When speaking of the earliest days of what we now call “live event touring,” those who lived it often refer to it as “the Wild West.” That makes Chris Lamb, who is still never without boots and a cowboy hat, one of the original cowboys.
You’ll be forgiven for thinking you’re looking at the index of a Who’s Who in Pop Music encyclopedia when reading through Lamb’s list of credits. Here’s a partial list of artists he worked with in his four decades-plus career: Aerosmith, Andrea Bocelli, Mariah Carey, Coldplay, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, Kenny G, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Ricky Martin, Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, George Michael, Shakira, Queen, Rihanna, Van Halen, Roger Waters, Nicki Minaj and even Kayne West. Special events include the first AIDS benefit show in L.A. with Liz Taylor, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Hong Kong Stadium grand opening and the historic Rock in Rio Festivals 1 and 2.
“The first time I met Chris Lamb was when we loaded in some tech rehearsals for a Lionel Richie Tour in 1986,” says PLSN editor Nook Schoenfeld. “As we walked around the gigantic light rig and set, Chris made one thing very clear about working with him that I will never forget: ‘Out here we’re like the major leagues of touring. We’ve assembled an all-star team of technicians for this tour. The only difference between baseball and us is that I only allow two strikes. Then you’re out.’ He stayed true to his word. And by the way, he also has an awesome baseball card collection.”
“The crews that I encountered over the years always retained a sense of loyalty to Chris, as he prioritized them and listened to their needs, creating a truly collaborative workspace,” says his son Christian Lamb, who spent a lot of time on the road with his dad growing up and as a video director. “And the artists got that same sense of loyalty from him.”
Longtime friend, coworker, and last year’s Parnelli Lifetime Honoree Benny Collins adds that he heard a quote once that truly sums Lamb up: “He’s a man that if you ever meet him, you’ll always remember him, and you’ll never forget him.”
In a business notorious for egos, these two spent their careers being the boss and employee of one another, back and forth, seamlessly. Of course, they had much in common, most of all, the hats (Collins too, is never without his). “When we worked together, he was known as The Hat and myself as Little Hat,” Collins laughs. “In all my years I’d never seen him without his hat. I would kid him and tell him to just comb his hair! But he’s the real deal — he owns horses, likes to ride and knows all about the great outdoors. He is truly an amazing person.”
“There is never any doubt what Chris wants,” says Mike Brown, today of Mike Brown Grandstands, formerly of Mike Brown Staging, which supported many tours and events Lamb was associated with in the 80’s. “He is always really clear about what he wants and how he expects things to be, and that is, of course, a really great thing,” says Brown.
“I’m very honored by this award, and even more honored to join a list [of previous Lifetime honorees] who all in some way have mentored me, especially my retired partner, Gerry Stickells,” a humbled Lamb says. “I’m not much of a talker or a social type. I like being behind the scenes and not so much in the spotlight. Over my 43 years, I have just done my job as best I could in a business that wasn’t really a business when I started out. But again, I’m pleased and a bit overwhelmed to be honored by my peers.”
“With No Money In Our Pockets”
Lamb was born in Torrance, CA, in 1950, and spent his teens as a jock and a surfer (“I was born in the ocean,” he says). He got his love of the outdoors from his parents, Don and Louise. They hiked, camped, rode the trails on horses, biked and sailed boats together. He got his spirit of adventure from his father, who was a captain of the Torrance Fire Department.
When Lamb turned 18 in 1968, he enlisted in the Navy, and spent four years in Vietnam. During his service, he trained as an electrician. Coming home in 1972 was tough for him, as he reminds us that many were not supportive of that war. “Serving in the military at that time was far from popular,” he says. “I rarely spoke about being a veteran.” A joyous highlight during that difficult transition was the birth of his son, Christian. Otherwise he tried to make a young marriage work and get a “real job” — neither of which worked out. “You don’t work set hours in the military, you worked till the job was done.” Through a Navy buddy named David Pelitier he met John Tedesco, who had just started Phoebus Rock Lighting in San Francisco in 1972. Tedesco’s foray into lighting rock bands involved snatching up old Navy searchlights, so who better to help run them than a Navy guy?
