tour works and how a show runs from a ground level. And having worked gigs from the size of small RSL gigs to shows at ANZ stadium with 1,000’s upon 1,000’s of people, the process overall stays fairly similar, it’s just the process, gear and logistics involved get ramped up a thousandfold.
How many roadies are also musicians?
Quite alot of us either play in bands in the local live music scene or are just musicians themselves. For alot of us it’s the reason why they get into doing this line of work; it just seems to work with us.
What do you think are the personal qualities needed to be a great roadie?
For me it’s perseverance and the right attitude. Alot of jobs can go really early into the AM, or start well before the sun’s up, or can draw out for well over 10 hours straight, or work can be so busy that the last time you had a day off was in a different month. It’s just about keeping your head in focus and regardless of how tough things get or how worn out you are, to remember that you booked on the finish when the job is either all set up for the show that night, or all packed in the truck ready to go to the next venue. It can be bloody tough sometimes, but you make hay while the sun is shining in this industry, and everyone is in this together, and the harder you work to get the job done, the sooner it’s over and the sooner everyone can go home and rest.
What’s unique about the lifestyle, how different is it to a 9 to 5?
For me, 9 to 5 is a long forgotten, distant world that exists only in folk lore. Gigs start at all hours of the day or night, 365 days a year. I’ve travelled over pretty much every part of Sydney, to god knows how many different warehouses and venues. It’s unique in the sense that, unless you’re working on the exact same show multiple times, every single job is different. There might be the same or similar gear, and you might be back in the same venue as last week or the week before, but every show is different from the next, and it’s fun alot of the time walking into a job not knowing what you’re going to expect from the day.
What have been your proudest/biggest shows you’ve worked on?
As far as production that went into the show, the biggest show goes to the Beyonce tour of 2013. The show was at Allphones arena, but the week before the shows started, she had booked out the Sydney entertainment centre for a week just to run technical rehearsals for the lighting and video rig. Chatting to one of the touring techs I found out that she had so much gear that if we were to put any of the PA they had for her in the air, they would go over the weight limit of what could be hung in the venue, even as they were pushing it. This show was massive, and has been by far the best concert I’ve seen that I’ve worked on in regards to production quality.
Proudest show I worked on was the last Black Sabbath tour that came to Australia. It was like being 15 again pulling roadcases out of the truck with their logo on it and standing on their stage once it had all been put together before the show started. Big smile across my face that day.
What’s the best way to get into roadie work? What should you NEVER do when approaching a company?
There are quite a few labour hire and stagehand companies out there that work on all the shows I’ve mentioned, and that I work for myself, that take on and train new faces all year round that have had little or no experience. Most of them start off with an online application on their websites so it’s dead easy to stick your hand up to them and say you’re keen.
I’d say the big thing is just to be honest with your skill levels in the practical side of how this job works, don’t oversell yourself unless you know 100% what you’re talking about.
In your opinion, what is the best first question a roadie should ask on their first day?
There’s no one question, but what I will say is there’s no such thing as a stupid question when you’re new. If you don’t know how something works, or what something is that you’ve been asked to find, whatever it is, just be honest and say it’s your first day and ask someone to explain it to you. 99% of the time the person you’re talking to will be completely fine with that and explain it to you. It’s much better to ask what may seem like a stupid question when you’re new, even if it’s 10 times, and get it right, than being too nervous or afraid of looking like an idiot and then potentially breaking an expensive piece of equipment, or worse still, hurting someone.
What is the worst thing you could do on your first day?
