Riverdance

Saturday evening I got a call from Tuur, my contact for local crew work in the Rock&Roll business. Could I work for the Riverdance production in the Heineken Music Hall? Of course I could! I haven't worked in this line of business since December 2003, because there's not that many gigs at the moment. In 2003, I worked for acts like The Strokes, James Brown, Bob Dylan, Nickleback, Nelly, 50 Cent... but this year was nada up to now. When I got there, I noticed that most of my teammates also didn't have much work yet this year. Let's hope it'll get better.

Normally, you're able to watch the show beforehand, but this time they completely sealed it off. I didn't care much, because I don't like Riverdance that much. OK, it's entertainment. But it feels watered down to me. I prefer to watch the original Irish dances.
Every major touring production breathes it's own atmosphere. The hiphop productions are characterized by a road crew that is utterly bored by the music, but professional and friendly nonetheless. Crews that tour with oldies like the Stones or Bob Dylan, are proud they can work with the artist. But they are also professional enough to never show that too openly... In both cases, the production is professional and behaves like a perfect machine.
The Riverdance production had none of that. There were too many loose objects that you had too tuck in somewhere. Like you were packing for a holiday without planning. The production manager sounded like he walked off the 'Allo 'Allo set, considering his German accent. And he was a bit too tedious and a control freak...
But never mind. It's only 3 hours of work, with a fine team. I was a bit anxious if I still knew how to do this work, but I managed alright.