The life of a rockstar is one of travel; touring the world to put on a show in a new city every night. When your shows are on the ‘world tour’ scale, they’re no small production. It takes a lot of work and a lot of manpower to set up the stage, props, lighting, instruments, electronics, coordinate a flawless show and then tear it down, and move it to the next stop on the tour. Traveling with the band is a whole team of production managers, assistants, audio engineers, lighting techs, pyrotechnics experts, drum and guitar techs… the list goes on. The road crew lives on buses and in hotels for months at a time and upon arriving in a new city, you can imagine they want to get out and explore the area. The bicycle is the perfect means to do this. You can’t drive the tour bus down to the waterfront to check out the harbor but hop on a bike, take in the sights while getting some exercise, and your down time suddenly gets a lot more exciting. With limited space on the tour bus, folding bikes have become quite popular among those who work on the road.
A few weeks ago, the legendary British heavy metal band, Iron Maiden came to Boston. Their production manager gave us a call looking for some bikes and we decided to hand deliver them and take in the show. We met up with our old friend Jude before doors opened so we could drop off the bikes and take a look behind the scenes. He loaded his new folding bikes into one of about six, 18-wheelers that haul the band’s gear. The driver said he would have maybe 3 feet of space on the tail once they loaded up again, so the bikes could live there for now. It’s amazing how calculated the logistics are on a tour this size.
And speaking of calculated, Iron Maiden played a tight set that night. Established in 1975 in East London, Iron Maiden pioneered the new wave of British Heavy Metal that took the world by storm in the 1980s. They haven’t stopped rocking since, and they had no problem drawing about 15,000 rabid Maiden fans for their show at Great Woods. The band was full of energy, their set list was full of classics, and the guitar solos were the icing on the cake. Of course, the work of the production crew is what took the experience from simply a concert to a multi-sensory experience. Giant statues of Iron Maiden’s famous “Eddie” mascot rose from behind the band, explosions rocked the stage, and video screens showed eerie film sequences to accompany the wail of distorted guitar from a dialed in sound system. As a tattered British flag waved above the stage, lead singer Bruce Dickinson screeched “SCREAM FOR ME BOSTON!”, and scream we did.
We’re proud to have Montague Bikes on the road with some of the biggest touring acts out there. If they can handle the rigors of a 3 month, 35 city tour, they can handle anything. If your work takes you on the road, or you want a bike with you on your next vacation, a Montague folding bike would be the perfect travel companion.
