A True Happy Hour Hero-
moe. Production Manager Chris Burrows
by Dean Budnick

Some of the most unheralded people in the live music world are those folks who work behind the scenes to ensure that a given show takes place and runs efficiently. One thing we've tried to do in the past at Jambands.com and hope to do more in the future, is take readers behind the scenes to appreciate what many of these individuals accomplish to facilitate the music. It's not a glamorous gig but it's an essential one.

To that end, I felt it was appropriate in our moe. insert to spotlight a crew member. Frankly I could have selected most anyone as the band's team typically receives plaudits from industry observers and fans alike. Lighting designer Chris Ragan and front of house engineer Steve Young are a bit more visible than the stage crew, so I've opted to speak with production manager (and stage manager, guitar tech, etc.) Chris Burrows. What follows is less an article about moe that a primer detailing the responsibilities of a production manager. I have experienced Burrows's expertise first hand, as last year he handled the Jammys at Irving Plaza. The show ran quite smoothly, in particular the transitions from band to band, which I credit to Chris.

D- For our readers who may not know, please explain what the job of production manager entails.

C- Basically the responsibility of a production manger is to get the show up and running. That person is in charge of organizing all the sound, lighting, all the crew, so on and so forth to make sure everybody is going in the same direction to get that show on at the right time.

D- On a show day what time do you usually arrive at a venue and start the load-in?

C- Typically with our schedule we arrive six or seven hours prior to door. Once we pull up I get my crew-hands that I've advanced with the house production manager. Then, since we carry lights, they are always the first to go in and get up and out of the way before we do any sound or band gear. Once Ragan's lights are all set then the band gear rolls in. We get that up tech it all out, bring out the monitors and get the guys up for soundcheck four hours later if there weren't any problems. If there are any snafus we have to deal with them on the fly.

D- How often do you run into snafus?

C- [laughs] We've had many over the past few years. At the stage moe is out in the West where we're still building our following, we're playing the larger rooms but we're not carrying production yet so we still rely on in-house production a lot of the time. In doing so, you rely on the production staff of the venue to make sure all their equipment is up to par. That is my responsibility too. I'll call ahead and advance our production with the man or woman at that venue to make sure the system is free of hum and that everything works, so we have the right people knowing what they have to do on the day of a show.

Unfortunately it doesn't always work that way. There's been many occasions where we've gone into a room and Steve Young, the band's audio engineer, has to rewire the whole system because no one really knows how to run their system or their stuff is not maintained and not acceptable to put on the caliber of the show we want to do. Those sort of instances make for extremely long days The second show of this tour that happened where Steve had to make sure that everything was correct to put our show on.. Sometimes you go into a room and everything is perfect and the day goes smoothly. Then there are those when we go in and people have their hands in their pockets, "Where do we plug this in?" We're like, "Okay, this is going to be a twenty hour day."

Then are other things we can't anticipate. The past couple of nights we've come in behind ICP [Insane Clown Posse]. I don't know if you know what their shows are like but part of their show is spraying coca cola and root beer all over the stage which makes for a sticky situation so to speak (laughs). In New Mexico the other night we came in and they were still cleaning up from the night before and it backed us up at least an hour because they to wipe the stage down pull up all the carpets.

This may sound boisterous but things are always a bit easier on my end because we have one of the best crews going. Chris Ragan is amazing at what he does. I'm not the only one who thinks so, a lot of people know this. And Steve Young is the key. I think every band should have a McGuyver type guy who can tap power, mix sound, build this pedal and so forth. Well Steve's our McGuyver.

D- Is it a challenge to get the local crews to listen to you or do they recognize that is part of their job?

C- What I try to do in speaking with the house production manger at a given venue is make it clear that if we keep everybody going in the same direction then we can get done quickly and the day will go more smoothly. It's when you have people drifting and not paying attention to what we have to do that makes for a long day. So you go in, make yourself known and if you conduct yourself in a professional manner then everybody will work with you and get the job done.

Back in our home base in the northeast it's a little bit different because we play theaters more often than not. All these theaters are union houses and they know what they're doing. It's when you come into somebody's house so to speak and act like you're the big shot in town, like the Rolling Stones or something, that's when the union guys start working it a little bit slower and they don't mind because they're getting thirty bucks an hour.

D- How did you first meet moe and end up as their production manager?

C- I met the band through their old tour manager Mike Wright. He was a friend of mine from college who actually dragged me to my first moe. show at Wetlands. Over the course of a few years I began seeing them and building a friendship. Then a situation occurred one day where Steve couldn't make it to Arizona. They made an offer to me, things worked out and I've been on the road ever since.

D- Did you have any experience doing this sort of work before you took on the job?

