Phil Kazamias

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Philip Kazamias

Tours
Paul McCartney

Philip Kazamias has had the great fortune of tour managing one artist his entire career, and he picked a good one – or, more correctly, was picked by a good one – Paul McCartney. He may have worked for other artists in between, but his first and last tours were with Sir Paul and the rock icon is now the only one Kazamias works for now.

“I needed a job, and Sir Paul McCartney was about to go on a world tour in 1989,” Kazamias, known simply as Kaz, tells Pollstar. “There was a vacancy on the tour management team and I was offered a job.”

That job has taken Kaz all over the globe, to venues ranging from tiny Pappy’s & Harriett’s near Joshua Tree, Calif., to Red Square in Moscow. He’s been part of so many notable moments that it’s hard for him to choose a favorite.

“My favorite story is the whole of my career is such fun,” Kaz says. 

He’s modest when discussing the qualities that make him a successful tour manager. “I don’t think it’s for me to say, but I suppose humility, empathy, concentration, positivity, organizational skills, kindness, being a happy person, ability to deal with the unexpected,” he offers. 

While technology has brought many changes to his job, Kaz says it is “giving us different ways of dealing with the job but, fundamentally, the job is the same as it has always been. … It’s about fitting all the bricks into the right holes day after day, and be ready for the unexpected.”