Paddy McPoland has spent a large part of 30 years keeping the show on road, keeping the show on time, on budget and as easy as possible for the band in his charge. McPoland has worked as a tour manager for Sinéad O’Connor, Imelda May, David Gray, James Vincent McMorrow and Clannad among others. McPoland knows what a band needs, what they need to know and how to run a tour. He loves his job out of the spotlight.
“There is no one outside a touring member or a musician who understands what that’s like to live it,” says McPoland. “People might think they do. I enjoy the travel aspect of it. It’s hard work. The glamour for me is shining my torch stage left every night and putting my band out on stage knowing full well they’re going to deliver the goods. Looking at the audience for the first few songs, watching them beam from ear to ear, it’s a great feeling.”
Having started as an Ents officer in Carlow RTC in the mid-1980s, while studying civil engineering and construction, McPoland was giving the likes of A House, Aslan, Something Happens their first gigs outside Dublin.
“I didn’t know how a PA worked or a lighting rig but I quickly identified there was a need for someone to be overall in charge,” remembers McPoland. I like to think I’m good at it.”
Tour management duties
McPoland's reputation means he hasn't had to look for a job in 20 years. His current client, The High Kings retain his services exclusively and they are a busy touring band with 26 dates in Ireland US and Europe coming up for the rest of the year.
His job incorporates running the day-to-day business affairs of the tour including scheduling, hotels, flights, show set-up, crew management and looking after the dressing room.
McPoland uses an app called Master Tour which has replaced the old touring books. The app allows every member of the touring party to see their schedule, get updated on any changes or get directions to the venue.
“You’re the travel agent, you’re the venue booker, production manager, you’re the keeper of the information - and information is king,” says McPoland.
Visas and vistas
Before the tour begins, there can be immigration to organise, depending on the destination, which McPoland says should be done well in advance, six months preferably.
“It has to be spot on,” he says. “There’s no grey area when you’re dealing with Uncle Sam. There are very heavy expedition fees now if you rock up too late, a member of personnel changes or something like that. It can be the difference between your tour making a profit or loss, before you actually set foot on the ground.”
McPoland manages the social media for The High Kings, which is not something tour managers usually look after.
“Our guys are all busy,” he says. “I’m happy to do it because it was one skillset I didn’t have until a few years ago. I’m 52 now and the business has turned on its head since I started out.”
McPoland says there is no excuse for the clichéd rock’n’roll behaviour of the 1960s and 1970s that have been glamorised in rock autobiographies and magazines.
“The enormous bands were up to no good all the time. The volume of records they were selling sustained them. They surrounded themselves with people that allowed them to do it. Nowadays, the window of opportunity for an artist to succeed and get to a point where career longevity is possible is much smaller.”
The new music business model
As McPoland suggests, there's a slimmer chance an artist is going to sell millions of records in the 21st century. Touring remains a stable but hard-grafting form of income but not all bands are cut out for the lifestyle.
“They might have been bandmates for a while, but they would have been doing one or two gigs a week,” he says. “If a band get a lucky hit – bang. Everyone’s living on top of each other for weeks and weeks on end. Breaking the States now, the only way is hard slog and gigging and gigging. There is no alternative.”
McPoland has worked with acts in the past 10 years who were learning the ropes and he advises to take care of yourself, avoiding excess partying and preparation for the lifestyle as key.
As an example of the adjustment, McPoland says that some band members are known to even themselves into a hotel for a few days after the tour to make the recalibration back to normal life less abrupt. McPoland when home, occasionally works as a production manager on gigs.
Off-stage is where the work happens
When the band are out on the stage, McPoland is at his most productive. He can usually be found in the production office during the show getting things done.
“It’s probably the most fruitful part of my day,” he says. Days off however are few and far between for the tour manager.
“The day-off laundry is a thing of legend on tour,” chuckles McPoland. “And a good steakhouse nearby too. To be honest, on those days off, it’s an opportunity to kick off away from everyone else, contact family and friends.”
After the show, McPoland says the selling of merchandise is key.
“I remember working at the start of the White Ladder tour with David Gray; he was very very nervous,” he recounts. “When he went from not going out to meet the punters to meeting them after the show, the sales of merch went through the roof. That’s the one thing I insist on, a band shouldn’t turn that down. If an artist is there, that impulse purchase is strengthened for the audience member.”
What can make the Belfast-born man’s own job easier is the ethic and reputation of the many Irish people working at the upper echelons of the live music industry. The Irish have the personality and a way of getting the best out of people suggests McPoland.
“They know how to ask for a favour in a nice way as opposed to shouting, screaming or roaring. That’s counterproductive on the road. That doesn’t work for me. I’d step around them. From the 1970s, from the Thin Lizzy crew to U2 and right up to now, there’s been a constant stream of gifted individuals who are the best in their chosen field, whether it’s audio engineers, lighting directors, tour managers, production managers. If you say any of their names anywhere you go, then they know you’re serious about what you do.”
McPoland is one of those globally respected guys despite, he admits, his lack of skill when it comes to playing or tuning an instrument.
“I don’t know how to tune a guitar but I can ship one and a band 20 times around the world without losing a plectrum.”
