Nathalie Candel

Hi there, my name is Nathalie and I am a Tour Manager and Stage Manager, specialising in environmental sustainability.

As a Tour Manager I aim to create a culture where wellbeing for the touring party and for the planet is at the forefront. We need a healthy planet to be able to continue to do exciting touring shows, and the artist needs to feel good and be in the right mindset to give a spectacular performance. I want to implement environmental best practice within the international touring community so that it becomes a standard across the industry.

A few things about me: I am a UK resident, but have an EU passport and driving licence. I value equality, mental health, diversity, and transparency. I believe that a friendly approach can achieve far more than an aggressive one. I have experience in technical production and I also work as a Stage Manager, both touring and at festivals. I have experience with and enjoy working on sober tours. I have completed courses in Covid-19 Compliance, Mental Health First Aid, Addiction and Recovery Awareness, and Music Industry Leadership.

I am an active member of the global live music community, having contributed as a speaker on various industry panels and for the Tour Production Group, The Back Lounge, LIVE Green, The Good Business Festival, and Women In Live Music. I have attended South By Southwest (SXSW) five times to date. I featured in the New York Times as part of The Back Lounge peer support community – to read the article, click here. LSI Magazine published a profile about my work in their May 2022 issue - click here to read the piece on page 68.

PJ Harvey
Production Coordinator

Europe, 2023 - present

Polly Jean Harvey is an iconic vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. In July 2023 she released a new album called I Inside The Old Year Dying. After having been off the road for seven years, she performed the new album in full on a 26-date tour of Europe in September and October 2023.

As the Production Coordinator, I am responsible for the dressing rooms and production office, Master Tour and the day sheets, the local runner, tracking expenses and receipts, co-managing travel logistics, and supporting the Tour Manager and Production manager with anything they need. I also manage the stage wardrobe and prepare the costumes for each show.

The European tour consisted of 26 shows across 13 cities, meaning we had two shows in each venue. Some of the highlights were The Roundhouse in London, The Olympia in Paris, Johnny Marr joining at The Albert Hall in Manchester, and we organised a Walk & Talk with Women In Live Music at the Falkoner in Copenhagen.

“Nathalie is our Production Coordinator on PJ Harvey’s tours through 2023- 2024. She is extremely hard working, diligent, and has the eye for detail and accuracy that the role requires. She’s a warm-hearted great person to have around with a brilliant sense of humour and fun. She has also stepped up on occasion as Tour Manager in my absence, which she has covered admirably. I can’t recommend her enough, she’s an asset to any team. ” - Suzi Green, Tour Manager

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Rhythm & Vines
Main Stage Manager

New Zealand, 2022 & 2023

Rhythm & Vines is New Zealand's largest annual music festival. It takes place 29-31 December, with a big countdown before midnight on New Year's Eve and ringing in the New Year into the early hours of January 1st. The festival's location is the Waiohika Estate vineyard, close to Gisborne on the east coast of the North Island.

The technical production of the event is led by BELO Productions, and I joined the team in 2022 as the Stage Manager of the main stage to lead around 30 crew across audio, lighting, video, special effects, and staging. The line-up contained a mixture of full bands and DJs, with lots of varied LX floor packages and SFX options. Dimension's live set even included a live handheld flamethrower! I returned in 2023 for another edition of the festival, including headliners Becky Hill, Wilkinson, Central Cee, Dom Dolla, and Sub Focus.

Some of my personal highlights on the line-up were Spacey Jane, Sachi, Alison Wonderland, and of course experiencing a big countdown with fireworks at midnight on New Year's Eve!

