2023 Women of Live: Marguerite Nguyen

Tour Manager | Coldplay

When touring picked back up post-COVID, Marguerite Nguyen remembers, “it was like walking in quicksand, so cumbersome. The hurdles you had to overcome seemed impossible at times. But look at us now!” She had just touched down in Brazil, where Coldplay’s “Music Of The Spheres” world tour resides through March, visiting stadiums in Sao Paolo, Curitiba, and Rio de Janeiro – all sold out, just like the forthcoming European, UK and U.S. dates. This year marks her 15th anniversary with the British stars. “I’ve been with them since 2008, and their tour manager since 2012. I’ll continue with them as long as they’ll have me.”

There’s “a sea” of female tour managers in 2023, says Nguyen, “more and more bands are requesting female tour managers. Now, we just need the pay scale to match our male counterparts. And we can’t be scared to talk about it.” The touring world has come a long way in terms of female representation since Nguyen first hit the road in 2000. “Back in my promoter rep days, there were no female tour managers which is what made me want to do what I do,” she remembers.

Today, she’s “grateful to be surrounded by such smart, strong, kind, beautiful women in the business: Nicole Erin Massey (Billie Eilish), Tiffany Henry, Orla Clarke (both Coldplay), Julie Matway (Country Nation), Chanon di Carlo (Upstaging), Claire van Herck (Foo Fighters), Samara Goldhecht (The Lumineers), to name a few. Women who support each other, no competition, no games.” Her list of mentors includes men, too, like production manager Matt Miley (Imagine Dragons), who gave Nguyen her first job, or production manager Craig ‘Fin’ Finley (Michael Bublé), whose first words when they met were, “there’s no yelling here.”

“I mean, what better way to start a tour, and an incredible working relationship?”, she says.

A touring veteran herself, whose other clients include Janet Jackson, and Charlie Puth, she’s now in a position where young professionals may ask her for advice. “I always say, ‘be nice to everyone’, rather than the proverbial ‘you see the same people going up as you see going down’. Just be nice to everyone. Your singer. Your runner. The security person sitting outside your door. The cleaner coming to grab your trash. Treat them all the same. Just. Be. Nice.”