Tedesco is one of the founding pillars of this industry, who with the likes of Michael Ahern, Bob See, Patrick Stansfield and Bob Goddard, came out of New York University’s technical theater department in the 1970’s. Tedesco took Lamb on his first outing, Leon Russell’s “Shelter People” stadium tour, in 1972. “He was my first employee for sure, and we went out in a VW bus with no money in our pockets,” Tedesco says. Adventures ensued, including combing scrap yards for generators and parts. “We threw all this stuff together, pulling parts that were quite rusty and painting them in the middle of a really hot summer,” he recalls. “Chris became very efficient at keeping those big searchlights running — he was just awesome.” Tedesco ran into Lamb again in 1975 when he helped him with the Rolling Stones show in Madison Square Garden. Next up was Earth, Wind, & Fire’s first big tour.
“I started out at $100 a week with a $7 a day per diem,” Lamb tells of his Tedesco days. He drove trucks and a Winnebago, and one story involved a truck he was in flipping over in Missouri. He did whatever was required of him in those days, from building scaffolding to driving a semi for the Grateful Dead, all under less-than-rock-star conditions. “When I hear a new young tech complaining today about the AC not working well on the tour bus….” he sighs, shaking his head.
Lamb worked for Tom Fields & Associates, which shortly thereafter became Electrotec. When that company opened an office in London, Lamb was sent over to work with the Parnelli Award’s first Lifetime Achievement honoree, Brian Croft. “The first show we did over there was Rod Stewart. I was his head of lighting/stage manager guy,” Lamb says. “The audience in the U.K. was so overpowering that when they sang along with Rod, you could barely hear the artist through the P.A.” During this period he would also meet 2007 Parnelli Lifetime honoree Gerry Stickells. “We met on an Elton John tour, and he was the most experienced guy I had ever encountered,” he says of the man acknowledged to have invented the modern role of the tour manager when he took Jimi Hendrix on tours in the truly primitive days. “He knew how to handle every situation.” The two worked so well together that Elton John’s manager, John Reid, wanted the pair to handle Queen, who he also managed. In 1978, Stickells and Lamb formed GLS Productions, which soon emerged as a sought-after production services company. They would handle it all — from coordination of festivals or tours of any size down to staffing, freight, travel — even TV recording and live broadcasts.
Kings of the World
The newly founded GLS would grow with Queen, which, Lamb says, “was an amazing group. They cared about their show, their audiences and their crew.” Stickells is given credit for cracking South America, opening that continent to rock ‘n’ roll touring, and Lamb was at his side working out those complicated logistics. “There was minimum local understanding of the concept of building stages and getting equipment in place,” Lamb says. “In many of the countries we could not even find plywood, the closest thing being something they called ‘panel co,’ but we managed to pull off these big shows with the local promoters.” They did it by shipping much of the staging out of the U.K., and setting it up within soccer stadiums long before large shows like that were common. In 1985, they pulled off the largest festival in South America, Rock in Rio. They created the infrastructure for Queen, Rod Stewart, AC/DC, Yes, The B-52s, and other international and Brazilian artists who entertained 1.4 million people over a ten-day span. Lamb was the production manager of it all. A second one in 1991 featured 36 acts including Prince, Guns N’ Roses and George Michael.
“Because Queen’s show had gone so well, and Gerry had done such an amazing job of keeping things under control down there, more artists approached us,” Lamb says, adding with a laugh: “But you had to watch your back all the time — [because of the political climate] people were disappearing in Argentina and Brazil. If you pissed off the wrong person, you could disappear, or get drugs planted on you.”
Lamb’s career trajectory set him forth to the receiving end of phone calls from the likes of Madonna to Mariah Carey to Aerosmith as he increasing became the go-to-guy for complicated world tours. He humbly shrugs that off to just having “experience” doing it. He does compare the crater-sized differences in touring in the States versus the world in the beginning: “In the 70’s, the U.S. unions didn’t like us because we were non-union. And we’d have difficulty working in cities like New York, Chicago and Cleveland. Then we started going to these other countries where there were no rules, and no one knew what to make of us!”
