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On the Road: Sam Sullivan, Crew Chief/Drum Tech
The latest addition to U2.com's On the Road profile series is crew chief and drum tech Sam O'Sullivan. The complete members-only inrterview can be read here but highlights are below.
U2.com is also giving fans the chance to pose questions to O'Sullivan via crewquestion@U2.com.
First Time I saw U2
1979 was the year- I happened to be the Crew Chief and LD for the UCC which is the big college in Cork City. I was working for them in a place known as the Arcadia Ballroom. The college would rent these premises every weekend to put on bands and U2 were one of the visiting bands to what we called the Downtown Campus. If I'm correct I think we could get U2 for around £200. Like all bands that came to Cork we would supply the sound and lights. I would do the lights for bands that did not have anybody with them, all part of the service that came with the Arcadia. I was happy to do the lights as I was well into being involved with bands – it was the career I had chosen, maybe I could meet some bands and get on the road myself. I was playing drums in a few bands myself but being on the road full time was my goal.
After several visits to Cork by U2 i got to know them. Eventually before the Boy album I ended up doing lights for them on an Irish tour – basically I was U2's first LD. They then went in the studio to record Boy, and I went back to working with other bands and playing drums.
Favourite memory on the road with U2
I had a fantastic memory come back to me only recently when we went into the Sports Arena in LA for rehearsals. In 1987, the second night we were there, there was a spine-tingling moment when someone came in and told us The Joshua Tree had gone to No 1 in America. It’s maybe because it wasn’t long after I started working with U2 but some of my best memories are from that early period - shooting the video for ‘Streets With No Name’‚ in Los Angeles, the ‘Rattle and Hum’ shoot in Tempe, Arizona, Union Square in San Francisco when we stopped the traffic. Some of the spontaneous gigs with this band – they can be nerve wrecking but when they come together they can be magic, U2 at their best.
The latest addition to U2.com's On the Road profile series is crew chief and drum tech Sam O'Sullivan. The complete members-only inrterview can be read here but highlights are below.
U2.com is also giving fans the chance to pose questions to O'Sullivan via crewquestion@U2.com.
First Time I saw U2
1979 was the year- I happened to be the Crew Chief and LD for the UCC which is the big college in Cork City. I was working for them in a place known as the Arcadia Ballroom. The college would rent these premises every weekend to put on bands and U2 were one of the visiting bands to what we called the Downtown Campus. If I'm correct I think we could get U2 for around £200. Like all bands that came to Cork we would supply the sound and lights. I would do the lights for bands that did not have anybody with them, all part of the service that came with the Arcadia. I was happy to do the lights as I was well into being involved with bands – it was the career I had chosen, maybe I could meet some bands and get on the road myself. I was playing drums in a few bands myself but being on the road full time was my goal.
After several visits to Cork by U2 i got to know them. Eventually before the Boy album I ended up doing lights for them on an Irish tour – basically I was U2's first LD. They then went in the studio to record Boy, and I went back to working with other bands and playing drums.
Favourite memory on the road with U2
I had a fantastic memory come back to me only recently when we went into the Sports Arena in LA for rehearsals. In 1987, the second night we were there, there was a spine-tingling moment when someone came in and told us The Joshua Tree had gone to No 1 in America. It’s maybe because it wasn’t long after I started working with U2 but some of my best memories are from that early period - shooting the video for ‘Streets With No Name’‚ in Los Angeles, the ‘Rattle and Hum’ shoot in Tempe, Arizona, Union Square in San Francisco when we stopped the traffic. Some of the spontaneous gigs with this band – they can be nerve wrecking but when they come together they can be magic, U2 at their best.
