Tour Management 101 interns on site at Lollapalooza with Tyler, the Creator’s team in Chicago: tour manager Henry Bordeaux, Alix Negrin, Veronica Fuchs Espinal, production manager David ‘5-1’ Norman, and Tia Harewood-Millington.
When Tyler, the Creator took the stage at Lollapalooza July 30 to close out Day 2 with a headline performance that was praised by the Chicago Sun Times as a “visionary, art-driven set that melded jazz, R&B, rap, trip hop and darkcore,” his show came to life in part because of the efforts of a few Tour Management 101 interns who shadowed Tyler’s team.
“We had a couple of students that shadowed us at Lollapalooza and we didn’t take it lightly on them,” production manager David ‘5-1’ Norman of Tour Forensics told Pollstar. “We said if you guys want to see what it’s really like, you’re going to have to come with us at midnight [for] load-in.”
He added, “Tour manager Henry Bordeaux brings in students to shadow, because that’s the best way to learn. … You know, you can talk about it, but you’ve got to walk the walk. You’ve got to physically be involved.”
The team loaded in at midnight, left Chicago’s Grant Park at 10:15 a.m., went back to the hotel, slept for a few hours, and then returned to the site at 6:30 p.m. Tyler, the Creator’s went on at 8:45 and then load-out finished up around 1 a.m.
Norman praised the interns, Alix Negrin, Veronica Fuchs Espinal and Tia Harewood-Millington, commenting that he “never heard them complain, like, ‘Oh, I’m so tired’ or anything. They came in, they knew what to expect and they jumped in and helped out where needed. They did amazing.
“I also have to give a shout out to our production coordinator on Tyler. His name is Alex Prince – who’s amazing. He really helped the students out in the production office, teaching them and guiding them. Between Henry and Alex, I think the students learned a lot.”