So a crew guy friend of mine took this Oasis song and redid the guitar, bass and drums over the original singers voice. These are the things that crew guys can do. So never assume a crew guy does not have talent.

Many people are always asking to get into touring but 95% don’t understand that in order to tour for a living you need to take your job seriously. Yes there is a time when it’s all jokes but its usually never happening during show time. You can’t screw around when you are moving heavy cases because that is the fastest way to lose a finger, a nail or worse of all hurt someone else. You will see that people that tour for a living have a sick sense of humor, it may not always translate well with people but with touring peeps it always funny. We do Stupid stuff like making someone repeat the same thing 30 times or making each crew guy ask the same person the same question within 10 second of each other but when show time comes, its on and all jokes are put aside, the pro comes out in everyone. Yes most of us may act immature but when the band is on stage it’s all business. This is where most people don’t get it specially the superfans that want to get into touring. My recommendation is if you are going to act like a crazy fan touring will not work for you.

I have been a fan of many bands and have friends that tour that act like 12 year old girl for certain artist but they do one thing. They never work for that artist. So heads up people if you want to tour please understand that it is work and sometime no fun, specially if you’re a crew person.

Last thing, when a show is done and a fan is asking a crew person questions and that crew guy/girl seems like he/she is ignoring you. Its not that, it’s that they are trying to breakdown a stage, lights, sound to get to the next town so your favorite band can put up another show for some other fans.

Please again if you are a superfans of a band you will not be able to tour with them because they will see right through that. So play it cool understand that it’s a job and when it’s time to have fun you will know because no one will be working.

This is my opinion and only an opinion.

Tonight we have Sean “Big Daddy” Porter. He is 23 years old and has been touring for 6 years. He is a tour manager and has toured with artists such as Kris Allen from American Idol, Cage the Elephant, Sherwood, This Providence, Mat Kearney and many others. Not only is he an adult babysitter he was also a merch person and will occasionally step back behind the table for local shows for kicks and giggles. His beard has a VIP pass to all shows so keep your eyes open for Big Daddy.

Now here we go with Sean Big Daddy on 5 questions with Themerchdude

1) You have tour with many bands and have many band/crew and merch peeps as friends, if touring wasnt in your blood what do you feel you would be doing instead?

Well touring isn’t something I want to do forever. I think it is a stepping stone for other things, at least for me. As some people know I am on a quest to get on the Ellen Show, which I will hope lead to new exciting things! But, with that being said, if I never started touring I would probably be a bum working as a mechanic or contractor. I wasn’t much of the schooling type so college was out of the question for me.

2) Tour managing is one of the toughest jobs to do on the road, long hours prepping for a tour and while on tour you’re looking out for the band, crew, catering, label reps, settling shows, fans, meet and greets and baby sitting adults, Which one of these is your least favorite?

It is a tough job. There is always a balance you have to have between fun and work. I have been fortunate enough to not work with very many divas but that is always a pain in the ass. Radio can also be a pain as well because most of the time some idiot label rep will be trying to undermine you the whole time and then if you get off track with your schedule your whole day is messed up.

3) I know you’re a big Ellen fan (the TV show) and one of your goals is to sit with her as one of her as a guest, What made you such a huge fan? And what can the readers do to help you get to this goal?

I started watching her show about 3 years ago and about a year into it some friends and I were joking about how cool it would be to be a guest on her show. Thats what sparked the idea and about 6 months ago I decided to hit it hard and fully launched my campaign. There are many different ways to get the word out! Even if it is just a tweet. But you can always write into her show, get a t-shirt and if you are in the business and are on the Ellen show then I expect you to tell her all about me and the quest.

4) As a person that works on tour for a living that travels via plane, bus, van and cars, Have you join the mile high club yet? and what airline was it?

ha! Lets just say I am a member of Virgin Air. haha

5) What is the one thing Big daddy does not put up with while on the road?

Stupid People. I cannot stand when people don’t use common sense. I am normally a very calm and collected person but if you are an idiot or get on my bad side I am not afraid to put you in your place and make you look like a complete moron. I also cannot stand when promoters try to surprise you the day of show. That pisses me off as well.

The merch dude once disappeared for a sold 74 hours once on a quest for a lost New Buffalo box of hoodies. No one could find him. I wasnt until I washed my beard that we found him. He had gotten lost in the depths of my face-forrest where there is no cell reception. he did however find the missing merch and all was right again at the merch table.

Sean can be followed on Twitter- @bigdaddysays and if you really want to help a fellow touring peep to make his dream come true please hit up this site www.bigdaddyonellen.com or Sean Facebook, maybe someday you can see a guy with an awesome beard jumping up and down on the Ellen show with a huge smile.