Heavy Metal Roadies - Marshall headphones - On the road - Vice

[ROCK MUSIC] JESSE HUGHES: When you think about rock and roll, and you think about the road, you're thinking about a mystical, mythical place that seems like everybody in the whole world dreams about being on, but nobody really knows what it's about. Legalize it. Don't criticize it, you know what I'm saying? Those who do go down that road soon come to a realization at their life that it's the place they always knew they should be, and the place they always wanted to be, even before they knew it. She loves me not. She loves me. She loves me not. She loves me. I believe the most thankless element of the rock roadie must truly exist within the metal world. The harbingers of the strip club and the strip pole, and the true strokers of the self ego. We're going to go to the Golden God Awards and see how much they truly love the road hero that they sing so much about. [ROCK MUSIC] [ROCK COVER OF CLASSICAL MUSIC] JESSE HUGHES: Yeah, so I realize that turning up to a parade of '80s rockers wearing a "Legalize Gay" shirt could be a little close to the bone, so I switched to something a little more appropriate. [MUSIC CONTINUES] JESSE HUGHES: Now this is supposed to be heavy metal. Is that William Shatner? Is that his toupee as well? It's William Shatner and his toupee. Would you like to see a reward recognizing the meritorious achievements of the road crew? SEBASTIAN BACH: What a-- look. You just gave me *** chill bumps, dude. JESSE HUGHES: Oh, thanks. SEBASTIAN BACH: Cause that would be really cool. You know, the bands make it rock, but the crews make it roll. CHRIS JERICHO: Without a good road crew, you don't have a good band. I mean, that's the truth. That's why bands like Maiden have had their same crew for like 20 years. MALE SPEAKER: It'd be like Elton John going out without a toupee. You couldn't do it. CHRIS JERICHO: You just couldn't-- [LAUGHTER] DAVID COVERDALE: Oh, are you kidding me? They're the cowboys of the 21st century. Totally. ROBB FLYNN: That would be a good award. DAVE MCCLAIN: It would be a *** award, I would imagine. JESSE HUGHES: The road crew members are what we're doing a story on. Do you have any experiences with road crew that you would like to tell us about? JENNA HAZE: With road crew? I don't-- like, you mean like the roadies and stuff? JESSE HUGHES: Yes. SEBASTIAN BACH: [MAKES HORN SOUND WITH MOUTH] DEZ FAFARA: They're more important than anything. They get up while we're sleeping. JESSE HUGHES: Have you ever killed any hookers and used the road crew to hide the body? DEZ FAFARA: No. JESSE HUGHES: Have you ever attempted to kill any member of a road crew, or has any member of a road crew attempted to kill you in any way, shape or form? JENNA HAZE: No, not at all. I have good security, so. SEBASTIAN BACH: [SINGING] Like what note--you know-- JESSE HUGHES: Yeah, what the *** is going on? SEBASTIAN BACH: What note is this? JESSE HUGHES: How do you feel about the road crew in general? TAYLOR MOMSEN: Fantastic FRANK BELLO: I used to be a road crew. I used to be a roadie for Anthrax before I got in the band. So I relate, brother. It's all good. VINCE NEIL: There are so many guys that could win this award. SHAWN CRAHAN: They actually work harder than the band, you know? So much respect to all those people. STEVEN ADLER: The band don't play unless there's a road crew. Road crew eats first. VINNIE PAUL: The road crew really is the unsung heroes of everything, man. And without them this doesn't happen, you know? So we appreciate them, and we always made them part of our families, part of our home videos, and it really was our family. JESSE HUGHES: Well I think we've learned that the metal gods truly love their boys of the road crew. Machismo in the brodeo goes without saying. There's a little bit of a broner. And I saw a big broner in the metal scene for their road crew. But you know what? We're not getting the whole picture yet. We need to uncover the rock and let the cockroaches run free. [ROCK MUSIC] JESSE HUGHES: So we've caught wind, and in our scent is now Mr. Hickey himself. He is one of the last, and a true god of the road crew scene. This man has seen it all. He's been naked with Nick Oliveri on stage, and he's swapped *** with more junkies and trannies than anybody would ever care to know. I'm going to take you all to see the Hickey. Now the Hickey, he's gonna leave more than a mark. JEF HICKEY: My first day on the road? Well, it was Megadeth, and it was in Providence, Rhode Island, [GRUNTING]. And-- [GRUNTING] near the end of the night, they asked me if I wanted to go with them. I said, can I go home and get some clothes? And they said, no, we don't have time for that. You got to come with us now. So I left with the clothes on my back, and then that night I was sleeping in the back of a Ryder truck, cradling a shotgun, laying on top of Marshall cabinets. It was the ultimate life-altering decision that changed everything. I don't think I slept the whole tour. It was-- I absorbed