Friday, February 4
Touring Professionals
Moderator: Patrick Stansfield, P. Stansfield & Associates
Ford Englerth, Clear Channel Entertainment
Steve Lemon, Latitude 33 Management Inc.
John Brown, Brown United
Danny O’Bryen, ScreenWorks
M.L. Procise, Showco/Clair Bros.
Debbie Sharpe, Eat Your Hearts Out!
Robin Shaw, Upstaging
Michael Strickland, Bandit Lites

Early on in the panel, Showco’s M.L. Procise rolled his eyes when Clear Channel’s Ford Englerth suggested that the gear he uses is less important than the people he hires.

“You just have to find good people, good vendors that have good business practices,” Englerth said, redeeming himself somewhat in Procise’s eyes.

The panelists moved on quickly to everyone’s favorite subject – food – as Stansfield called catering “sort of a dirty little secret.”

“In many ways, the artist only remembers whether it sold out and whether the catering was good,” Stansfield said.

“I think I’ve been fortunate working in a market like this, where there’s such a focus on the artist’s experience,” Englerth said. “There really should be no reason why they walk out with the catering not being as good as it can be.”

“If that adds to the comfort level of the artist when they come in, then that’s only to our benefit,” he said, noting that he has worked with Debbie Sharpe’s company, Eat Your Hearts Out!, on many large shows.

When Stansfield prompted her for her touring pet peeves, Sharpe said the only one she could really think of is when a rider isn’t fulfilled.

“We have many of the same clients that we’ve had for, like, 20 years,” she said. “And we go to places like Los Angeles and San Francisco and Chicago, and everything is in place. And then we go into the smaller cities or different cities, where it’s like, ‘Hey guys, have you not seen our rider?’”
A common problem is venues’ desire to use a local caterer, Sharpe said, despite her company’s inclusion in the rider.

“We don’t have that problem in Europe and England, because they’re used to paying for catering on the road and, I think over here, it’s still people wanting to use their own (caterers),” she said. “And I totally understand.”

Procise noted that besides his role in the show, the caterer is the only player he really cares about, eliciting a round of laughs. But seriously, he said, the caterer often has the hardest-working crew on the job.

Getting venues and promoters to accept tour catering is a battle similar to those fought over sound and lighting several years back, Stansfield said.

“I can remember back in the old days when I used to work in San Francisco – around the time when dinosaurs still ruled the earth – going toe-to-toe with a number of Texas gentlemen about bringing their sound and lighting into certain venues,” Stansfield said.

Speaking of sound and lights, Bandit Lites’ Michael Strickland said he still encounters tour stops where his company’s services are not needed, but stressed that the practice ultimately makes the tour more costly.

“We used to have a grassroots effort with the sound,” Procise said, “starting with the band on the club level, providing some equipment for them and building a relationship at that point. And, hopefully, having a long, illustrious relationship.

“That gave us an opportunity to get in on the ground level, so to speak. And what the promoters figured out is that they couldn’t survive the way the market is right now if they didn’t start instituting their sound and light package that they could have locally provided, to make it affordable. That’s kind of limiting this grassroots effort that we had to build early in the game, and it’s made it a little tougher for us.”

ScreenWorks’ Danny O’Bryen said he doesn’t have as many of those problems with his equipment, since his screens are often an integral part of the set and very few venues have appropriate video systems.

Upstaging’s Robin Shaw noted that today’s large productions are so intricately produced that bringing your own staging and lighting is often essential.

Stansfield asked Strickland, Procise and O’Bryen if they would push artists and designers to find ways to use in-house equipment, to which Strickland had a quick answer.

“I think none of us would ever do that because it’d be like buying new gear daily,” he said.
Procise and Strickland acknowledged the importance of innovation in their respective fields. But Strickland and O’Bryen said changing technology can make business expensive when they have to come up with updated equipment for each new tour.

Moving on to personnel, everyone stressed the importance of a reliable crew. Shaw located one of her new shops next to a university, where she has a steady stream of new recruits from the theatre department.

With regard to the rigorous nature of road work, Shaw said she makes her employees work in the shop for a year before testing them on the road.

Procise recalled the early days, when the only way to learn was on the job. Today, his company – like those of several other panelists – has an extensive training program, and he works to find people who are committed to the kind of work they’ll be doing.

“Our people can’t really have a home life, with girlfriends and softball teams and bowling leagues,” Procise said. “These people are going to be focused on going out and doing the job on tour, and being away from home for long periods of time. ... Some people aren’t cut out for it.”

Strickland said his company offers full benefits and prides itself on its loyal workforce.

“We recognize our single biggest strength is the people. We have more than 25 people that have been with us over 25 years,” he said. “We’ve made it a career rather than a temporary job.”

Stansfield closed out the panel by asking each participant to name and speak about their mentors. When Englerth’s turn came around, he tugged at the audience’s heartstrings by turning to Stansfield and saying, “That’s an easy one, Pat. I’d say you.”