I
don’t recall what we were paid, but Goodkind always was able to get us on the
road, pay for travel expenses, and then pay the band at the end -- so it was
better than being on a whaling ship of olden days, shipping out for a year then
coming home with nothing to show. Oh, no! We traveled, made music, and made
(some, mostly rent) money. Other than touring income, I worked more
side/survival jobs.
Being
on the Beach Boys (BB) tour, we rented a van or a large car and drove from gig
to gig. We only had our instruments and our luggage, so it was OK. Billy Ficca
came with us on the tour as our drummer, so it was a really tight, cohesive
band. We were 3 ½ years into doing the band, so our sets were really tight,
too. I think we had thirty minute sets when doing the BB opener. . . any more
than that, the fans of the headliner would get antsy or annoyed, so we knew it
was better to quite while ahead.
I
mean, what would the Ramones do? (WWRD?)
Less is more!
For
a big act like the BB’s, being on tour required nothing less than military
precision and an organization that worked like clockwork. They had TWO
different road crews with identical equipment traveling in two separate buses,
the A crew and the B crew. They had two semi trucks traveling, too. I was
pretty impressed with the whole setup. The logistics alone were staggering to
comprehend.
(below: photos
of the tour buses and the relaxing roadies)
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