After two years of an ongoing pandemic, Australia's live music industry has been gutted and those who make sure the shows run on time and the live magic to happen (the roadies and tech crews) have been left with little to no work the entire time.
With no tours or regular live music gigs to lend their world-class skills to, the vast majority of Australian roadies (who number over 22,500) have been forced to leave the industry they love. Many others are simply struggling to make ends meet.Roady4Roadies is an annual national event that returns in 2022 organised by CrewCare to raise greater awareness of the critical roles music production crews play, with all funds going directly to Support Act's 'Crew' fund.
This year, Roady4Roadies events will take place in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart (1 May), with Brisbane, Sydney, Darwin and Newcastle hosting events a week later (7 May).
"I've been touring since 1973, and every step of that journey we've been supported by some of the best, hardest working guys and road crews I've ever met," Jimmy Barnes says.
"Quite often bands when they're touring end up at each other's throats 'cause we don't like each other; but we always love the roadies 'cause the roadies are the guys who drive the truck all night, who drive to the next gig, set up in the burning sun, spending all day putting the gear back together with gaffer tape after you've destroyed the night before so that when you walk on stage everyone at the show thinks it's perfect because that's what they do every day, and then when the show's finished they drive onto the next one."
Each event kicks off with a leisurely neighbourhood walk before live entertainment and family activities bring everyone together. "The pandemic has seen the loss of at least eight stadium events in Adelaide," Peter Darwin, a freelance site manager says.
"Each of these events has meant the loss of 450 production crew roles, 600 stadium staff roles and more than 250 subcontractor roles at a minimum of 1 week's equivalent work.
"Multiply that by 5 major cities and that is 20,500 crew who lost 2 months work each year since 2020 at minimum. These are just the stadium events let alone the 52 plus entertainment centre shows. . . The industry is very, very damaged."
Adds Jerry Reinhardt, General Manager of Concert & Corporate Productions WA: "The pandemic has affected all Australians in varying degrees over the last two years.
"However, the entertainment industry has been disproportionally adversely affected. Each stadium event cancelled reverberates through hundreds of livelihoods with devastating consequences.
"The entertainment and events industry here in Western Australia has been seriously damaged. Our company alone has had over 500 shows cancelled across multiple venues due to restrictions imposed.
"Millions of dollars in revenue have been lost. These cancellations have direct and severe consequences on the financial and mental health of thousands of people in our industry."
The general lack of government assistance has also proven to be a major burden for roadies to carry as Mark 'Trogg' Svendsen, Director of Gig Power points out. "The effect of COVID-19 on Gig Power and its staff has been profound.
"For 20 months, turnover dropped by 95 per cent and the expected results where devastating, We lost more than 80 per cent of our casual staff. Who could blame them!
"For Gig Power, government assistance all but ended with JobKeeper. Unfortunately, this meant that we became completely incapable of supporting our people.
"Our staff are good people who are dedicated and love the work they do and they all deserved better, much better.
"In Victoria, the work is just starting to come back and we are struggling to find people. With only 100 staff on our books, those still with us are now flat out.
"We hope to bring new people in and lure some of our older staff back, but it will be a long road to recovery for Gig Power and the people who work with us."
Tickets to all events are on sale now.
Roady4Roadies 2022 Tour Dates
Sun 1 May - Coopers Stadium (Adelaide)Sun 1 May - The Salty Dog (Hobart)
Sun 1 May - Palais Theatre (Melbourne)
Sun 1 May - Lake Monger Recreation Club (Perth)
Sat 7 May - The Triffid (Brisbane)
Sat 7 May - Darwin Entertainment Centre
Sat 7 May - Victoria Theatre (Newcastle)
Sat 7 May - Hard Rock Cafe @ Darling Harbour (Sydney)
