kuilo Countdown to 200 - #7: The Changing of the Guard - hotamboyan

We march on to post number 200 with another look back in our Not Countdown Countdown. 

This week I turn it over to my wonderful, fantastic, and amazing (she hates when I do this) editor, Karen Newman. She has been with me since day one and spends as much, if not more, time editing my writing as I do actually writing it. Somewhere (usually multiple wheres) in every post is something she has had a hand in. Much like roadies are behind the scenes making the Popstars look better, she is behind the scenes making me look better. And I can never thank her enough for it.

And now I turn it over to Karen …

At first, Mark’s request for me to pick one of my favorite blog posts he’s written seemed like a daunting task, but when I paused and thought about what it was that made certain posts more special to me than others, then the choice became simple. 

Over the years Mark has written about the importance of teamwork, respect, and mentorship. People. With 2016 ending with the passing of the final member of NASA’s Original Seven, I had a flashback to one of Mark’s first posts: The Changing of the Guard.

Nearly three years and 200 posts later, this post is the first of many in which he reminds us that it is peoplewho make a company successful; it is people who set standards and inspire future generations; and it is people who make history.

The Changing of the Guard

I am a bit of a NASA enthusiast, and this week I thought about the touring industry and NASA, but how do those two groups of people fit in the same thought?

There are three distinct groups of the early astronauts in NASA:

The Original 7

The New 9 and

The Fourteen.

Again, what does this have to do with touring?

This week the touring world lost an innovator in the industry, Mark Fisher. He was a stage designer for a multitude of acts that included AC/DC, The Rolling Stones, U2, and Pink Floyd just to name a few. I never had a chance to work with him but his shows are some of my favorite to watch.

U2 Claw Design by Mark Fisher.

The passing of Mark Fisher has once again made me think about the people who founded the industry: Names like Strickland, See, McManus, Monk, Brutshe, Pierce, and Paulson, the people who were the first to do what the younger generation find common place. These people are now nearing the end of their careers, or in some cases, retired or have passed on. To use that classic phrase: they have forgotten more about touring then most people starting now will ever know. This is the touring equivalent of The Original 7: the people who were the first riggers, stage managers, LDs, FOH engineers. They created the models we work in today, and created the touring industry from the ground up. For them it was a labor of love, being the first out there in our wild new frontier.

Our fearless leader, Michael Strickland getting ready for a show.

Along the way they found and molded and taught the next group: The New 9. In our industry I think there are two halves of the New 9, the Early and the Late. I did not tour with any of the Original 7, but I have been on the bus for many a gig with the Early New 9, Lockridge, Hoover, Rock, Harden, Wannabo, and Murray. These are the people that learned directly from the Original 7. The Early New 9, in many cases, are coming (or already are) off the road. They have moved to support roles behind desks or in offices. I come from the Late New 9, the last group of people that learned by physically doing the job, not by learning about the job. When I started, places like Full Sail were just being established.

Bandit's Rick Munroe setting the stage for KISS's legendary live album: Alive!.

Then there is The Fourteen: the newer generation. Let me be perfectly clear here, these are not just people from Full Sail (and schools like it), but people that have seen what we do from a young age, grown up hearing about the industry, and have a diverse number of ways to get into it (not just “I knew somebody who knew somebody," although that does still help).

What does this have to do with a changing of the guard? Just as the Original 7 passed their knowledge to the New 9, it is now time for the New 9 to pass along to The Fourteen. That makes sense: of course we need to pass that knowledge along. There is one drastic difference though: It is much easier for the newer generation to learn about our jobs by learning about our jobs, not doing our jobs.

At this point I could start on the “Back in the day,” and “When I was your age” bits, but I won’t. I will say this:

To The Fourteen: You are a part of the first group that can learn what we do from a school. Whether you did or not does not matter, that is the group you are from. For those that have come before you, that is a big deal. It may not be right or fair, but that’s life. Just remember that because you grew up “around it” or went to school to “learn it” doesn't mean you know it.

Respect. Listen. Learn. Overachieve.

To the New 9: You took what you learned and expounded tenfold on top of it. You gave blood, sweat, your body, your personal lives, and more to make the industry what it is. It is because of your hard work that the new generation can do what they do, with “the ease” which they do it.

Is it fair to say The Fourteen do not have to have the same desire and drive you did to get where you are? Yes it is. Does it mean that none of them do? Hell no. It just means it might be harder to find the ones that do. But you must find them, and you must teach them. You also must be willing to learn from them. Be willing to understand that there are new ideas and, yes, the world and the industry are different.

Teach. Mold. Listen. Learn. 

To the Original 7: Thank you.

Until next time, “Godspeed, John Glenn.”

Mark