“Nathalie joined the R&V 2022 Production team bringing fresh energy and dedication to delivering an epic show. Nathalie worked on the advance creating riser schedules and assisting with confirming deck/leg orders. With Nathalie’s guidance Stage Managing the Vines Stage over the three day festival, the team worked well together, met expected changeover schedules and delivered artist tech riders / requirements in a challenging rural environment. We absolutely recommend Nathalie as a Stage Manager for any show. She’s a great asset to the team, an efficient concise communicator and doesn’t muck around! We really appreciate the work she put into the show and look forward to working with Nathalie in the future.” - Bex & Milo Kerrigan, BELO Productions

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Live Nation Aotearoa
Various Production Roles

New Zealand, 2023

As a freelancer, I work on different shows in various roles for Live Nation in New Zealand. So far, these shows and roles have included:

Assistant Stage Manager for My Chemical Romance at The Outerfields at Western Springs in Auckland, March 2023.

Truck Wrangler for Rod Stewart at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, April 2023.

Assistant Stage Manager for The 1975 at the TSB Arena in Wellington, April 2023.

Production Assistant for Wu-Tang Clan & NAS at the Spark Arena in Auckland, May 2023.

Production Assistant for Post Malone at The Outerfields at Western Springs in Auckland, November 2023.

Backstage Coordinator for 50 Cent at the Spark Arena in Auckland, December 2023.

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Clean Bandit
Deputy Tour Manager

Europe, 2023

In the absence of Clean Bandit's regular Tour Manager, I stepped in for two festival shows of the joyful electropop group.

The two festival slots took place at Lakefest in England, and Nisa Am Festa in Portugal.

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Kelly Lee Owens
Deputy Tour Manager

Europe, 2023

In the absence of Kelly's regular Tour Manager, I stepped in for two festival shows of the electronic music artist and producer.

The two festival slots took place at All Together Now in Ireland and Rally Festival in London.

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Heritage Live & Flackstock
Main Stage Manager

United Kingdom, 2023

Heritage Live is a series of large music events that take place at historic landmarks and estates around England. I joined the team as the Stage Manager of the main stage for the Heritage Live weekend taking place at Englefield Estate.

The event took place across four days, with headliners Hozier, Richard Ashcroft, The Bootleg Beatles, and with the charity event Flackstock taking place on the last day. This is a one-day festival organised in memory of Caroline Flack, raising money for mental health charities.

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Laufey
Tour Manager

Europe, 2023

Laufey is an incredibly talented vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. She creates modern jazz music with the aim to make the genre popular again with younger audiences.

I joined Laufey and her band for two weeks around Europe. In addition to the Tour Manager role, I assisted with stage management and backline when a sound check was not possible. The tour included festivals performances at Gent Jazz, North Sea Jazz, Montreux Jazz, and Pori Jazz, and a secret show at Omeara in London.

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Festival For The Future
Production Manager

New Zealand, 2023

Inspiring Stories organises the annual Festival For The Future, a conference centred around sustainability, innovation, and leadership.

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Fazerdaze, supporting Lorde
Tour Manager

New Zealand, 2023

After the 2021 postponement of the Solar Power tour, Lorde rescheduled her six live shows in New Zealand to February and March 2023. I joined as the Tour Manager for Fazerdaze, the official tour support.

The postponed tour came with its own new challenges. A cyclone in February meant that the outdoor venue of the first two shows in Lower Hutt was unable to host the concerts, which meant that they were moved to the TSB Arena in Wellington. The two shows in Hawke's Bay had to sadly be postponed again due to the area being devastated by the cyclone. They eventually took place at the end of April. The other two shows took place in Nelson and at Western Springs in Auckland.

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Electric Avenue
Assistant Stage Manager

New Zealand, 2023

At the 2023 edition of the Electric Avenue festival in Christchurch, I had the pleasure of assisting the Stage Manager of the event's second stage.

The line-up consisted of a diverse mix of artists, including rock bands, DJs, and a complete symphony orchestra! I liaised with the artists' teams and local production crew, kept on top of the time schedule, looked after the local backline, and assisted with change overs.

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Laneway Festival Pre-Party
Production & Stage Manager

New Zealand, 2023

The St Jerome's Laneway Festival takes place across six cities in Oceania: Auckland, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth. In 2023, the festival's official Pre-Show was hosted at the Powerstation in Auckland, New Zealand.

