The stage was set up well ahead of time, too. But the real hard labor came the morning of the concert, after Tippin's two tractor-trailerfuls of equipment arrived and had to be unloaded and set up. The coliseum had 14 part-time roadies on hand to help Tippin's people. They toted boxes, connected heavy cords and a few walked among the rafters to help connect chains to hoist long rows of lights and refrigerator-sized speakers. James Spell of Fayetteville takes time off his home-improvement business whenever he can to answer the coliseum's call.
People think it's easy.
His wife, Teresa, also worked nearby as a stagehand. But Spell enjoys the work. The roadies finished most of their setup work by noon, sound checks started at 3 p.m., the concert got under way before more than 3,000 people at 8 p.m., and it ended about 2 hours later. Then the roadies came back and took it all apart again. The two tractor trailers were loaded and gone in the wee hours Saturday.