‘ROADIES’ FILM TO GO ON TOUR
“Roadies,” the Showtime comedy about the muscle behind the music, flamed out after just one season but Boston producer Adriano Masciarelli is hoping his “Roadie, The Documentary” plays a happier tune.
“Cameron Crowe’s show didn’t show the real thing. They had hot, marketable roadies. It was too cheesy,” Masciarelli told the Track. “Ours shows the nitty gritty. The behind the scenes. The drug abuse, the reality of going on tour and leaving your family for years. All of it.” Masciarelli and his director Timothy
Hoffman interviewed roadies for Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi, Peter Frampton, Disturbd, Seether and more to find out what really goes on backstage at the world’s biggest rock tours.
“The roadies do everything from cleaning the tour bus, to backing tape, to running wire or buying booze for the band,” he said. “They’re like the man behind the curtain, running the whole show.”
The documentary calls the roadies “the unsung heros of the music industry.”
“They’re crazy,” says Agnostic Front guitarist Vinny Stigma. “They’re bored. They’re fickle. They want to go hit the road, go somewhere different. It’s like joining the circus.”
But they also have to be consummate professionals — because too often the headliners aren’t!
“When you start talking about these massive arena acts and how big these productions are, it’s an absolute top professional business,” said Lindsay
Vannoy a piano tech for Elton John and Heart.
“People complain about concert tickets that cost $125,” said Masciarelli, “but when you see what goes into it, how many months and years it takes for production, then it starts to make sense.”
Masciarelli, who got into show biz via his friendship with Donnie and
Mark Wahlberg, is in talks with Netflix, Amazon and AXS TV for distribution. He has screenings scheduled in New York and L.A. next month and hopes to bring one to Boston.
File Under: Road Show.