As the Production Manager, I liaised with all technical production teams to ensure the correct backline, audio, and lighting equipment was booked and operated during the show. I advanced the show with all three bands on the line-up - Turnstile, 100 GECS and Yard Act - only to be met with a last-minute curveball! Due to a heavy storm, 100 GECS and Yard Act were unable to land in Auckland in time, and they were replaced by two new bands with less than 24 hours until show time. I swiftly updated all teams on the needs of the two new bands - Fazerdaze and DARTZ - and adjusted the schedule and information accordingly.

On the day, I led the team as the Stage Manager for the show and liaised with the venue as the Rep for the festival. In addition to the technical aspects of my role, I also dealt with the dressing rooms, hospitality, guest list, and finances of the show.

I was really looking forward to work as a Stage Manager on the actual Laneway Festival in Auckland the next day, but unfortunately it was cancelled as the weather conditions were too bad for the outdoor festival to go ahead.

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TWRP + Rich Aucoin
Tour Manager

United Kingdom, 2022

After meeting TWRP on the 2019 European tour with Planet Booty, I joined them as the Tour Manager for their UK tour in October 2022. The band - who claim to be from the future, and also from outer space, and also from Canada - perform dressed in full costumes and keep their identities hidden from the public. Canadian solo-artist Rich Aucoin joined our touring party as the official tour support.

Alongside the usual Tour Manager job description, I also assisted with light backline and wardrobe duties. As the band had travelled with a minimal fly package, I also oversaw that the correct backline was hired locally in each city and liaised with Sabian on the drummer's cymbals endorsement.

“Nathalie is an extraordinarily competent and versatile individual, with a genuine passion for her work in the music industry. As our tour manager, she wore many different hats with ease and was able to give us invaluable guidance in a territory that was new to us. Aside from the consummate professionalism and dependability, Nathalie is also just a good solid hang. A+, would always recommend.” - Dr Sung, TWRP

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Ricky Montgomery
Tour Manager

Europe, 2022

As their Tour Manager, I looked after Ricky Montgomery for a super short - but sweet! - stint of two shows in Paris and in London. Ricky was the official support for mxmtoon at La Maroquinerie and the Electric Brixton.

During the four days of tour, I looked after all transport, accommodation, and hospitality. I also oversaw that the artist's carnet and certificate of sponsorship were processed correctly at customs.

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Years & Years
Production Coordinator

Europe & USA, 2022

Years & Years is the electropop music project of artist and actor Olly Alexander. His spectacular live show contains a live band, backing vocalists, dancers, and various moving stage props. The full show was filmed at Wembley Arena and is available to watch on demand at On Air Events.

As the Production Coordinator, I look after various aspects of the production of the shows, including transport and accommodation logistics, hospitality and catering, liaising with the promoter and venue staff, and looking after the performers. It was a joy to be in this role for four and a half months throughout production rehearsals, a UK arena tour, and various festivals around the UK, Europe and the United States during the summer season.

Some of my personal highlights were Wembley Arena, West-Hollywood Pride Outloud Festival, Grape Festival in Slovakia, Kalorama Festival in Portugal, and Fall In Love Festival in Romania. Last but not least, I thoroughly enjoyed doing various Assistant Stage Manager duties and having stage cues to move props on and off the stage - in costume!

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Standon Calling
Main Stage Manager

United Kingdom, 2021 - 2022

At Standon Calling 2021 I was the Stage Manager for Laundry Meadows, the festival’s second stage. The event took place 22-25 July in Hertfordshire.

As the Stage Manager I oversaw the technical production of the stage’s 4-day line-up. I supervised the Laundry Meadows technical team, which included a FOH Sound Engineer, Monitor Engineer, Audio Patch Technician, Lighting Designer, a production intern and two stagehands.

