SECONDARY TITLE: I got a job y’all!
I recently become involved with this labour union called Rockbound, and as COVID slowly loosens it’s disease-ridden grip on the region, some jobs have – finally – started becoming available.
As the newest and greenest member, I’m starting off as a stage hand, with plenty of potential to take on other tasks as I gain experience. I had my first shift a couple days ago, and wanted to share my thoughts for anyone considering this kind of work.
1. You Will Burn Calories
My first gig was at the Halifax Convention Centre, where we had to replace several projector screens and teardown audio equipment for a teacher’s conference.
That translated into disconnecting and cabling hundreds of feet of wire, collapsing frames and folding fabric (I think they were called valences?), stretching new projector canvas over metal frames, and lugging around the ubiquitous equipment boxes you see at virtually every event.
I’m not in bad shape – I walk every day at least 30 minutes, plus 1-2 rounds of Pilates. But a couple of hours taking down equipment was sweaty work.
Thankfully I’d brought a water bottle, which I burned most of the way through, and a couple granola bars for sudden energy energy crashes.
I also brought soft gloves, but not sure how necessary they are. Definitely useful if something collapses more quickly than you expect and gives you a pinch, but it makes cabling and other more precise tasks difficult. I ended up putting them on and off multiple times through the shift.
2. You Need the Right Equipment
Depending on the labour group you join, or the type of work you’re doing, various safety gear may be mandatory. Don’t expect it to be provided on site, especially nowadays – purchase your own stuff.
For me, that consisted of steel-toe boots, a stylish hard hat (*wink, wink*), and the aforementioned gloves. Easy enough to grab at Walmart, or Canadian Tire for you folks north of the border, for around $100 or so.
P.S. Get a hard hat with pads, if you can. For that matter, spend a little extra on more comfortable gear in general. Discomfort is distracting.
3. There’s a Better Way to Do Everything
My favourite part about the job – other than feeling like I’d just been paid to workout – was learning the little tricks that make each task a little easier.
For my first shift, the guy with the most experience worked alongside me to offer tips and suggestions when need. And believe me, they were needed. The projector canvas in particular was a bastard to replace, and probably would have taken me three times as long without a few shortcuts.
It’s tempting sometimes to just brute-force the problem, but I don’t recommend it if you’re staring down a four-hour shift or longer. You’ll just end up hurting yourself and/or p*ssing off your crew mates.
4. It’s Better With A Team
Maybe I lucked out, or maybe Halifax people are just a little better than everyone else (yep, that’s it), but the other stagehands were a pretty fun, relaxed bunch.
It helped that the work was at the end of the night, when all the people who could have been annoyed by our senses of humour had long gone home. And we certainly weren’t horsing around. It was just a more relaxed environment, punctuated by steady labour, well suited to an introvert like m’self.
5. Be Aware of What’s Happening Around You
Often during the evening, I became so absorbed in finishing whatever I was doing in front of me (without hurting myself), that I would finish, stand up and wonder, what now?
Over time, one develops a sense of the order of operation to a job, so they can see what needs to be done and jump in without asking questions. Being able to see how things are progressing lets us quickly see and plan for what needs to be done next.
That said, this is probably not something you need to actively try to do, just an intuitive sense that builds over many hours of repetition.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my first professional foray into something vaguely music-related. Keep it coming!
Credits:
‘Female Engineers Wearing PPE’ by Kindel Media from Pexels
‘Grayscale photo of man raising his fist’ by Emery Barnes on Scopio
‘Man in Blue Shirt and Brown Pants Holding A Camera’ by Sippakorn Yamkasikorn from Pexels