Area 1: Live Performance

Last Friday (27/9/13) Paramore played Wembley Arena. Here is a video you should definitely watch. Do you hear how crystal clear the sound quality is? The levels are perfect too and the light show is in sync to parts of the song and really adds to the atmosphere. There's no doubting that it's an excellent live performance.



However, the majority of people at that gig are probably fairly unaware of how many people were involved in making that show possible. Here is another video you should definitely watch which shows a timelapse of the stage set-up for that show.
Let's rewind back in time and start at the very beginning of how that show came about. Paramore are on a self-titled tour at the moment, the tour consists of 112 shows total: 46 in North America, 37 in Europe, 13 in Oceania, 11 in Latin America, 3 in Asia and 2 in Caribbean. That's a lot of shows. And organising the venues that the band will be playing at during that world tour is the job of the Booking Agent.
After that, tickets and merchandise prices need to be discussed and the tickets need to be promoted and sold by a Tour Promoter. Posters and flyers need to be made and websites and social media like Facebook and twitter need to be used effectively to promote the event.
Staff for the event then need to be hired. There are a lot of important job roles involved in this point of the proceedings. There need to be Sound Engineers, Lighting Technicians, Instrument Technicians, Road Crew, Session Musicians (in the case of Paramore), Catering, Photographers, Hair and Make-Up, Security, People that run the merchandise stalls. In charge of all the people setting up the stage is the Stage Manager. Their job consists of [1]:

• Organising and coordinating stage production.
• Making sure artists are on and off stage at the correct time.
• Also making sure that equipment is on and off the stage when it needs to be.
• Writing and supplying everyone with a copy of the schedule
• Making sure that the stage and backstage are safe for all artists and crew. This means making sure cables are taped down, making sure the are no drinks lying around that may cause and electrical hazard etc.
• Being present at all rehearsals to direct artists and crew.

Moving away from Paramore now, I just want to quickly metion a few other examples of live performances where the are more specialist staff involved. In Roger Waters' The Wall Tour there need to be builders to build the wall before and during the show, as well as push it over during the final song.

I'd also like to mention Slipknot. Their whole live performance and image relies on their jumpsuits and unique masks. Their masks are custom made and throughout their career they've changed masks and jumpsuits so I'd imagine they need a very dedicated wardrobe department for their shows.