Backstage Tales

Getting a music tour on the road is a massive undertaking, particularly if the star has a large entourage.

A big tour can be the size of a small town, and every night it ups sticks and takes to the road again. Just feeding the crew is a military operation, which takes an army of caterers.

So how do they do it?

Having spent over 30 years on the road, Midge Ure is perfectly placed to spill the beans on musicians on tour. As Midge says, it is an incredible thing to be part of but it is also a hermetically sealed bubble, detached from the real world and creating its own reality.

Midge goes backstage into the bizarre world of musicians on tour, to explore how touring has changed since his heyday in the 80s and to meet the army of crew behind the scenes who put the tour together: the roadies, lighting technicians, sound engineers, tour managers, caterers, and the artists themselves.

He hears their backstage tales and finds out exactly what it takes to get the show on the road.

With:

Jason Donovan
Boy George
Kim Wilde
Belinda Carlisle
Martin Kemp

Producer: Melissa Fitzgerald

A Blakeway production or BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2011.