I’ve been hearing some disturbing stories lately. And I’m getting upset. It seems like its becoming normal for touring shows to fire lighting techs. On several occasions in the last two years, I’ve heard stories of whole crews being replaced. I get calls from people who hate working with techs that I know do great work for me. I don’t get it. Is it the new generation of youngsters and their attitudes? Or the fact that many techs don’t know what they’re doing these days?
I say it’s both. I see some guys come out to gig and they have limited knowledge of the big picture. But they have the attitude and a big mouth to make up for it. You can always tell these folks because they’re always quick to point out how they did something on their last tour (name droppers). These are the techs who have not figured out how to manage stagehands efficiently. Instead, they waste load-in time telling stories about both of the big tours they’ve done, thus preventing the hands from working. I know a lot of stuff myself. But most importantly, I know when to shut up.
As far as not knowing what they are doing these days, I can only blame this on the advent of technology. There is so much new and different stuff that nobody can keep on top of how it all works. In the ‘80s and ‘90s a tech did everything. If you didn’t fix the broken light fixture, you were up on the truss lowering it in. If you weren’t focusing the conventionals, you were placing floor lights or hoisting the drape truss. Everybody did everything until it was all done. But now it seems lighting techs are departmentalized.
Two years ago I realized that lighting techs had become specialists in certain fields. I’m not sure how this happened, and I certainly don’t like it. I like to know everything, but that’s not normal these days. I recently programmed a tour that had six lighting techs. The electrician knew the dimmers and could not fix anything else. The moving light tech could barely fix the broken lights and knew nothing about dimmers or bad cables. The color changer girl could make a Wybron work, but was confused about how to swap out a bad bulb on a mole light. The motor guy would only touch rigging. It all went OK because the crew chief knew how to delegate assignments, but what would have happened if the crew chief quit?
When did lighting techs stop fixing moving lights? I did it for years. I remember priding myself on never sending a broken fixture home or asking for one to be sent out for an entire tour. You asked for parts. Fixing lights is not rocket science. Nowadays I will often see a shipping truck pull up to a dock and drop off four new fixtures while taking four broken ones away. I’ve seen this enough to make me wonder if lighting companies have stock in UPS. Shame on you, techs. When did racing to the bus in the afternoon become a priority over fixing your spare fixtures?
So I’m talking to Steve Schumi, renowned lighting crew chief, about this today. I asked him if he’d ever been fired. Once, on his first tour. “I was running my mouth to the wrong guy”. He learned quickly to shut his trap if he wanted to advance in this business. Nowadays Steve is not a boisterous fellow, and he doesn’t brag about anything. He silently and efficiently gets the job done, and he’s never out of a gig. He’s constantly looking around at the big picture. Something that’s hard to do if you keep talking.
Last month, I’m lighting this band for a tour. A really good LD had lit them before me, and after I got to know the band, I asked why they did not use him anymore. “That guy was a brilliant lighting designer. But for some reason he did not like us, so he did not do a good job. We thought it looked like shit.” I was kind of shocked. If anyone hires you and you take the job, it’s your duty to give 100%. Designer or tech, same rule applies.
That same day I’m talking to the designer for the opening act. He tells me it’s just impossible for him to do a good job for a band if he doesn’t like the music. He’s just being honest with me. But I don’t understand. I don’t care what an act sounds like. If an act has got thousands of people coming to see them, they have some talent. Period. And you’ve got a job to do. Listen to the music 10,000 times until you know it by heart, and you will realize the artist has some talent. It might not be to your taste, but you get it. I hated the Beastie Boys before I ran lights for them. I dig them now.
Now it’s time for some of us older techs to take the blame. Just like politicians blaming adults for the way children turn out, are we to blame? Oh yeah. Where is the respect factor and the work ethic we had? We have not successfully passed this on. Some young people think I’m an idiot because I’ll hang my grandmother from a truss if I think it will look good. But if I take them to the side and show them how something they just constructed looks really cool, they get it. And they stop bitching about setting up something so wacky. Take the time to explain what you are trying to achieve and why it has to be done this way. And please, if you are young and reading this, remember: “There are no stupid questions.” Ask and learn. It’s faster than Google.
When I was young, the crew chiefs would laugh at me doing something ass- backwards. But they would stop and show me the right way to do something, not just laugh and walk away. And they would remind me to shut my trap and listen if I wanted to fi t in with everyone else. I did. And I learned. And now I always take time to show people stuff. I don’t care if it’s how to tie a bowline or tie in tails. It’s our job as senior technicians to show others the proper way to do something. When I was young, the guys would make fun of some of the older stagehand characters and think they had no clue. I never did. I sat back and let them show me stuff. Show me how other touring professionals did stuff compared to the way I did. Sometimes you learn a better way.
If some of you youngsters could shut up long enough to listen to these seasoned guys who have been around, you may learn something valuable. That’s how I learned what WVA is. Not the state of West Virginia, but an easy way to remember that Wattage = Voltage x Amps. And all you old hands quit whining about how music sucks these days and teach a young tech something they don’t know. And most of all for everyone out there working: You’re getting paid, so quit bitching while you work. Or as my friend Schumi says, “A little less jaws, a little more paws.”
Don’t go griping to nschoenfeld@plsn.com.
