Here at The Music Consortium, we supply a range of skilled personnel within the umbrella term ‘crew’. The main roles frequently supplied are crew and crew chiefs, as these roles make up the central core of the teams.
One of the main responsibilities we ask of our Crew is to be health and safety conscious. This is something we instil into our freelancers as soon as they join The Music Consortium (TMC) by enrolling all new members onto our online training portal, Event Crew Training. As with all the roles we provide our crew need to be flexible, reliable, hardworking, and enthusiastic about the work they are producing. Generally, our crew do more than just load ins and outs; TMC crew have a variety of skill levels including plant operations, spot operators, catering assistants, runners (with their own vehicle) and show call crew. With clients such as Festival Republic, TMC supply crew to large festivals such as Download, Latitude and Leeds Festival (to name a few). These events also require teams of crew per stage to change over the equipment on stage between acts.
Crew Chiefs are Crew plus a bit more. They need to have impeccable communication skills as they are not just giving out instructions, but they need to liaise with the clients/venues to receive the instructions to pass on. As much as we like to think of Chiefs as someone who rules the team on the ground with an iron fist, they also need to be approachable, and considerate and have the ability to boost morale when the team is feeling deflated. Chiefs are also responsible for the safety of the team working. Most of the Chiefs we use have started with us as a crew member and have shown the initiative it takes to lead a team. With these individuals, we get them to shadow existing Chiefs until they start looking after the small events on their own. When they’ve built their confidence and have the knowledge needed they’ll move on to chief our arena/stadium events, and festivals.
Plant Operators for TMC include forklift drivers, cherry picker operators and scissor lift operators. We only allow those to operate any plant machinery with proof of the appropriate certificate (i.e. IPAF) and that it is in date. As part of our professional development for crew each year we select a small group of the hard working crew that have the enthusiasm to earn a ticket to operate plant machinery (the most common is counterbalance and telehandler). We then assist them with the cost of securing the training and certificate.
We frequently get asked by our clients to supply Stage Managers (more so at Festivals). This other role is unlike our crews’ experience and education surrounding the roles and responsibilities is paramount. Now don’t confuse my use of the word ‘education’ with attending college/university I mean for them to have a greater understanding and knowledge surrounding the work they will be completing. Whether that is through experience, from years of shadowing some of the industry’s most experienced personnel or having a more formal education. Either way, this isn’t a position you can walk into blind and expect to have it all together. Our Stage Managers liaise with the Production Team, Artists, Tour Managers, technicians and their stage crew to corroborate the delivery of the; set-up, execution and time management and make sure everyone is in the right place at the right time.
On-Site TMC Coordinators is a role we supply to our larger scale events for example arena and stadium shows and festivals. This is a role fulfilled by our office personnel (which is currently Callum, Katie and Lauren). All our on-site coordinators are First Aid qualified and undergo specific in-house training to succeed in the job title. They are on-site for the full event arriving before the crew and leaving after ensuring any changes are actioned quickly. For festivals this team usually consists of a minimum of two Coordinators, they liaise with Production, Technical Production and Accreditation in the lead up to the event and whilst on-site. They implement the changes received from Technical Production including but not limited to; time changes, amount of crew requested and extra calls. Working closely with the Crew Chiefs, they ensure that the welfare of the crew working is met, monitor crew on their shifts whilst ensuring they are working safely along with being professional.