Some of my personal highlights on the line-up were Everything Everything, Elder Island, Moses Boyd, and Bob Vylan. Unfortunately, on the last day of the festival I – and all other stages – had to do a show stop as there was an electrical storm nearing the festival. The storm caused severe flooding on the festival site, which resulted in the last few hours of the festival being cancelled.

At the 2022 edition of Standon Calling, I was promoted to stage managing the main stage. This meant the team was larger, including an audio team of four, a lighting team of three, a video team, and a team of stagehands ranging from four to twelve! Some of my highlights were the Sugababes, Sigrid, Madness, and Primal Scream.

“Nathalie came recommended from friends in the industry, when in June 2021 I was informed Standon Calling would be going ahead as the first non-test weekend camping event post-Covid restrictions. I have been the Technical Production Manager at Standon Calling for more years than I can remember and some of my usual Stage Managers couldn’t make it at short notice, so I needed some fresh faces on site. Even on such a short timeline Nathalie was super efficient in advancing the show and creating a great atmosphere on stage between artists, tour managers, visiting staff, and the stage techs. The attention to detail on show days was great and nothing was missed, even on a stage where the entire show was pretty much advanced in three weeks with artists doing their first gig in two years. No mean feat. Post-show we had many notes of thanks from the touring parties, praising the team and Nathalie’s contribution. I will happily employ Nathalie again and hope we will be in a field again soon.” - Iain Mackie, Technical Production Manager, Standon Calling

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Future Yard
Senior Event Manager & Sustainability Manager

United Kingdom, 2020 - 2022

Future Yard is a grassroots community venue in Birkenhead. The music venue opened its doors for the first time during the pandemic in September 2020. After another lockdown, shows resumed in May 2021. Future Yard hosts both local and international touring shows, in a variety of genres. In addition to operating as a music venue, Future Yard delivers a hands-on live music industry course for young people, as well as an artist development programme for local up-and-coming talent.

As the Senior Event Manager, I created the event management processes that are utilised on a day-to-day basis. I supervised a team of eight Event Managers, which I recruited and trained as part of my role. Alongside the other Event Managers, I managed a share of the live shows, including advancing, setting up dressing rooms, assisting with technical production, and stage management. Lastly, I also furnished and decorated the three backstage dressing rooms and artist bathrooms whilst the venue was under construction.

During the pandemic I was awarded with a Developing Your Creative Practice grant from the Arts Council England to research environmental sustainability in live music. This project funded an additional role for me at Future Yard – that of Sustainability Manager. I oversaw and developed the environmental commitment that the music venue has made. I have written the organisation's Sustainability Roadmap, a document that has been shared with the venue's audiences and stakeholders to open a conversation about live music’s impacts on the environment. The launch of the Sustainability Roadmap was celebrated with a full-day event that I curated, called POP26: A Climate Carnival. This event was endorsed by and officially part of The Good Business Festival.

Future Yard has had some wonderful press, please check out the links below to read more about the venue’s story and wonderful team.

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Julie's Bicycle at COP26
Event Manager

United Kingdom, 2021

Julie’s Bicycle is a pioneering charity that mobilises the arts and culture sectors to take action on the climate and ecological crisis. As a freelance Event Manager, I delivered four digital events for the organisation, and most importantly an in-person official COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference event in Glasgow, titled Culture: The Missing Link.

The event explored the vital role that arts and culture must play in climate transformation. As the Event Manager, I liaised with the COP26 Green Zone team, with the artists and speakers involved, and with the Julie’s Bicycle team on site and remotely in the office. I managed all of the logistics for both the in-person event as well as the hybrid digital aspect of the event.

During this event I had the pleasure of working with Julie’s Bicycle CEO Alison Tickell, climate scientist Prof. Ed Hawkins MBE, author Elif Shafak, designer Es Devlin, polar conservationist Prem Gill, climate activist Disha A Ravi, artist Nova Ruth, poet Selina Nwulu, writer Zena Edwards, and artist Love Ssega.

