I used to be roadie for a number of different bands, and for those who are not familiar with the definition I will elaborate. The roadie does all the hard grafting, from heavy lifting to assembly of the equipment for the whole show. As a fan of the group, you attend the concert and enjoy the performance and also the ambience of the whole event. But who cares about the people who work the long hours to ensure the safe transportation of the equipment from one venue to another?

It is often seen as a glamour job, because of the close proximity to the ‘stars’, and I admit it is quite a thrill to meet them for the first time. They eventually become regular people, having spent the best part of three months on the road together.

If you are lucky enough to be employed by well-known musicians, you are likely to be working with some of the best equipment that money can buy, and methods of transportation. No longer will you be associated with small van transportation – we are talking here about massive articulated lorries. You could look at it as if it were a mark of the band’s success.

In the good old days, someone would drive the band in an old Transit van, probably one of the band member’s mates. Back in the Swinging Sixties it began this way for me. When I think back, I once was the proud owner of a Commer van, until the arrival of the Transit in the early seventies. To me, from that point onwards I was sold on Fords, and from that day onwards it is still the same! In those days contract hire vans did not exist to the extent that it does today. If we had even been interested in it, we were so broke we couldn’t possibly afford it.

If leasing products had been available, I would have been looking at medium or small van leasing or pick up truck leasing, which has bundles of style and fun.