Roadies (2016)
“…but the music is good, and you meet some great people.” ~ Shelli
Created by Cameron Crowe (his first foray into TV), withe the help of Winnie Holzman (My So-Called Life) and J. J. Abrams, comes a show about the unsung heroes of live music – the roadies and the production team behind every show and every tour. It is about family, about relationships, about passion, about obsession and fandom, about life in all its ups and downs, and about music. I have been looking forward to this series since I first saw the trailer, and have been anxiously counting the days. The pilot is available to stream and/or watch via on demand – but I’d recommend watching it on Cameron Crowe’s website – here.
Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE music in a passionate, obsessive, like blood and oxygen kind of way. I also LOVE live music, as there is really nothing like the experience of standing in a venue, whether big or small, whether indoor or outdoor, whether no opener or festival, and being there in the music, experiencing it in-person. There is nothing quite like it in this life, at all, to me.
Over the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to see multiple shows by favorites artists/bands of mine and one of the things I’ve discovered through the experience is the people who make it happen – the tour managers, the roadies, the merch booth crew, the everyone that make the actual show happen. I’ve had the opportunity to meet and talk to some of these people, and they are incredible, and they love music like I do. They remind me of my years working in record stores and make me miss being that immersed in music in a working capacity (though it is what fuels me writing about music and keeping this blog going).
But, I digress, “Roadie” – it is all that live music experience, all that passion and heart and blood and sweat and oxygen – that I love about music and concerts. And yes, there is drama, and characters, and family, and problems, and MUSIC. It is pretty much everything I love rolled up in a show, and I am already so in love.
There are shades of “Almost Famous” here, as well as Crowe’s other film, “Jerry Maguire”. I see pieces of “My So-Called Life” in some of the characters, as well as that behind-the-scenes meets fast-paced dialogue of Aaron Sorkin’s “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”. The writing is stellar, the characters already complex and interesting and layered. There are strong female roles – hurrah for Carla Gugino and Imogen Poots. There are interesting (relative) newcomers like Machine Gun Kelly, Christopher Backus and Tanc Sade, and some recognizable actors that I’m glad to see in something like this – like Luke Wilson (who I’ve always loved) and Luis Guzman.
There are actual bands and musicians making appearances, too (The Head And The Heart in the pilot) and the show features a “song of the day” (see why I LOVE it?). The pilot’s song of the day was Frightened Rabbit’s “I Wish I Was Sober”, which made its way on to today’s 5 Music Obsessions list.
Kelly Ann summed it up, more than once, in the pilot when she talked about loving the music. She reminds me of some wonderful mix of Penny Lane and William Miller, which reflects more of the way I love music, that kind of combination. I’m already wanting to go back, watch it again, and write out all my favorite quotes (and yes, I may just do that later).
I don’t want to spoil too much of the pilot, but I encourage you to go watch it and find out why I’ve just fallen head over heels over heart for “Roadies”. I hope you will, too.
Trailer