everything. I did every drug for the first time on that tour. I saw my first, like, nine guys *** one chick, and then throwing her out of the Winnebago. And then I had my first taste of speed. And then my first taste of coke. I *** a stripper with a broken leg in the *** in Mississauga, Ontario, at the Coronet Motor Hotel. JESSE HUGHES: Hickey is a slippery snake. I had to get my grips on him outside a tattoo parlor, and I ended whipping him and his tattooist back to my place. Hickey reveals one of the uncompromising facts of the rock world. If you love it, it will twist you and leave its mark upon your body. JESSE HUGHES: Put it anywhere? JEF HICKEY:Yeah, right there. JESSE HUGHES: You can't fall asleep without the rumble of a tour bus or without being wedged between two flight cases in an uncomfortable position at a midnight airport. You just wanted to go where the rock was, see your favorite brands and you saw, wow, if I do this, I get to be where the rock is, right? JEF HICKEY: Yup. JESSE HUGHES: And then next thing you know you're in a *** Ryder truck with a shotgun. JEF HICKEY: Shotgun. Protecting the gear. Scared out of my *** mind. I was with of my favorite thrash metal bands, and I was in awe, because I was working with Dave Mustaine and-- JESSE HUGHES: And you went for it. Never looked back. JEF HICKEY: Never looked back. DAVE MUSTAINE: It's real! ***, it's real! MALE SPEAKER: Two, two. Hey, yeah, two, two two. JEF HICKEY: And then it was just kind of word of mouth. I went from Megadeth to Celtic Frost, to Nuclear Assault, to Samhain, to Danzig, to Tora Tora. I just get jumping from band to band. I did Mariah Carey. I did Madonna. I learned with Billy Joel that if the red cup was in the dressing room, that meant Christie's not coming. Put *** in there. But if there was a blue cup, that meant Christie's coming. They're better be water in every cup. And Luther Vandross would FedEx his toilet seat ahead of time. And we would have to install his toilet seat, so that when Luther came in, he would sit on his toilet seat, and it was his. I did Lemmy from Motorhead. I got the Maker's Mark ready at the end of the night, with the cigarette going. I had to hand him both. I was a glorified waiter, is what I was. But man, it was the best cigarette I've ever lit. And it was the greatest drink I've ever poured. And I did it every night. And I was looking forward to that moment, because I knew I had made it through another war day. And he didn't break a string, and he wasn't giving me that dirty look, or he wasn't screaming about this or that. It was awesome. He was just-- it was great. JESSE HUGHES: So I want hear this burger story. JEF HICKEY: I make it across the border. I'm out of it. I've been up for three days. And I'm *** hungry. And Phil-- the guitar player from Motorhead-- tells me that there's some burgers on the bus, and I should go have one. So I go into the bus, and I grab the burger off the plate, and everybody's looking at me. And it's just one of those moments where you're like, wait, something's not right. I go to bite, and then I realize it's a patty of ***. JESSE HUGHES: I personally have seen people walk off the stage for far less. JEF HICKEY: Sure. I've had guitars broken across my leg. I had an SG thrown at me. I've been hit with mic stands. I've been kicked. Yeah, I was just kinda caught in the line of fire. I'm the guy. JESSE HUGHES: This is a calling, almost. JEF HICKEY: Oh no, dude, I would do anything for the show, dude. Anything for the show. Because every show that I went to, some guy put it on. And that show changed my life. So I'm hoping that the show that I helped put on changes some other kid's life. And then he's the next Lemmy, or the next Josh, or the next Nick, or whoever. JESSE HUGHES: That sums it up, right there. But would you recommend this? And if you would, who would you recommend it to, and what would you recommend? JEF HICKEY: I'm not here to tell anybody what to do, 'cause I didn't want anybody telling me what to do. But it's a lot of fun, man. It's a great *** existence. I got to some really great shows. I got to meet a lot of cool people. I got to *** a lot of amazing chicks that normally wouldn't even serve me dinner. So. JESSE HUGHES: Any regrets? JEF HICKEY: Uh, wow. Yeah, ***. ***. That's it. JESSE HUGHES: There's a phrase often said that if you can't do the crime, do not do the time. Rock and roll is a beautiful and amazing vicious animal, but it takes no prisoners, and it will leave its mark upon you. It's definitely not for those who want to lead the disciple's life of Christ. And it's certainly not for people trying to save whales or stop global warming. In order to be alive in the belly of the whale, you have to be just as mean. If not meaner. JEF HICKEY: that's-- [LAUGHS] that feels fine. [LAUGHING/CRYING] I just really miss my mom, right now. Simultaneously, just coincidentally at the same time that this tattoo's happening. You know, and I'm just thinking about, like AIDS and cancer. Just makes me sad. [LAUGHTER]