Curious about the event? You can watch it here:

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Neighbourhood Weekender
Artist Liaison

United Kingdom, 2021

Neighbourhood Weekender is a rock and pop music festival organised by SJM Concerts, and takes places in Warrington’s Victoria Park.

At the 2021 festival I joined the Artist Liaison team for DNG Production & Event Crew. I looked after artist hospitality for the festival’s second stage and supervised an Artist Liaison Assistant throughout the weekend. We looked after a green room next to the stage, that needed quick change overs in between artist occupancies. I assisted with artist logistics, having to transport various artists to different locations on the festival site.

Artists my team looked after included Self Esteem, Sundara Karma, The Big Moon, and Reverend & the Makers.

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Green Events & Innovations Conference
Event Liaison

United Kingdom, 2021

GEI, or the Green Events and Innovations conference, is an industry event hosted by festival sustainability organisation A Greener Festival.

The conference showcases new developments within the events sustainability sector, leads panels with professionals in the field, and gives a platform for artists to join the conversation about the impacts of their shows.

The March 2021 and September 2021 editions of GEI were held digitally because of the ongoing pandemic. My role was to assist with various remote tasks, including setting up and briefing the speakers ahead of their panels, managing the audience Q&A, and technical troubleshooting.

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Developing Your Creative Practice Project
Arts Council England Grant

United Kingdom, 2020 - 2021

The pandemic put a halt to my work as a Tour and Event Manager, as no live shows were allowed for a very long time. In October 2020 I applied to the Arts Council England’s Developing Your Creative Practice grant, and two months later I heard that my application was successful.

The aim of the 12-month project was to research environmental sustainability in the live music industry. The world is in imminent danger by the climate crisis and the music industry has a big sustainability problem. With my project, my aim was to turn the negative impact into positive change. I have always had a strong interest in tackling these issues, but I did not have the knowledge or training to make this part of my business. Sustainability has become fundamental, and music organisations are changing their policies to reflect this.

My methods included self-study, interviewing relevant professionals, and work placements. My main placement was my role as Sustainability Manager at Future Yard. You can find more information about this under the Future Yard tab. My second work placement was as the Co-Founder and Secretary of Shift Liverpool, a culture sustainability network for the Liverpool City Region. In six months’ time we managed to start and expand the network to over 50 member organisations. We host regular member meetings, steering group meetings, and webinars on relevant topics.

After completing this project I feel confident in improving the environmental sustainability of the tours and events I work on and to inspire many colleagues and artists to take action on climate change.

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Planet Booty
Tour Manager

Europe, 2019

Planet Booty is a pop/funk/R&B trio from California. Their music has themes of body positivity and self-acceptance, and their live sets inspire audiences to dance and sweat from start to finish. The first time I saw Planet Booty perform live was in the Austin Convention Centre during SXSW. They managed to turn a corporate conference hall with a seated audience into an ass-shaking party.

Fast-forward a couple of years, and Planet Booty is the opening act for Ninja Sex Party on their European tour in 2019. In addition to my role as Tour Manager, I helped with backline and photography. I worked closely together with the Ninja Sex Party crew and Tour Manager to ensure smooth changeovers and a brilliant working collaboration.

My personal highlights of the tour were Dublin Vicar Street (what an amazingly loud audience), Amsterdam Melkweg (great to be in my home country), and Oslo Sentrum Scene (I probably got lost about five times).

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Dream Wife
Tour Manager & Backline Tech

Europe, 2019

Dream Wife is a London-based indie punk rock band. They have been described by music magazine Billboard as "inarguably one of the most exhilarating live rock bands to emerge within the last few years".

In 2019 I substituted for their regular Tour Manager during the summer festival season. In addition to my tour managing duties, I was also the Backline Tech and looked after the stage set-up. I loved supporting the technical aspect of the shows in this way.

My personal highlights were Glastonbury Festival, All Points East in London, Primavera Sound in Barcelona, and Pohoda Festival in Slovakia.

