Lunch-time celebrations of road crews by Support Act, Chugg Entertainment

Support Act Ltd and tour promoter and artist management company Chugg Entertainment are holding luncheons in Sydney and Melbourne to celebrate the important role of road crews to the Australian music industry.

The luncheons are based around the release this month of Stuart Coupe’s book Roadies – The Secret History of Australian Rock‘n’Roll.

All proceeds from the two lunches will go to the Support Act Roadies Fund, which is administered in association with ARCA, the Australian Road Crew Association.

During the lunches, Coupe will sit with high profile road crew members to recall various tales of life on the road.

The world’s first female roadie, Tana Douglas, is flying in from Los Angeles to speak on both panels.

Among the acts she’s worked with have been AC/DC, Elton John and Status Quo.

The Sydney luncheon (The Factory, Wednesday, September 26) also features crew legends Nicky Campbell (The Rebels, Skyhooks, Rene Geyer, Cold Chisel) and Ross Ferguson (Little River Band, Tina Turner, Elton John, Beastie Boys).

It will include acoustic sessions from Richard Clapton and Hoodoo Gurus’ Dave Faulkner and Brad Shepherd.

The Melbourne event (Thornbury Theatre, Thursday, October 4) also features Howard Freeman (Sherbet, Dragon, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds) and Geoff Lloyd (Crowded House, Jimmy Barnes, Last Chance Café).

Performers will include Phil Manning and others to be announced.

Clive Miller, CEO of Support Act, observed, “Roadies are the backbone of the Australian music industry.

“Like everyone else, we were excited to hear that their contribution to Australian music was being documented by Stuart.

“We are looking forward to re-living the highs and the lows, and of course, to raising funds for those that are doing it tough.”

In June, Support Act launched the Wellbeing Helpline on 1800 959 500 for those in the industry needing to reach out. It was set up with Alberts’ The Tony Foundation and Levi Strauss Australia.

Research has shown that road crews are five times more likely to commit suicide, and bear the worst brunt of working in the music industry – strange hours, life away from family ties, broken marriages, estranged children, and drugs and alcohol dependence.

ARCA was set up initially as a social association where road crew members would keep an eye on each other when they were going through hard times.

Since then, it has flourished into a full-fledged association with fundraiser strategies planned in the coming years.

Ian Peel, co-founder and director of ARCA said “ARCA thanks Support Act for their continued support of road crew and this function for getting together an incredible bunch of stories from the roadies that helped build the Australian music industry with their hands, hearts and minds.

“We acknowledge their contribution and give tribute to the fallen. As we all know no crew, no show.”

For more information about the Sydney event click here, for the Melbourne event click here.