What drives alot of people up the wall, and this happens fairly regularly with what we call ‘greenies’, is those who’ve come straight from doing an industry course at either TAFE or university, have had no practical experience on how a job site works or proper work ethic, and start telling crew who’ve been doing this job for many years (or worst yet, touring crew or clients) how to do their job because their course told them differently. In this industry there’s a million and one different ways that the same job can be done. Our job is to make the clients happy and to do the job the way they’d like to do it. I’ve seen newcomers screamed at until they went clear as a pane of glass for trying to tell a person who’s been touring with and using his or her gear for months on end, surviving on maybe two or three hours of sleep a night, sometimes if they get to sleep at all, for telling them that they way they’ve been doing something with their gear, week after week with no problem whatsoever, is wrong. It doesn’t matter if a text book or your teacher has told you differently. If the way you’ve been taught in a course works, fine, but if the way you’ve been asked to do something isn’t dangerous, and works completely fine, do it that way. You’ll make who you’re working for happy and maybe learn a new or better way to do something.
What are the three most important lessons you’ve learned so far?
Probably how to pace myself on long shifts, when it’s appropriate to put your opinion forward and how to do that with touring techs, not to correct them, but just friendly suggesting on something I think might be dangerous or a way to do something that might benefit the way something’s being done, and how to personally time manage myself and learn when my body is telling me I might need to take a day off to recover.
What’s been your best “pinch yourself” moment so far?
I was working on the Coldplay show at the Enmore last year, and Kylie Minogue was singing a couple of songs in the show. During dinner in the dining room downstairs she went to walk by me, and I stood aside to let her pass, but instead she makes a beeline for me and sticks out her hand and introduces herself, which threw me off as normally the artists on big shows and the local crew won’t mingle. She asked me how my day had been and which support act I was in, and I said I wasn’t playing, that I one of the local stagehands for the show and if she needed anything during the show just to ask. She said “Oh, sorry by your look I assumed you’d be one of the supports, you’ve definitely got the look and the hair for it. I love your hair, it’s incredible.” and ran her hands through my hair. I very shyly said thank you and that I get alot of compliments on my hair. She said “I can imagine, I’d love to have your hair. I might have to go and get a knife and scalp you while you’re not looking and steal it for myself, then you’ll see me on TV or somewhere a few days later and be like ‘That’s the one who stole my hair!'” I gave an awkward laugh and said I wasn’t sure if I should stop her or not. She laughed loudly and said “One second, I’m going to get that knife.” and then left, and I never saw her again. I met one of her assistants later in the night and we got chatting and told him the story, he pissed himself and said she’s got a very dark sense of humour and that I had nothing to worry about.
I’ll add on top of that working as a film grip assist (essentially a stagehand for the movies) on the reshoots for “Mad Max Fury Road”. Being a big fan of the originals, I was in fanboy heaven on that set with all the modded cars and bikes running around. That was a great 2 weeks.
What’s been the most unintentionally hilarious/terrible day so far?
I wasn’t there for this, but a local lighting tech I know was working for a female American RnB artist (can’t remember who) a few years ago at Allphones Arena. Her entire touring crew were African American guys, and one of them had asked my friend if he could go and grab the stage skirts to hang around the stage, which are commonly referred to as stage blacks, or simply blacks in Australia, because they’re generally a simple, black dull velvet-like fabric. He went off and grabbed them, came back onto the stage and very loudly said “Right, where am I hanging these blacks?” This isn’t a common term for stage skirts with Americans, and he quickly realised the mistranslation because apparently everyone turned around pretty much ready to kill him. Luckily, the tour manager was on stage at the time and knew exactly what he’d meant, quickly ran over and took him off stage, told him he knew he didn’t say or mean anything offensive, he’d be paid for the time he was expected to be at the show, but if he stayed he’d probably have the life beaten out of him. After that alot of us are pretty cautious calling stage skirts blacks around anyone who isn’t Australian for obvious reasons.
What’s your ultimate goal, ultimate band, ultimate show? Has it already happened?
I’d love a chance to work for a Devin Townsend show one day. The man has been my number 1 musical idol for many years, and I’d love the opportunity to have a working pass for a Devin show to add to my collection.
What’s the biggest misconception in your opinion about the industry you’re in?
Alot of new people who join at the ground level have a misconception that it’s all glitz and glamour and rock ‘n’ roll, and you get to meet the artist at every show etc. It’s not.
