A Tour Manager's Experience at Blue Ridge Rock Fest

I was the stage 4 operator, tried my best. My crew ended up striking for inhumane living conditions and left them before load out

I really hope you see this - the festival blamed YOU guys for the shit with the meet & greet. My husband and I spent $800 on meet & greet tix specifically so he could meet Electric Callboy. That was it, the ONE band he wanted to meet. We showed up at 5pm for the M&G, and the staff there told us “oh they showed up early, they were here at 3. Sorry, we can’t do anything about it, wasn’t our fault.” I was furious, because at 4pm the festival posted the m&g schedule on IG that STILL said EC at 5:30. But THANK YOU FOR TALKING ABOUT THIS! I’m in the film industry so I get the culture of not rocking the boat or burning bridges, but this entire festival was so unacceptable. The bands need to speak out for their fans. We spent around $6500 on our tix, camping, flights, rental car, etc and we got 1 day of bands. We were glamping and the showers/bathrooms almost never had water, the toilets were overflowing more often than not - same with the portapotties in the festival grounds. Everything was so unsanitary, unsafe, and just absolutely unacceptable. Literally the only saving grace was that my husband finally got to see EC live. Again, thank you for speaking out. We’re currently trying to get our money for the tickets/camping back via our credit card companies, and this video will help.

You have, in this one video, just done more for Electric Callboy's reputation than an entire PR firm. Whether ya like the band or not, you've exposed them as absolute professionals. Which means you've also leveled up the reputation of tour managers, or at least set a higher bar. Here's to your, and their, continued success! Safe journeys.

The reason you had no stagehands is because we LEFT. They refused to give the stagehands showers, porta-potties, and we were lucky if we got fed once a day. And those conditions were from the very beginning, through the steel build to the time we walked. The company we were there with reached out to the festival multiple times, the demands weren’t even remotely met. Or listened to, it seems. We were just so done with being gross with little to no access to showers, hungry, and dehydrated for the last almost 2 weeks before we finally walked, and so done watching everyone get treated essentially the same way. So, we just walked.

As a European who goes to festivals and concerts a lot, this sounds absolutely terrifying. Thank you for speaking out. I'm glad to hear you're having fun with EC and their crew outside of this one festival.

My brother worked security and did his best getting the crowds out back to the parking areas. He slept 4 hours in 3 days and ate 3 granola bars so that meals could go to other staff members. He told me it was one of the most screwed up things he’s ever been a part of. No food, no bathrooms, no shelter, not only for the festival goers but for the staff who were working it. Shameful.

Tank, haven't commented awhile. I appreciate you looking out for the truckers. As a fellow truck driver, bless you sir. We are always forgotten.

I was part of the group that accidentally met ECB when we thought it would be the other band. And I can definitely tell you that we ALL felt how awkward it was. Everyone was confused.

Hey Tank, I was a stagehand there at Blue Ridge and I want to personally thank you for understanding that we ALL tried. This one sucked for a lot of different departments. Maybe I’ll run into you at some point eventually and actually be able to talk to you face to face. I was on Stage 1 the whole time so seeing what it was like from 4, helps me understand this more. Especially from a tour managers prospective. Again, thank you for sharing your experience. Safe travels!

Was fun to see how many people in Pittsburgh recognized Tank when he went to do some work on stage. Dude got a huge loud cheer when he came out.

Man I’d want you as a tour manager. Very admirable how much you advocate for the bands you’re managing as well as the crews and venue staff.

I worked crowd surfer catching Friday, security Saturday & Sunday. I had empty beercans and full water bottles thrown at me by drunken rightfully pissed off concertgoers after Saturday nights popup Papa Roach show. It was absolutely dangerous for all involved. Your message of sobriety tested - you werent the only one - thank you sir

"You don't talk to them, you talk to me" is an example of a good Tour Manager, you have to take care of your guys and be their shield if something happens. The representative for the other band sounds incredibly unprofessional even approaching another band like that instead of their crew, you just don't do that to a performer who is working.

I got my popcorn 🫢🍿 Edit: Wow. This was way worse than what you told me in Toronto... but you're absolutely right. People need to be held accountable! I feel so sorry for everyone at this festival 🙏🖤 way to speak out man, nothing but respect. Top tier tour manager here 🏆 Enjoy the rest of the tour dude! Be safe out there.

Thank you for using your platform and voice to speak on this. As someone who has attended shows and festivals for 15+ years… this was horrific. My dad and I had been at BRRF before and never had it went smooth - but this year was dangerous. We won’t be back and appreciate you speaking about this.

This was my son's first festival. Thursday, the wait in line to get into the grounds was 7 hrs and his buddy's car started having issues. Their campsite was about 3 miles from the stages. During the really bad storm, including hail, my son had to run back to their tent and canopy and held down both, during the tremendous wind, rain, and hail. All his buddy's packed clothes got drenched, as well as many other people's belongings. A lot of people's tents, canopies, & belongings got swept away in the strong winds. He said: the porta-potties were full, overflowing trash, water ran out half way through Thursday, nobody knew anything. They spent hours just going from one section to another trying to find out info, only to be redirected somewhere else. He "lost" his $400 phone. Thank God he and his buddy took food, MREs, and their own bottled water. It took multiple hours to "evacuate" the grounds, once it was canceled, because there wasn't enough exit ways. Phone service was next to nil. People ran out of gas and had vehicle trouble, due to the long evacuation. The main complaint is the same as you describe...nobody working there knew anything.

All I can say is your demeanor while reliving the shitshow is ridiculously calm and I'd want you on my team during a crisis.

As one who worked in the industry for thirty eight years, you nailed it in one sentence. "You cant just write a check at something and expect it to work". I likely would have called it when I discovered the band outside of a janky ass dressing room. I absolutely would have told my guys to start loading out once I discovered that none of the advance had ever been communicated. Good on you for managing to get the job done.

Sounds like a sh*t show. I’m only ever an audience member, but I want everyone behind the scenes to be safe and professional.

As a stagehand (that knows some of the hands that were there) - I’m so angry for everyone that had to deal with the mess that was BRRF. No water for how hot and humid it was that day?! No food, no ac, no cleaning toilets?? Our local is fantastic, I’m glad they walked out because they did not deserve to be treated this way and I wish you’d had the chance to work with them under better conditions. Thanks for speaking out. The clowns that made this happen the way it did have to be held to account.