If you have ever had the opportunity to watch a production company manage backline for major events, especially those involving several performing artists, it’s like watching real-time three-dimensional Tetris.
If you do not know what “backline” is, it involves the procuring and supplying of guitar and bass amplifiers, keyboards, drum kits and other percussion items, stands and, sometimes, guitars to bands performing at any given venue; not only supplying, but, also maintaining or troubleshooting gear.
Jordan Matthews is the Backline Manager for Production World, the Edmonton-based production company providing live production services to many artists who come to town. Jordan, a 10-year veteran with the company, says, “The biggest challenge we face in backline is sourcing special gear requested by a band. Often, it’s not available in the market, or it’s already booked, we have to go wherever we need to go to get it. We have flown in keyboards from Toronto and Vancouver, and scrounged around looking for synthesizers that are hard to find, which sometimes even requires diving into Kijiji and the Marketplace.”
Generally speaking, bands who fly in to perform expect the local production company to deliver all the goods they need. Most times, they bring their own guitars. In rare cases, they’ll drive their own gear in, as did Rick Springfield who performed at the Edmonton Rock and Roll Society’s 2019 Edmonton Rockfest in August.
The fact is many major artists traveling from big centres south of the border don’t often realize that smaller centres in Canada will not have all the specialized gear they want. This doesn’t deter hardcore veterans like Jordan. “Ultimately, if we can’t find it, then, during the advance process, we just have to talk them [the band] into the next best option. But we strive to have the inventory we know will fill the bill, and we do that really well.”
In Jordan’s experience, keyboard players are the pickiest and for a key reason. Many keyboard players have electronic files they use with their specific keyboard and they are not comfortable having to learn a new piece of gear. That’s not to say that all keyboard players lack the instrument knowledge. Many keyboard players are versatile, playing several different types of keyboards. But if, for example, they have a sound they like from a … say … Yamaha DX7 … (try finding those), then they get a little itchy when they find out they won’t have that for a gig. Of course, they could bring their vintage DX7 with them … but, often, not, due to the fact that gear can be damaged in transit.
It’s amazing to watch the backline crews operate during a show, especially when they are serving a string of performers as the backline team did at Rockfest. Normally, there are two wheel-on platforms for drum kits so that they can easily swap one kit for another during a 30 minute turnover between bands. The Production World backline crew has been setting up backline at many major events such as the Big Valley Jamboree and at Edmonton’s K-Days where they serve multiple stages and acts.
Setting up backline includes more than just bringing gear on stage. It has to be plugged, connected to the live sound control, whether it means setting up microphones for a guitar amp or running cables direct to snakes (a multiple-input box). Backliners also have to make sure that the auxiliary gear is setup including direct boxes and more. It’s in the details, which is why every show has a series of manifests followed by the backline crew. The good thing is, many of Production World’s team play music. Put it this way, if you really want to know how some gear performs, they can give you time-tested feedback (as it were).
Lastly, weather happens. It is quite amazing to watch a crew take care of protecting gear when weather hits the stage. It looks like a SEAL operation. Tarps and covers come out of nowhere. Gear is moved and consolidated, and all this happens in a few minutes. There’s not a lot of chatter. They just know what to do.
So, the next time you go to a concert or festival, look out for the backline crew. They are just as entertaining as the act itself. They work hard and take a huge amount of pride in what they do. After all, if you’re setting things up for Boyz II Men, Shaggy, Matt Good, Aqua …. it’s a looooooonnnng list ….. you want to get it right. Everyone’s reputation is on the line … or one might say … on the backline.
