My first year out on tour was interesting. I was working two jobs that were very diverse. Not only was I playing a set in the Silent Disco tent, but I was also working the rest of the day selling Maps, Schedules, and other various objects at a vendor booth.
During this summer I was 16 going on 17, if it was the sound of music I would be getting courted by the cute messenger boy where my love life would be forever challenged by political ties, but instead I was out on tour. I think I had the better of the two situations. Though the situation was better I am not sure if it was the best age to be out there. I was still a bit insecure with myself, my doing had been limited to school dances and parties, and I had not grown a thick enough skin to deal with the public yet. Even though it was hard being out there as probably the youngest vendor I am forever better for the situation and I would never change it for the world.
During that first summer my day to day schedule was waking up at 7:30 am, getting breakfast, and then going out to the venue for the 8 am load in. I would spend my morning setting up the booth with my boss Scottie, typing the schedule, mapping out the venue, and generally preparing for the day. Around 10:30 a call would go out that doors were opening. I would then man the Schedule booth, usually alone, and start the two hour rush of people trying to get their schedules. Once that finally died down, around 1, I would get lunch and grab my dj gear.
I was the only person in the Silent Disco, probably on the whole tour, with the same time slot every day. This was a special circumstance due to that I worked my other job. I looked forward to this time and it was really a time that I developed who I was as a dj. The silent disco works where every person who enters the tent is handed a set of head phones and only those with the headphones can hear the music the DJ is playing. I always had fun taking off my own headphones and just see a bunch of people dancing to nonexistent music. This was such a unique experience having complete control over a dance tent.
After my Dj set, which I made sure was different from day to day, I would pack up my gear and head back to the schedule tent. I would work there until 6:30 pm and the load out.
After load out the time was mine until bus call. That first year was interesting because even though I was out there working I still felt so young and very distant from the rest of the tour. Many times during the first half of the tour I felt that people backstage would look at me as a “fan girl” and not someone working. This frustrated me, but it also motivated me to prove myself every day. It took awhile but I eventually found people who I connected with. My saviors out on the tour was a band called Emily’s Army, everyone in the band was around the same age as I was and it was so nice to have people who were not nervous to talk or hangout with me because of my age. They were only on for a couple of weeks but it was a blast and I still keep in touch with them till this day.
That was something I realized about the tour, even though my first year I had trouble at first finding “my people” once I did those people became family. Family who I still keep in touch with to this day and who I continue to tour with. Also once I found a good handful of people I connected with and I broke that barrier of awkwardness finding people to connect with in the future years became so much easier.
Another reason I felt weird and awkward at times was being filmed for Warped Roadies, but that is a thought for another post
