Roadie Stories

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How I Got My Nickname

by Recko June 1, 2009

G’day, Well first up I should start with a disclaimer for all aspiring crew & the young & impressionable. My stories come from a time in the industry that was pretty wild & I was young and probably (well, yes I was) reckless. Today you couldn’t get away with some of the crazy stuff that [...]

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The Best Truck In The World

by Mark Gibson May 31, 2006

A decent truck can mean the difference between a great gig and a night full of grief. Back in the eighties I went back to work for Rick Doolan who was the original drummer in Bandanna. He had re-formed the band and had put together a nice little PA system. The “truck” he’d bought was [...]

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The Wombat Switch – Mad Gorilla

by Mark Gibson October 7, 2005

The Wombat Switch. I don’t even know if it is a term that is still used. Back about 20 years ago “Wombatting” was something you did to the support band to sabotage them. You know, turn the amps down a bit or pull down the master volume on the EQ or something. Sometimes it was [...]

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Stage Diving at Sawtell – Hoodoo Gurus

by Mark Gibson September 19, 2005

Stage diving and crowd surfing is a phenomenon that has become popular over the last 10 or 15 years. The idea being that after diving from the stage, the crowd will catch you and you won’t end up on your arse on the floor. When the crowd is in good form you can stay aloft [...]

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Yellarock 1

by Mark Gibson August 18, 2005

Round about 1990 we got a call from a Biker Club about doing a big gig for them. It was to be a three day festival of bikes, booze & music about halfway along the Putty Rd to Singleton. My boss at the time was a guy by the name of Rick Doolan who was [...]

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Stevie Wright

by Mark Gibson August 6, 2005

I was blown away last night to see Stevie Wright on This Is Your Life. During the late Eighties I worked for a while as Stevies live sound engineer, alongside brother of Gibbo on monitors and My Pal Brian(TM) on lights, and I have wonderful memories of some great gigs as well as some downright [...]

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Going on a real tour – James Blundell

by Mark Gibson January 25, 2005

The “tour” story about Bandanna apparently gave some people, including my beloved Mrs Gibbo, the idea that touring was some sort of wonderful, bohemian lifestyle chock full of naked women, intoxicating substances and midnight law breaking! In an effort to correct this very misguided idea, I would like to present a tale from the other [...]

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Goin’ on tour – Bandanna

by Mark Gibson January 1, 2005

I had a conversation with Gibbo Junior the other day that brought back a few memories. He is “getting a band together” with a few mates as teenagers do and we were talking about things rock & roll. The word “tour” came up as it does. It is a funny word in the rock & [...]

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Shepparton

by Mark Gibson December 17, 2004

How often does Shepparton spring into your mind? Be honest. Not often I’ll bet. Well, I have had discussion recently with someone from Shepparton and it jogged a few memories. As some of you know, I used to be a roadie. A few of my pals have been hassling me recently to publicly tell some [...]

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