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Alice Jemima, supporting Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Tour Manager

United Kingdom & Ireland, 2019

Alice Jemima is a singer-songwriter and guitarist from Devon, England. She writes dreamy indie pop, utilising vintage guitars and electronic beats. In 2019, she joined Sophie Ellis-Bextor as the support act on her two symphony orchestra tours.

On these two tours, I worked as the Tour Manager and FOH Sound Engineer, which is quite unusual for me! The Sophie Ellis-Bextor team was traveling with their own PA system, which meant they had a brilliant System Engineer that was of great assistance. It was a massive honour to mix Alice’s sound in some of the incredible venues, including the London Palladium, the Brighton Dome, and the Edinburgh Usher Hall.

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John Cooper Clarke
Merchandise Manager & Tech Assistant

Europe, 2016 - 2019

John Cooper Clarke is a punk poet from Salford, who became famous in the late 1970s. He performed on the same bill as bands like the Sex Pistols, Joy Division and Elvis Costello. In recent years he has published two poetry collections and a memoir, and he has received an honorary doctorate from the University of Salford.

On several tours between 2016 and 2019 in the UK and the Netherlands, I worked as the Merchandise Manager and Tech Assistant. I would be the first crew member to arrive at the venue and speak to the local tech staff about the show. I would discuss the stage set-up, music cues, and liaise with the support acts of each show. Of course, I would also set up the merchandise booth, create a merch display, and sell merchandise throughout the show.

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Welcome To Night Vale
Tour Manager / Assistant TM

Europe & USA, 2014 - 2019

Welcome To Night Vale is a popular podcast in the "fake news radio"-genre. The host of the fictional radio station reports on strange evens that occur in the fictional town of Night Vale. The podcast is written by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, and the narrator and main character is played by Cecil Baldwin.

The writers adapted the podcast to stand-alone live theatre shows that fit in with the storyline of the recorded podcast episodes. My first tour with Welcome To Night Vale was in 2014 with their live show called The Librarian, with musical guest Mary Epworth. Their Tour Manager had fallen ill and therefore had to leave the tour. I stepped in as her substitute for the remaining three weeks of the tour around Europe.

Subsequently, I joined the team on future tours as the Assistant Tour Manager, mainly managing merchandise and after-show meet and greets. I worked on the 2015 The Investigators tour in the USA, which included 46 shows across 35 states during 2 months. In 2017, I joined the crew again for a European tour of the All Hail show. Finally, in 2019 I worked on the A Spy In The Desert tour around Europe.

Alongside the core cast of Welcome To Night Vale, we had a variety of guest actors as part of these live shows, including Dylan Marron, Mara Wilson, Molly Quinn, Flor De Liz Perez, and Desiree Burch. Each tour had a designated musical guest, including Mary Epworth, Dessa, Erin McKeown, and Mal Blum.

Welcome To Night Vale has a very vibrant and dedicated LGBTQ+ fanbase, with lots of fans attending the shows in cosplay and leaving handmade artwork and gifts for the cast at the merch desk. Some of my favourite shows include Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, The Orpheum in Los Angeles, The Fillmore in Detroit, The Neptune in Seattle, and Rival in Stockholm.

“For several tours on two different continents, Nathalie managed everything from merchandise sales, to settlements, to driving, to advancing shows, to managing actors and musicians. When she said she was taking care of something, it was always taken care of. I never had to worry about these things not happening. This kind of trust and reliability is the best quality of a tour manager. Plus, she's fun to be around, so even better.” - Jeffrey Cranor, Welcome To Night Vale.

Below is an incredible stop motion video of all the theatres we visited during the USA tour in 2015.

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The Great Escape
Backline Crew

United Kingdom, 2018 & 2019

The Great Escape is the UK’s most renowned music conference and showcase festival, taking place annually in Brighton. The festival utilises dozens of venues – small and large – in the city to showcase new talent to a music industry audience.