C- I went to Hofstra University and during my summers I used to work over at Jones Beach unloading trucks. Once I gradated from Hofstra I was hired to run the sports facility department along with another person. There I received operations training, basically what I'm doing now. At Hofstra I was in charge of 40 employees, 5 grad assistant, 6 buildings, 40 games, athletic conferences...That taught me how to be really organized and how to interact with people in a constructive way to get them to do what needs to be done at a given time. So it was definitely great training.

D- Jumping back to the specifics of your job, how long after the band leaves the stage are you typically working?

C- Generally speaking, an hour and a half. On the long side it can be two and half hours if it's one of those days where I've lost my crew, they've gotten drunk- I'm not saying my personal crew, the band crew, but rather the house crew. Then where I had six sober loaders now I'm down to two and it makes for a long out. Last night was rough night for me there was a huge rain storm and I'm standing out there in a downpour for an hour and a half in the rain drenched to the bone loading my trailer. It only took an hour and a half but that was a bad night

D- Can you recall any other particularly hellish load outs?

C- I won't name the venue but probably about three years ago Steve, Ragan and I were in the Ryder Truck. It was a show in Cleveland, I'll just say that. and at the end of the night everybody disappeared, all of our hands disappeared. In my book that was the worst load out ever. All three of us freaked out, Steve lost his temper and we said, "Never again." (laughs).

D- Do you have any favorite venues in terms of production?

C- I won't say it's my favorite but in terms of set-up for production and staff knowing what to do and when to do it, that has to be the House of Blues. It's pretty much a turn-key operation. We played it in Myrtle Beach, LA and Vegas. Those venues are set up for rock shows. A lot of the places the band plays, like theaters, are not typically designed with a rock show in mind, they're just shells from which you can put on any variety of show. These venues are built with performance in mind, so you have the best consoles, everything works, the staff is knowledgeable. You show up and everything's done and it's such a great feeling. They're asking, "What do you need for us to do to make the day go smoothly?" That is such a nice thing to hear and you don't hear that all the time (laughs).

D- What about when a guest performer takes the stage with moe, how difficult is that for you?

C- It all depends. You can have a great scenario where we roll into town and prior to us getting there some guest has contacted the band and they've decided on a couple of songs that they're going to do that night. They set them to sheet music and he or she knows the sheet music before going in.. That's the best situation because they'll come down to soundcheck- Steve will know prior, I will know prior. It's where we're flying by the seat of our pants, pun intended, where it can be a little tricky sometimes. The last time we played the Fillmore, Martin Fierro came and sat in. Great venue, great production. It was, "Alright, let's throw him a mike stand, place it between Chuck and Rob or Al and Rob, whoever is going to throw him the chord changes and go." Sometimes that's the beauty of it, people just showing up and going for it.

D- What is the oddest moe. moment you can remember?

C- There are so many Dean, I can't even tell you. I wouldn't even know which one to choose. One of the oddest moments, which was also one of the coolest moments, was when we were in Japan in September at the Osaka show. We were on the other side of the world, in another country and the fans knew the band's music so they're singing along to songs. They can't really speak English but they're singing along to the songs. The show was raging and then during the silent parts they started chanting. "moesaka, moesaka, moesaka." We were definitely floored for like five minutes just cracking up.

D- Do you have a favorite show?

C- A couple. That Fillmore show I mentioned from this past fall when Martin Fierro sat in with the guys, is one of them. It was great to see everybody interacting well with each other. The past three times we've played the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon the guys have played phenomenal shows. They just did it again last week. As you well know, every show is different. Some nights are on, some nights are off and some nights are just cosmic.

D- How closely do you listen to the band when they're on stage?

C- Being that I'm also the stage manager I have to pretty much keep my full attention to them. There are times, say when the first set gets going, I'll be there for the first three or four songs to make sure the monitor mixes are down and the monitor engineer is on the same wavelength with what they want, then I can go and talk to Skip [Richman, tour manager] or go and take a walk around the venue to make sure everything is happening and everyone is having a good time. But more often than not I pay attention to everything they do. If I walk out of the room my ears are still trained on stage in case somebody pops a string or something doesn't sound right so I can be there to take care of what needs to be done.

D- So are you able to enjoy the music or you just listening to react in case something does go wrong?

C- I still enjoy it immensely. If I didn't, I wouldn't be on the road. I can't speak for other production managers but if you don't like what you're doing, why are you doing it? What they're doing and the music they're creating is still interesting to me. They're still coming in with good stuff, taking it to a different level and trying new things. One of the reasons I liked the Grateful Dead is that it wasn't the same thing night after night. moe still surprises me and that's cool. That's what I want out of a band