When my buddy told me he was going on tour with Tremonti, I had to stop for a second, like do I know this band? Most assuredly, I did, and you probably do, too. At least, you probably know the musicians.
The name threw me at first, as I did not realize that Mark Tremonti had a solo project. Most people would probably remember him from the band Creed, but when that lead singer started his own project, Mark joined Alter Bridge, which is the band he was in the last time I interviewed him. That was back when Fort Rock was still a festival in Fort Myers a few years before the whole pandemic craziness:
My buddy who is currently on tour with Tremonti I had met 20 years ago when I was touring on Ozzfest, when he was working with an entirely different band back then. He's one of those guys in the scene that has been around just about as long as anybody, though he's not as well known by the masses as the lead singers and guitar players that most fans might fix their attention on at concerts. Yet, he's still very much a part of the show, making sure things run smoothly when it comes to instruments, such as drums and bass on this tour with Tremonti, and while techs might not always get the love from the masses, they're still a part of the overall production, troubleshooting any problems to make sure the show must go on.
Marco Zambrano is a guy who has been brought up in conversations before, as I mentioned, he has been in the scene working with a number of bands across a variety of genres. While I met him on Ozzfest, I also caught up with him when I was covering the Sounds of the Underground Tour and he was working with GWAR, and while he worked with Fear Factory, I did not totally foresee him making the switch to rap. From artists like Mary J. Blige to Jay-Z, Marco has worked with more of a variety of musicians than most, currently with Tremonti, and soon to be with Hatebreed, which is ironically where he had been mentioned in a former interview with Hatebreed when they played in Tampa:
Of course, Hatebreed will be making their way back to Florida in May for the Welcome to Rockville festival in Daytona, for those who want to check out the Ozzfest alumi playing alongside other greats, such as KISS, Korn, In This Moment, Clutch, Down, Megadeth, Shine Down, Rise Against, Guns N' Roses, Shinedown, Papa Roach, We Came As Romans (who, I might add, still did the best version of "the wall" that I seen in person, and no, I am not talking about Pink Floyd, but the moshing phenomenon known as the wall, where the crowd separates, pushing to the right and left, leaving a huge gap in the middle of the floor, and on command, both sides rush into mosh, creating utter chaos) and so many other bands, it's literally their largest lineup with like four days and a warm-up event with Steel Panther to kick things off. I'd personally be interested in checking out The Hu, not to be confused with The Who who wrote Tommy, but the throaty singers that have a style different from most others there.
As for Marco, who's father happens to be from the same city that my father is working in right now, I might quasi-count this Jersey boy as a wanna be Floridian, as he does wind up down here quite often, and with his father being from here, we'll count that like an honorary mention. This past time, I caught up with him in Orlando, for the start of the Tremonti tour, long enough for us to both try the Sugar Factory for the first time, which had an upbeat touristy nature, as just about every table except for ours seemed to be celebrating birthdays, which means the staff not only comes out to sing, but they pump up the music, dancing in synch with each other, while a huge firework bursts out of an ice cream sundae.
Quite tempted to claim it to be each other's birthday's, we merely laughed and clapped along with the grooving dance crew of waiters, as they seemed to put on a show every few moments with yet another huge firework, sparklers reaching up like five feet in the air out of the melting ice cream. Considering their milk shakes are $20, they do put in some pizzazz to make it an interesting place to celebrate. With it being located by the Orlando Eye and other tourist destinations on International Drive, it's as central a location as you can get in the midst of all the action, and their milkshakes are over the top.
After Marco finishes up with Tremonti and Hatebreed, he is off with yet another band that you probably know, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to announce it yet or not. So, let's just say, he, like other techs, continue to jump around behind the scenes, and for the average fan, might not even be noticed by many. Rest assured, this is a guy that is not only helping a variety of bands with their shows behind the scenes, but he also has musical talent (which might be obvious, given what he does) and has his own projects.
He's not the only tech out there, as there's a bunch of people that hop from band to band, scene to scene, genre to genre, holding the technical pieces together behind the scenes, working longer hours than the people getting all the glory on stage. Working on Ozzfest 20 years ago helped not only open my eyes to all the people behind the scenes, but actually get to know them and understand what they do. Sure, working as a pyrotechnic with an ATF clearance certainly gives me a behind the scene view, too, as well as an understanding at how hard the work is that the techs do behind the scenes to makes things pretty for the people who are simply sitting back and watching the finished product like magic.
The technical people and crew might not be the ones signing autographs and getting favors like the ones in the spotlight, but they are the ones working long hours, being away from friends and family while on long stretches of tour. If you really want to make money as a tech, being on the road is part of the deal, and if you want to be working year-round, that might mean being away from friends and family year-round. While you might make new friends, it's certainly nice to run into familiar faces along the way.
Whether you're a pyrotechnic or a musical tech, if you're the head of security like Big Val (RIP), or building cases like Paul Momney, you're part of making the magic happen. Techs need recognition, too. Next time you're at a show, take a look at what the people behind the scenes are doing.
For more by Marisa, visit www.lulu.com/spotlight/thorisaz
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