Roadies Were the Heroes

Two images crossed my path in the last couple of days that have stuck with me long after I should have been done with them. Both were related to my days on the road as a super slab trailer jockey who was a legend in his own mind. As I remember those times now, that legend only grew to more unrealistic dimensions. After all, memories are wonderful at weeding out the uneeded, the unpleasant, and the puff n fluff of a time to remember. Kinda boils the moment down to what is/was the essence of the moment. Often times ego plays a big part in memory gathering, but sometimes, if we are being honest with ourselves, it doesn't.

The first image is one I snapped during my time hauling sound and light equipment for SHOWCO out of Dallas, Texas. It is an image I probably should have tossed, but didn't. I have kept it around, messed with it, tried to make something of something that was not there. It's very insistence on sticking around until now is probably a good reason to write about it. It somehow boiled down for me, just how fucking difficult it was to produce a huge Rock show. The sweat, the drudgery, the constant fatigue; this image said all that to me even though the original image was almost impossible to make out.

When I hauled RocknRoll in the 1970s, I had some seriously great times. I had some seriously bad times. Interwoven into those highlights, both good and bad, was the job; the day to day butt kicking struggle to keep my sanity and do my job effectively. And I had it easy compared to the Roadies.They were the real heroes of the job. Local stage hands were alright, but the roadies were the people who created the magic; made sure all the details were covered. The above snapshot is my tip of my hat to them.

This next Kodak moment crossed my Facebook page this AM. It is a pic of the same car stereo I carried with me as I hauled the music it played during those times with SHOWCO. I actually had two of them. The first one was ripped off from my truck as it sat parked outside a gig in Haight Ashbury. It was a three truck tour and the gig was in a high school gym if I remember right. 

We drivers came out to back in our trucks for stage call in the morning, as we had hit town the night before. Parked on the curb next to the gym, all three rigs had the driverside windows rolled down to what looked like the exact same level. Each cab had been ransacked. I lost my CB radio, that radio/cassette player pictured, my cassette collection and a half ounce of Doob (It was under the box of tapes). I remember the scramble that day in replacing all three before Load Out that night. I spent many dollars on a cab ride to procure the exact same cassette player. I was in luck. the store also had a kick ass CB radio that was the best I ever had. I still have both today gathering dust in the darkest depths of gathered remnants from my past.

Funny what things bring out memories. Smells, sounds, images or something someone says in passing can dredge up all kinds of moments we lived through. At my age now, I treasure each and every one, good or bad.

Keep it 'tween the ditches ................................

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I don't have to check Google for a musicaal inspiration to add to this post. Only two songs will do. 

There was one tour I missed that I always regretted. I took a vacation from SHOWCO and missed it. It was the Jackson Brown, "Running on Empty" Tour. I caught it when it hit Maryland. Much of the album was recorded on the tour. My favorite songs of course are "The Load Out" and "Stay". Enjoy the two fer.