Curbishley : I don ’ t think there ’ s any secret in what I ’ m going to say because , as a company , we are like everybody else ; we do our budgets for a year and we try our very hardest to predict what ’ s going to happen in the next year . So , your [ capital expenditure ] budget is based on the last couple of years , so you work out what you think you ’ re going to spend on capex over the next period . But normally what happens is you ’ re doing those calculations , let ’ s say , in the middle of the year , knowing full well that you ’ re going to start sending POs at the beginning of your ca-pex period , which is January . So , you start working in the middle of the year towards there and you start writing your POs over Christmas and January and that kind of thing . We ’ re writing POs now six to eight months out from when we need the gear because everybody ’ s learned that you got to get your orders in early .
But , saying that , the real answer to the question is the suppliers have done a great job , I think . They ’ ve managed everyone ’ s expectations . If you go to them and say , “ I want 300 moving lights ,” they ’ re like , “ It ’ s not possible .” But money talks , as they say , so soon as you get your orders in , all of a sudden , those supply chain issues become less of a challenge . We ’ ve got a lot of stuff pending right now for big projects that ’ s on its way , it ’ s on the ocean coming from China or different areas , and it all seems like it ’ s to going to hit in time to do the projects . A year ago , at this point right now , we ’ d be super nervous , but we feel a bit calmer . They seem to be getting stuff to us in time — it ’ s improved drastically .
PS : In recently talking to designers on smaller tours , I ’ ve heard about AVL designs being dictated by product availability more than usual . Is that continuing to be the case even on large-scale tours ?
Curbishley : Yeah , but people are much more sympathetic to the challenges that we face than they would normally be . Also , because there ’ s not the level of competition , either , for the gigs . The rental companies have never been in this position before where they ’ re really picking and choosing the work that they want to do . So , everyone ’ s got more work than they can handle . So , I think that the other designers are definitely being more sympathetic .
You know what it ’ s like , we — as do other production companies — have certain relationships with designers that go back 20 years . So , when we ’ re talking to those guys and girls , you work together as a team . It ’ s very much a joint effort to get what they need for their show . But luckily these days , a lot of the companies are turning out good stuff . So , everyone ’ s worked out all their kinks and stuff over the last 10 years and everyone generally supplies a good product .
PS : I remember talking to folks running smaller production companies who were worried about a lack of skilled staff when shows returned because their technicians had moved onto jobs in film / TV and elsewhere . Has that worry come to fruition ?
Curbishley : We ’ ve gone into the model of having a full-time crew people who are really crew chiefs , so we can move them around , get something going , and then pull them back out again . I know some other companies have used that model for a long time . In Canada , particularly , that ’ s a major part of the process up there ; there ’ s a lot of full-time employees and they ’ re masters of that . We ’ ve only just started doing that recently down there and it really is helping us with those crew shortages …
But to answer your question , honestly , I think there was a period in the in the first six or eight months of COVID and the real shutdowns where we lost a bunch of people . But I think it seems to be quite stable now . I keep seeing the same people and they ’ re all coming back into it now . There was a period where nobody knew if it was going to be stable , if things would stop again , and all these stops and starts . Now , everyone feels that it ’ s back .
There ’ s great money to be made out there . People are paying more ; the crew rates are up 25 % or 30 % in some instances . So , it ’ s a bit of a gold rush out there for crew people . I think that ’ s important because they ’ ve got a lot to make up . The crews suffered more than anybody , really .
PS : To rewind back to the beginning of your story , your father , Bill Curbishley , was a manager for a lot of major bands . So , was it always a given that you were going to end up in the touring industry ?
Curbishley : Yeah , he ’ s still the manager for The Who and he still manages a bunch of groups . He ’ s still going and I saw him with The Who on their opening show in Miami recently , which was amazing . They ’ ve got an orchestra out there and it ’ s a fantastic show . So yeah , it was in my blood . My dad and my mom were both managers . They managed Humble Pie , Lynyrd Skynyrd , The Who , Golden Earring , UB40 , Judas Priest — some of the biggest bands in the world . They also make movies and all sorts of things .
So , I was always there . I was always surrounded by it as a kid and in that world . I did go and work for him for a little bit at his management company , but you know what it ’ s like working for a parent , especially when you ’ re a teenager , and I was a mess [ laughs ]. I think that I lasted a week . But I decided that I wanted to be on the road for various reasons . I started off selling t-shirts at a very young age . I was 16 when I did my first tour with AC / DC . On that tour I fell in love with the lighting guys because those guys seemed to have the most fun . It was the hardest work , which I think appealed to me as well , because I had something to prove . Once they know that your dad ’ s the manager , if you ’ re going to do it , you need to do the hardest , dirtiest , longest hours that
MICKEY CURBISHLEY
you can , otherwise no one ’ s going to respect you . At least that ’ s what I thought . I probably should have gone into management to be honest , but that ’ s how I got started [ laughs ].
PS : Well , it reflects well on you at that age to take on the harder route rather than do what your dad does …
Curbishley : I can clearly remember in my early career being in the pit pulling cables , covered in crap and pulling the snake in from the front of house under the stage , seeing everybody walking past . In those days , the record companies were the guys and girls that had all the power . They were the ones making money , they were funding our tours , because we were touring to sell records . So , that was where all the money was going . We would be pulling the cables under stage and you just see them walking past going from the backstage to the limos , which would be blocking our trucks and stuff as we ’ re trying to load out . I remember looking at them and it just didn ’ t attract me and I don ’ t know why . Maybe it ’ s because I ’ m so short , so I was comfortable under the stage [ laughs ]. But no , I was just drawn to that world , and the hard work . I did about 13 years on the road as a [ lighting technician ] and then ended up tour managing Eric Clapton . I was only 25 , actually .
PS : You were just 25 when you tour managed Eric Clapton ? How did that happen ?
Curbishley : Well , basically , Peter Jackson was managing Eric and I was looking after the band , but the band was quite a band . George Harrison was in it , Phil Collins , Steve Ferrone , Nathan East , Greg Phillinganes , Phil Palmer , and Ray Cooper . So , I was 25 years old , losing their luggage all over the world [ laughs ]. It was amazing .
But the quick story behind that — because just recently was the anniversary — what happened was I was the lighting guy for Eric Clapton . Tom Kenny was the designer and I was the lampy . We had a helicopter crash in Alpine Valley in Chicago , where Stevie Ray Vaughan died . We lost a bunch of our crew , including the tour manager , Colin , who was in the helicopter . The next day we got together and Eric said , “ Look , we can either all go home
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