Speculation is all we got.
Drive-in shows are all the rage, as that and some sports on TV is all we have to look forward to in America, it appears. With the advent of baseball season opening up sans fans, we had some hope over the last weekend that some form of live team sports would be available to view, but that looks doubtful at the time of this writing. If we cannot field 50 players safely in an empty stadium, logic dictates the same holds true for any touring entourage trying to travel on planes and buses. This is without any fans in attendance.
Anybody’s Guess
With the continued non-response by federal officials to set a national guideline for the entire nation to adhere to, there is no end of the tunnel to shine a light on. Without any true guidance, all we are left with is with speculation on when our biz will return, but it seems we have a lot of that to go around.
The way the touring business’ future unravels is also speculative. While theories abound, the one constant I see is that the next generation is gonna have to take the baton and run with it. Touring has always been a young person’s game, led by some senior advisers. Those senior advisers will now be working from home for the most part. Production managers working out of a home office to advance gigs while a younger “on-site” production manager deals with the day-to-day operations is something we have seen coming for some time.
While many folks (excluding myself) would love to keep going for the rest of their years, perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate your own scenario. If you have toured so long you have socked away your retirement funds, when should you call it a career? For me, it was an easy call. I realized that I am over 60 now. If I catch the ‘rona, I may not survive. I spent 40 years traveling the world and socking away dough to live comfortably in my old age, not to leave to the tax man and my next of kin should I pass earlier than planned. I’m not rolling the dice. It’s time the Zito Zito’s and Henry Bordeaux’s rule the world. They’re already doing it anyway, so I’m happy to get out of the way and pick up some golf clubs.
Yada Nada
Last month, I read as countless roadies unleashed on Ivanka Trump this month when she suggested perhaps finding another profession at this point. “I did not spend 20 years touring as a production assistant to yada yada.” I can’t feel sorry for these people bitching. I’m in their boat. When the going gets tough, we’re supposed to be some of the toughest. Roadies do what needs to be done. For the best of us, this means finding something else to do, even if it’s temporary. I have friends that took gigs at Amazon (and Aldi and Meijer), and within a month were put in charge of running whole floors because they know how to organize a crew. I have friends out driving to make ends meet. As one friend who made 5k a week as a touring PM tells me, “I can stay home and make a grand a week on unemployment, but that was driving me nuts, and I don’t like to live off the teat. I make that same dough driving a cement truck by myself now. I’m kind of digging it, and I’m not home all day.” Another TM I know went to work at a Home Depot. But his wife just got a great gig, so he’s making a better investment as the stay at-home-dad until work picks up. He may never have this opportunity again. The Post Office on my block is still hiring deliverers. They have benefits. Do I know any roadie that doesn’t already walk 10 miles a day?
Alternate Futures
Lastly, some in our biz may find an alternative life through a new gig and choose that path going forward. My wife has been working on corporate events for 20 years, including producing them, soup-to-nuts. When the bottom of our business dropped out in March, she found a new gig outside of the norm. Her job was to put together a creative team for a company that had relocated to our city. They didn’t want her creative skills per se, they were looking for her ability to assemble a team of creative people and manage them. So for a month she learned the new gig, lamenting how great it will be when live events come back. Two months into the new job, she declared she likes it. Last week, she got a call from one of her old employers asking her if she would be open to coming back to work full-time, as they have some events picking up. She actually said, “Call me back in March 2021, and let’s see where live events are at then. I made a commitment, and I’m actually pretty happy doing a job where I’m not looking for my next gig.”
I can’t even speculate on what she will say come March.
