Production Live! 2020 Coverage: 'OK What Do You Want To Know 2 - Ask The Legends'

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ASK THE LEGENDS: (l-R) Moderator Stuart Ross, Jake Berry, Debbie Sharpe, Mark “Springo” Spring, Lori Tierney and Charley Hernandez

An annual highlight of Production Live! since its inception is the “ask the legends” panel, packed with production veterans and stories from the road galore.

The 2020 edition was no different, with moderator Stuart Ross of Red Light Management leading conversations with Jake Berry, CEO of Jake Berry Productions; Charlie Hernandez, President of QED Productions and co-founder of JustABunchOfRoadies.org; Debbie Sharpe, owner of The Goddess Rocks!, Mark “Springo” Spring, production manager of tours for musical legends including Paul McCartney, Metallica, Ricky Martin, and George Michael; and Lori Tierney, partner, Satellite Office Services.

Pollstar Live! 2020 Conference News Hub

There were stories ranging from road debauchery to the best of good deeds, from Jake Berry’s tale of “eggs over easy” smeared around unidentified nostrils to conceal the use of illicit snortables to Bono’s remark of “who’ll even notice” when an extra shipping container was sent to Haiti to assist in earthquake relief after the catastrophic temblor that struck the island nation in 2010.

Philanthropy, and memories of the Haiti earthquake relief effort, was a major topic. Tierney and Hernandez told his organization’s origin story, going back to getting off a charter flight to the island when he and his group were asked who they were. “Just a bunch of roadies,” he said, and the name obviously stuck.

Sharpe told about her catering organization’s efforts to feed some 2,000 artists and crew members at 1989’s Moscow Music Peace Festival – at a time and in a country with very little experience staging massive rock concerts. The show took place at Lenin Stadium and featured Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions and many other rockers. Tierney talked about her earliest days in the male-dominated world of concert production, recalling her ethic was to “do everything.”

Among things Sharpe misses about old-school touring life? “One hour load-outs with two to three trucks” and real-time conversations rather than text messaging.

Berry agreed on the latter point, saying, “It’s important to speak to someone, especially promoter reps.”

Mark “Springo” Spring said he misses “sleep.”

Hernandez was the target of another story by Springo, who told of Hernandez’s first show with Paul McCartney, at Yankee Stadium. Spring says he found Hernandez sitting in the top row of the stadium, “weeping like a little girl” for the opportunity.

That led to another legendary tale and catch phrase: Hernandez, upon meeting Sir Paul, shook the star’s hand so hard he had to be warned “Don’t break a Beatle!”

Obviously, the McCartney show had an impact on Hernandez, leading Ross to ask the panel if there was a moment so bad it made them consider walking away.

Several mentioned the weather cancellation of a Super Bowl concert in Miami, and others mentioned artist demands, causing Berry to mutter, “Motley.”

Stuart threw questions to the audience, provoking one member to ask if Elon Musk were to ask the producers to throw a concert on the moon, Berry replied, “There’s no gravity on that question.”

But he also came back and said, “Yeah, I’d do it. Everyone wants to be the first to do something like that.”