‘What happens on tour stays on tour.” Often espoused but rarely true in the case of travelling musicians. The tropes of life on the road are firmly established in the lore of rock’n’roll. The cliche of defenestrating the hotel TV, disturbing stories involving groupies and never-ending debauchery on the road all grab the headlines, but touring is a job that requires sober and responsible people in charge.
Suzie Shorten started her career in music as an artist liaison on the Galway Dance Music Festival, a once-off event in the Black Box in Galway in 1996, where she collected and essentially minded the headline DJs – who included Fabio, Micky Finn and Blu Peter – while they were in Galway. Only years later did she realise an artist liaison was a paying job, but it was her introduction to the backstage.
“Blu Peter put on a long track so he could run to the loo,” say Shorten. “He told me how to line up the next track in case he wasn’t back in time. I stood over the decks counting down the minutes, the song was getting faster and faster and the crowd was loving it. I realised that they were all looking at me thinking I was the DJ. Later, some people congratulated me on my amazing set.”
These days Shorten is less wet behind the ears, having co-ordinated and managed tours for large acts, produced festivals such as Sea Sessions and worked as a promoters rep for MCD on events including Witnness/Oxegen, gigs in Marlay Park, Creamfields, Slane, Ardgillan Castle and more.
“Your job is to oversee the technical production, logistics, travel, work permits and visa requirements, guest lists, artists’ riders and show-day schedules, soundchecks and load-in times,” says Shorten of the responsibilities of the promoter’s rep.
On the road as tour manager, Shorten saw first-hand why touring can be a confusing blur for musicians.
“I remember arriving to the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam in the middle of the night by tour bus. When I woke up we were underground in the venue. I got out of the bus and took the lift upstairs, had a shower, went to the office, show done, load out, back on the bus and off we went to another country. My mother called to see how Amsterdam was, and I had to explain that I literally didn’t step a foot outside the venue.”
Simone accepts
Shorten started in music working with Hot Press on an awards show in 1999. Nina Simone was nominated, so Shorten invited her. "To my complete surprise, she accepted, and next thing I knew, Nina Simone and entourage were planning their visit to Dublin. After that, the bar was set pretty high and I never really got starstruck again."
Although there was that time she got stuck in a lift with James Brown and his assistant at Oxegen.
“It was awkward, and in retrospect, pretty bizarre. It’s something that makes me giggle every now and then.”
Shorten began her touring schedule as an assistant manager with Kaiser Chiefs in 2005, before a stint as production co-ordinator for Arcade Fire’s European tour, and two separate tours with Florence & The Machine in 2012 and 2014 as tour co-ordinator and tour manager.
Shorten explains the difference. “The tour manager runs budgets and deals with the band/artist, and has more of a director roll: the overall boss. They are ultimately responsible for everyone on the road. The tour co-ordinator runs the tour office on a daily basis, getting jobs done, co-ordinating logistics, hotels, guest lists, crew travel etc.”
Probably the largest touring party Shorten has looked after was the 50 people for three months on the Arcade Fire tour.
“I worked more with the crew and logistics and helping the production manager, Dermot Lynch, and tour manager, Amy Davidson, daily. With the Kaiser Chiefs, I was the only female in the touring party, but in Arcade Fire there were more females touring: half the band were women, tour manager, band assistant; probably 12-16 in total. It’s always challenging moving that many people around Europe in buses every day, but we had a great team. The good crew go from band to band, and you would meet them year after year. Some of them I would still consider good friends.”
Then came EDM
The advent of EDM – which saw superstar DJs such as David Guetta playing huge shows in Marlay Park – brought new technical challenges along with the spectacle, which relies more on pyrotechnics, huge LED screens, lasers, lights and custom-created DJ booths than traditional set-ups.
“It’s a whole other world that rock’n’roll usually doesn’t get involved in,” says Shorten, but there has been an upside locally for such DJ-led shows.
“It has encouraged local companies to grow to meet those needs – having more screens available, more pyro, more specialised lighting equipment – which in turn hires more people to allow for the demand.”
All of the experience Shorten has gained has led to the company Blackbird Event Management, which she runs with her business partner, Duchess Iredale. Since 2010, they have managed and produced varying events including Guinness Amplify and Arthur’s Day, F.ounders, the Meteor Choice Music Prize, Open House Festival in Belfast and the 2011 concert for President Obama in College Green in Dublin. Most recently, Blackbird created a “bespoke private festival” for a client in a Dublin city square.
“Building a festival in a busy city park is a graft for any event producer,” says Shorten. “Working with county councils, endless paperwork, and even court appearances are some of the things required. Most people wouldn’t realise how much these are all part of festival planning.”
The Irish question
As someone with plenty of local and international touring experience, Shorten thinks there is a lack of purpose-built venues in Ireland.
“In France, most venues are the same size but can adapt for 5,000 down to 500 in scale. Wouldn’t it be great if you tour Ireland and play three or four venues around the country that were the same size, same room, same PA spec, same power? Irish and International bands would be able to tour Ireland with ease.”
For her part, Shorten has been easing the touring burden for bands for nearly 10 years but couldn’t do it without her own support.
“Unsociable hours and long weekends does not make for regular childcare; I couldn’t work without the help of my family.”
