This is the second
part of my 1973 interview with Peter Rudge, pictured below as he looks today,
more or less.
The mechanics for
the [1973 Rolling Stones tour] tour are coming from all over the world. The
lighting system, which includes seven “super-trooper” arc lights, is being
brought over from New York, as are the seven operators. These lights are placed
at the rear of the stage and shine forward into a 40ft x 8ft mirror which is
slung down from the ceiling mid-way up each hall. Thus they are reflected back
onto the stage. There are also 88 smaller spotlights shining down on the band,
and in charge of this whole operation is Brian Croft, who runs his own company
which specialises in lighting rock groups. Croft has worked on the last three
Stones tours.
The sound system is being flown over
from Los Angeles and the men who will operate it are being brought in from as
far afield as Australia. Local labour will be used as “muscle” to carry it
around but there are at least half a dozen top sound men (including the
vice-presidents of the two companies that manufactured it in the first place)
to work the switches.
On top of this there is a makeup and
wardrobe man from Paris who will be solely working for Jagger to ensure his
stage clothes are clean and pressed for each concert. Keith Richard is bringing
over a guitar mechanic from Arkansas whose job it is to restring and tune his
instruments for each show and, if necessary, between each number the group
plays. Then there is a “reccy” man who will never see a concert. His job it to
visit each location a day ahead of the group and check out that the facilities
for the following day’s show are in order.
“The Rolling Stones are not a group to
learn the business from,” says Rudge. “They use the best who have already
proved themselves the best. They tour infrequently and can afford this luxury,
but there is plenty of kudos for a roadie to have worked on a Rolling Stones
tour. It’s like a good reference for getting a job on any other tour afterwards.
“I try to keep control of everything
all the way down the line as the group themselves worry a lot about what is
going on. Mick Jagger works with me on organisation details as much as anybody
and he came down to Cardiff with me last week to check out the Castle there
where we are playing. He’s the guy who’s going to be up there on the stage and
he’s the guy that the public will blame if they can’t see properly so he
insisted on having his own say in the matter. It doesn’t always happen like
this with groups.
“My job is to keep an eye on all these
aspects. The group will blame me if something goes wrong, although I will know
that the fault lies with someone who hasn’t done what I’ve told them to do. I
don’t know any other groups who are as demanding as the Stones or who have this
intensity about them.”
The transport situation is another major
headache, although the actual driving around Europe is being done by a
professional haulage firm that knows the roads better than any group roadie –
having delivered cabbages across the continent for most of the year. Two 40
foot trucks will transport everything from town to town, and each promoter must
supply an English speaking man at every border in order to facilitate passing
through customs.
Then there is accommodation. A full
time travel agent from Denmark has been hired to book everyone into hotels
throughout Europe, and he will travel with the party.
Tax and insurance
are another headache for Rudge. A qualified accountant is on the tour to deal
with immediate tax matters.
Pre-tour meetings covering all these
aspects have been going on for the past month. There have been two meetings in
Paris when all the European promoters got together, and one similar meeting in
London.
Security is another worry. Where
possible the group will book a complete floor of a hotel and station security
men at the lifts so that unauthorised people cannot get on to that floor, let
alone near the group’s bedrooms. There will be checks on fans coming to the
concerts, something the Stones have always insisted on after the notorious
Altamont incident.
A system of aliases is used to book
the group into hotel and restaurants. On the last US tour they used the names
of cricketers, while in Australia they were professional cyclists.
Each evening on tour Rudge will
dictate a newsletter that is distributed to each member of the tour from Jagger
downwards. This will give details of the following day’s itinerary. “Each tour
we have a change-over day just for fun when – apart from appearing on stage –
everyone takes on another role. Mike will be baggage man, and just for the hell
of it he’ll go around the hotel corridors picking up everyone’s luggage. Bobby
Keys is usually the accountant as he can’t add up and I usually become the
singer and take things easy. You’ve got to do something like this when you’re
on the road, otherwise you’d go mad.”
No comments:
Post a Comment