Generally speaking unless the artist comes up and talks to you when you’re a local crew member, we don’t talk to them, most of the time you don’t even get to see them. They’re here to do a job just as the same as I’m there to do a job. The vast majority of the time I’ve seen an artist for the show I’m working on as I’ve past, I’ve waved and said hi to them if they weren’t pre occupied as I walked, they’ve said hi back, and that was it. Our job is to help the touring crew or the client build the show or whatever they need so the people paying money to see the show get their dollars worth. If an artist walks up to one of us and say hi or ask for something, of course we say hi back and chat or help them out, but unless that happens, we stay out of their way so they can do their job and we can do ours.
This isn’t a glamorous job. It’s very physically demanding, with long hours at strange times of the day and night. The summer period can almost flatten you and during winter things do slide off work wise and there can be rough weeks if you’re not careful and hunt for work diligently, even sometimes if you do. You get filthy, smell terrible, get bumped, bruised and scratched from cases or gear more times than not (my shins can often look like I’ve been plastered by a paintball gun from banging into cases or them being banging into me). More than a few of us have a few screws loose, and it’s most certainly not for the faint hearted. Packing a touring truck full of truss, PA and lights is like a heavy duty session at a gym, and alot of big shows can have upwards 20 + semi’s worth of gear (I think the record for most amount of trucks on a show I’ve worked on was 130). Anyone who talks to me about having a hard afternoon at the gym gets laughed at, and I’ve shut many a gym junkie up when I’ve explained some of the thing I’ve done on jobs to them.
What’s the hardest part of the job, in your opinion?
Pushing yourself to keep going when you’re physically drained. For example, on Saturday for the last AC/DC show, I arrived at the venue at 5pm, climbed up to my Spot light where I stayed for 5 hours, then climbed back down and straight into helping pack up the show which went until early in the morning, then headed back to my car and maybe got about 2-3 hours of half sleep in the back seat before I went back and helped dismantle the steel structure of the stage for 12 hours, and I was far from being the only person who’d been there that long, and certainly wasn’t there the longest. Learning to pace yourself in those situations is crucial, and I’ve had many a day where I’ve left work and stumbled back to my car almost like I was drunk from exhaustion.
What’s the best part of the job?
I’ve got to work for and sometimes see live some of my favourite musicians since I was a little kid. On alot of big shows working backstage during the show, local crew is mainly there to help out the support acts and get their gear on and off stage, so sometimes once the headline act goes on there’s nothing for you to do until the shows finished, and when that happens and you’ve been given the all clear, you may go as you please and watch the show as long as you stay out of the way of what’s happening. In the case of large festivals, like Soundwave or Big Day Out, you can get to a point where everything backstage is ready to go for the next acts as much as it can be, and at that point take in what’s happening onstage from side of stage. I’ve been given free tickets to events when clients I’ve worked with have liked my job and we’ve both gotten along really well, I’ve met some of my favourite artists at shows I’ve worked on, and I’ve got memories from work which I’ll have to I’m old and decrepit. It’s hard, but it can also be alot of fun and very personally rewarding, and I’ve made more than a few friends envious with some of the encounters I’ve had.
For a young aspiring Australian dreaming of a job like yours what would you recommend they do first?
It’s fairly easy to get in at the ground level, particularly during summer season when alot of big shows are in town and alot of the local crewing companies need alot of hands for alot of big jobs (a few weeks back I worked on a show at Allphones Arena for a Korean Pop act that required 100 to set up, and 130 people to pack down). Search online for local crewing or labour hire companies, most of them start off with an online application on their website. You don’t necessarily need previous experience to start out at the bottom, when I started I had nothing but 9 to 5 office jobs on my resume, no physical work of any kind. It just requires a can do attitude and a willingness to listen to those who’ve been there for a while and follow by their example. That’s what I did, and now I make a living out of it.
Written by: Christina Rowatt, The Void AU.
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