During the 2018 and 2019 editions of the festival, I was part of the Backline Crew team for 212 Music Group, a contractor for The Great Escape. The team was working across various venues and spaces, assisting official showcasing artists and production companies with load-ins, load-outs, cross-overs, and stage set-ups.

My favourite show to assist with was Mini Mansions in 2019 in one of the beach-side venues. They played an incredible set and I felt proud to have helped make it happen!

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Liverpool Everyman Theatre Productions
Sound No.2 AV Technician

United Kingdom, 2017 - 2019

As a Sound No. 2 AV Technician at the Liverpool Everyman Theatre, I directly assisted the main sound engineer in a backstage role for several musical theatre productions.

I took care of all the microphones - the lavalier microphones as well as the wireless handheld microphones. I made sure they were clean and working properly for each show - when necessary, I carried out maintenance, repairs and cleaning. I also helped design and craft various ways of hiding and incorporating the lavalier microphones in every costume, to create incredible looks for the actors while having their voices amplified throughout the shows.

During the show, I carried out various cues to do with the microphones and sometimes other sound cues. As part of the role I worked closely together with the stage managers, the backline technician and the wardrobe team.

The Everyman Theatre productions included The Little Mermaid in 2017, The Snow Queen in 2018, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in 2019.

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Into The Great Wide Open
Runner

The Netherlands, 2017 & 2018

Into The Great Wide Open is an independent music festival that takes place on Vlieland, an island off the north coast of the Netherlands. Alongside a line-up of established and new music acts, the festival also has an art, film, and nature programme.

Vlieland has tight restrictions on vehicles entering the island, which means that artists are not allowed to take their own vans or cars onto the ferry. Into The Great Wide Open therefore has a cross-load location on the mainland, in Harlingen, where artists are directed to park their vehicles and move their music gear onto a van that is allowed on the island.

In my role as Runner, I dealt with all the artists that arrived by air travel rather than in a vehicle. I picked them up at Schiphol airport near Amsterdam, and then on a 90-minute journey in a splitter van to the cross-load location where their equipment was moved onto a festival van. I then dropped them off at the ferry terminal so that they could enter as pedestrians.

Into The Great Wide Open was wonderfully working on environmental sustainability, which meant that my splitter van was running on biodiesel for the duration of the job. It was a pleasure to assist many different artists across the 2017 and 2018 editions, including John Cale, Kae Tempest, and Sunflower Bean.

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Her's
Tour Manager

United Kingdom, 2018

Her’s were the Liverpool-based alternative pop duo of Stephen Fitzpatrick and Audun Laading. They made dreamy guitar pop, utilising vocals, guitar, bass, and drum machine. The band was signed to Heist or Hit record label.

In 2018 I managed a few of their shows while their regular Tour Manager was unavailable. These included in-store performances at Rough Trade Bristol and Nottingham, followed by a meet and greet to promote their debut album Invitation to Her’s.

Ste and Audun tragically passed in 2019 and they will be forever missed. They were the most lovely, genuine, and fun artists to work with, and I will never stop enjoying their incredible music.

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Sharkmuffin
Tour Manager

United Kingdom, 2018

Sharkmuffin is a garage rock band from Brooklyn, New York. In 2018 I managed a small number of shows for them in the UK, including a performance at Port Eliot Festival in Cornwall.

Deershed Festival
Senior Production Runner

United Kingdom, 2018

Deershed is an independent music festival in Yorkshire. The 3-day event has a line-up of both new and established artists, and offers lots of activities for children and families.

As the Senior Production Runner, I was assisting the Stage Manager of the mainstage with artist arrivals, production, and hospitality. I looked after the rotation of dressing rooms, hospitality riders, and assisted with load-ins, change-overs, and load-outs.

Some of the artists I looked after included Bill Ryder-Jones, Drenge, Public Service Broadcasting, and Goldfrapp.

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Lovebox & Citadel Festival
Merchandise Manager

United Kingdom, 2017 & 2018

Lovebox and Citadel Festival were two festivals held on the same grounds and infrastructure by MAMA Festivals. Lovebox had an electronic, dance, and hip hop-oriented line-up, while Citadel hosted indie and rock bands.