Another skill set Chris frequently uses is his ability to make live concerts play out well on television. One of his early gigs as a production coordinator was a 1981 Beach Boys show aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. It was hosted by top radio DJs Wolfman Jack and Charlie Tuna, and included Three Dog Night, Jan and Dean, Rick Springfield and Pablo Cruise. The event ended up a runaway success. “It was one of the first large shows ever done in L.A. without the local union — and the L.A. union was not happy with me, as you can imagine,” he laughs. “But we pulled it off!”
Michael & Madonna
Lamb was part of Michael Jackson’s team early on, as production manager on his 1979 Off the Wall tour. From there on, he managed site coordination with Stickells in 1988 and 1992, two tours that also reunited him with Benny Collins. “I ended the HIStory tour as production manager, working on what I believe was Jackson’s last live outdoor show in June of 1999, in Munich.”
Collins and Lamb first met in 1979 when Collins was running Journey. The two quickly established a friendship based on mutual respect, and soon they were working together. “He had a tour to do with Madonna, and [Lamb] asked me to do Lionel Richie for him. Then he and I worked on three different Madonna tours together.” The two have history that would have strained most friendships, but not theirs. After a decade with Jackson, management decided it was time for a change, as is wont to happen in this business. The call went out to Lamb, asking him to take over production manager duties from Collins. Lamb said he couldn’t make that decision just yet. He hung up the phone and called Collins. “He told me about this, and said he wouldn’t take it if I didn’t want him too,” Collins recalls. “That’s the kind of person Chris is. It could have been awkward for others, but neither of us are ego people.” Collins gave him his blessing, confident that Jackson would be in capable hands. “Being a decent human is what drives [people like us],” Collins adds. “The most important thing about Chris to me is that he’s a friend.” Lamb was brought on to PM for sister Janet’s international tour as well. He was an integral component in helping to corral her HBO special at Madison Square Garden.
Lamb’s history with Madonna begins with her second world tour, which tied into her movie Who’s that Girl?. Although the movie was not very well received, the 1987 tour, Madonna’s second trek, was a hit, helping to establish her as a top-tier pop artist and solidified a relationship with Lamb that lasted 23 years. “She’s the toughest act to work with in that she’s so demanding,” Lamb says. “She’s a perfectionist who not only expects perfection from herself, but everyone else around her. I have total respect for that amazing lady.”
In 1989, he was PM for Paul McCartney’s first major tour in 14 years. That tour involved 150 permanent crewmembers, including an unheard of 30-member video team. He would stick with Sir Paul for several other large-scale tours that followed. He worked with the newly reunited Eagles after that. Since October of 2013, he’s been the production manager and co-designer of almost every live musical endeavor of Jennifer Lopez’s from her stints on American Idol to her recent show in Morocco.
Many “Hats”
He’s worked under myriad different titles on countless shows, yet as every tour has different needs requiring different skill sets, Lamb says he prefers the production side of things. “[In that position] you’re creating a show and dealing with more black and white areas. As a tour manager, you’re into a lot of gray areas.” Lamb is modest, rebuking the concept of what people of his level do as akin to an art form. “[For me], it was just natural. I’ve never accepted the phrase, ‘you can’t do this.’ There’s always a way. That’s just been kind of my attitude. Like in the military — you just figure out how to solve a problem. So when I’m involved with a difficult show and crazy ideas come up, we just figure out a way to do it.”
Lamb tips his cowboy hat to a long list of people who influenced him, starting with Stickells. “But everyone [in this business] has influenced me. Edwin Shirley was an amazing guy. And I worked with Patrick Stansfield, Michael Ahern, Keith Kevan, Tom Kippett, Mike Brown, Roy Lamb, John McGraw and John Miles — and so many others.”
