Living the Techie Dream
By Tine Roycroft

At 14, Brendan Langord was deep in the crowd at an Aerosmith concert when something took his focus off of Steven Tyler.

“I saw somebody climbing up to run a spot light,” Langord remembers. “And I said, “That’s cool. I want to do that someday.’”

Now, years later, Langord has been living the dream as the guy who walks with confidence across steel beams above concert stages. He rigs lights, public announcement systems, and video components of shows ~ basically, he does all the dirty work necessary to make each show pop with perfection. Without him, headliners would be standing on unlit stages, shouting into dead microphones. Bow down to the Rigging God and pay homage.

“All the lighting and all the PA,” Langord explained, “they need to be lifted above the stage by what we call motors. They have to be in a certain spot above the stage everyday so things don’t run into each other and they are where people want them to be. It’s my job [that] they end up in the right spot. “

Each day is different for Langord, as is each venue, as he tours with shows and concerts 6-8 months out of the year. According to Langord, in the United States, there is no necessary certification to get into rigging. Langord himself has a degree in Applied Mathematics from UMASS Amherst, and that certainly comes in handy. But mainly, says the pro, you learn by doing. Often you are working 18 hour days, marking chalk marks on stage floors for motor locations, figuring out where motors go, and unloading trucks. After the planning and prepping, it’s time to bring up the lights, sound and video while walking on the high beams.

“I don’t have a fear of heights, I have a respect for heights,” the freelance rigger said. “You’re required to wear a harness. There always needs to be safety lines that you can hook up to.”

And if you’re wondering if Langford has ever seen anyone fall from up above, the answer might shock you.

“I have seen one person fall and it was not pretty,” he said. “In 1994. She was up running a spot light and she slipped. It was my wife. We were married at the time. I screamed more than she did. “

Luckily, his wife, Kristin was fine. And despite the reminder of how dangerous his job can be, Langord went on to work other shows. His all time favs have been Jimmy Buffet and Paul Simon shows.

“Best shows ever,” Langord said, “Jimmy Buffet’s crew is a crew who gets along well together, always has a good time when they are together. As far as touring goes, I did a Paul Simon tour that was awesome ~ the whole crew got along so well the days weren’t really long and we’d go out on days off.”

As for the crappy shows, Langord has been on one or two of those as well. But he takes the good with the bad.

“I did a tour once,” he remembered. “It was a very cheap tour, it wasn’t selling well so they were cutting corners everywhere they could. Some mornings we were lucky if we got a hot breakfast in the morning and something good for dinner. We were playing crappy places, we didn’t have the crews we needed all the time.”

Langord has much to look forward to in 2010. After spending some well deserved time with his family over the holidays, he will be working with Phish as well as Eddie Izzard. Here’s hoping the catering is delish on both tours.