Chris acknowledges the relationships with other companies he’s developed over the years, including Eighth Day Sound, Clair, Hemphill Brothers, Nocturne, PRG, Screenworks, VER, Rock-It Cargo, Upstaging and All Access Staging. “It’s been my experience that folks like me develop good relationships and partnerships over the years, and I must thank these people as they are part of any success I might have had.”
“Working with Chris these past 30 years has made me better at my job,” states Upstaging’s Robin Shaw. “He is smart, to the point, and knows what he wants and how to express it. He certainly taught me how to be better organized — my hat’s off to you, Chris!”
“I’m blown away by how hard this guy still works,” says All Access’s Erik Eastland, whose company has worked with Lamb from the Mariah Carey days right up to the recent Jennifer Lopez shows. “He’s a crew guy’s guy, and everyone respects that.”
Professionally, “he cares very deeply about what he does,” Collins says. “He’s committed to his artist and to his crews. And he’s a worker — there’s nothing he won’t do. If something needs to be done and he can’t quickly find someone else to do it, he does it himself. He has a great heart.”
Reflecting, Lamb says: “In the beginning, we were kind of outlaws, pirates — an unknown to the business world. There was a lot of cash around back then. If a hotel room got destroyed, we paid for it in cash. There were no lawyers or business managers. And yet it wasn’t so much about the money, it was about putting on a great show.” He does observe that a few of the newer artists seem to forget that it’s not about them; it’s about the audience. “A lot have forgotten that it’s the audience that makes things happen.”
Chris Lamb will receive the Parnelli Lifetime Achievement award at this year’s gala on Oct. 24 at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas. As for that, he says: “I’m honored to be considered among them, though I never really thought about it. When Gerry [Stickells] received his award, I was so proud of him, and proud that others noticed his accomplishments.”
Chris Lamb will be presented with the 2015 Parnelli Award for Lifetime Achievement on Oct. 24, 2015 at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas. For more information and tickets, go to www.parnelliawards.com.
Christian Lamb, Chris’ Son, Recalls “An Extraordinary Childhood”
Christian Lamb grew up with summers spent on the road with his dad, 2015’s Parnelli Lifetime Honoree Chris Lamb. “Back then I’d get dropped off at the airport gate and put into the waiting arms of several young stewardesses, which really is the only way to travel,” he says.
Be a little envious that his very first concert was Queen at Wembley Stadium in London. “I’ve never forgotten it,” he says. “To see Freddie Mercury live, even as a five-year-old, was absolutely mesmerizing.” This was just the beginning for the young boy: he would circle the globe with the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart, Bob Marley, Elton John, Lionel Richie and Madonna, among others. “As I got older I began to realize what an extraordinary childhood it really was, being surrounded by some of the greatest entertainers on the planet and perpetually immersed in different cultures and experiences. It was all infused into me, that nomadic life. And it was entirely enlightening, barring, of course the vicious chimp attack in Berlin, while on tour with Molly Hatchet. That kept me out of petting zoos for years.”
Christian would grow up to have a successful career in photography, film, television and video. He has been Madonna’s tour video director since 2004, and designed and co-created the video visuals for the Confessions and Sticky and Sweet world tours. Other artists he’s worked with include Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Coldplay and Taylor Swift, among many others. It no doubt helped that he got to appreciate his father’s style of production-managing. “My father’s method is one of communication and respect. When he started, production managing wasn’t necessarily a career path, and he and [business partner] Gerry Stickells kind of made it up as they went along.”
As he grew into adulthood, he also grew to appreciate his dad’s talents. “To run shows of the magnitude he does, with all of the moving pieces, personnel and personalities, navigating the various time zones, all while trying to get a solid four hours of sleep a night is no easy feat. Sadly, much of the time production managing seems a thankless job, a lost art as it were. The reward is the show and the silver lining that acknowledgement from one’s peers and coworkers, and hopefully in the end, the artists and managers themselves.
“I’ve always respected that job title and with it his approach. To that end, it’s with a sense of great pride and gratitude that his career and his sacrifice is being highlighted in such a way with the Parnelli awards and PLSN. They don’t make them like him anymore.”