As the Merchandise Manager I looked after the official merchandise concession on the festival grounds. I liaised with touring Merchandise and Tour Managers so that their merchandise could be sold to the festival audiences. I supervised a team of Merchandise Assistants that handled all orders and sales.

Most notably was the merchandise for Frank Ocean. His team brought in custom screen-printing equipment and every t-shirt sold was made to order.

Liverpool International Business Festival
Event Liaison Officer

United Kingdom, 2018

The Liverpool International Business Festival was a multi-week conference taking place in the Exhibition Centre Liverpool. The event included space for corporate exhibitors, keynote speeches, roundtables, workshops, and networking events.

As the Event Liaison Officer, I looked after a large part of corporate clients that were hosting some of the aforementioned events. I would advance their plans and liaise with the relevant contractors. While the event was live I was their point of contact and made sure that all plans were executed according to schedule.

During my work at the Liverpool International Business Festival, I noticed how many materials and resources were going to waste. Lots of clients had brought in promotional materials, sponsored items, and merchandise, but were ready to leave these behind after the event was finished. I took this as on a challenge to repurpose as many items as I could. By the end of the load-out, I had repurposed the following to three local charities: 1.5 pallets of fruit-flavoured water, 150 tote bags, 120 t-shirts, 100 crew jackets, 50 lanyards, and 10 rolls of carpet.

The KLF
Project Manager

United Kingdom, 2017

After a self-imposed 23-year moratorium, the Justified Ancients Of MuMu (also known as the KLF or the Timelords) returned with a three day 'situation' in Liverpool: Welcome To The Dark Ages. The event focused on the book release of their novel '2023', and started with a midnight book signing at News From Nowhere. The BBC and Channel 4 were present to broadcast the event.

During the situation, all 400 ticket-holders were 'volunteers' and were given tasks, such as singing in a choir, carrying coffins, and collecting ragwort. The volunteers were directed by Daisy Campbell, daughter of Ken Campbell, and the three days were emcee'd by Oliver Stenton. The first part of day one consisted of the distribution of volunteer tasks; the second part was a public hearing of 'Why did the KLF burn a million quid'. The second day all volunteers were assigned a page of the novel and were sent out into the world to interpret their page and to come back with a group presentation of their chapter.

The third day was the big reveal of The Justified Ancients Of MuMu's next business step. During a performance at the Florrie, which included a guest-appearance by Jarvis Cocker, Rupert and Claire Callendar of the Green Funeral Company announced that Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond were entering the funeral business with them. Together, they are offering the service of MuMufication. Anyone can sign up to have a small portion of their cremated ashes fired in a 'Brick of Mu'. All bricks will be laid to rest on 'The People's Pyramid' during a yearly 'Toxteth Day Of The Dead'. After the announcement, the 400 volunteers joined the Toxteth Day Of The Dead procession to the Invisible Wind Factory, where the Justified Ancients Of MuMu burned two coffins in a wooden pyramid.

As the project manager of the event, I managed the three days from start to finish on BidoLito!'s behalf. They promoted and budget-managed the event and booked the venues. I liaised with all people involved; the artists, the crew, the venues, the production companies. I recruited and instructed staff to work as ushers and run the box office. I managed all infrastructure, props, hospitality riders, transport, and artist liaison.

“Nathalie Candel does not take no shit.” - Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond

“Nathalie seriously enabled some crazy shit to happen. Unflappable.” - Rupert Callendar of the Green Funeral Company

Secret Solstice
Production Manager Assistant

Iceland, 2016 & 2017

Secret Solstice is a four-day music festival in Reykjavik that celebrates the summer solstice in Iceland. With 24 hours of sunlight, it gives a unique festival experience to its audience. As Production Management Support Staff, I directly assisted the Production Manager of the festival for nine days before and during the 2016 and 2017 editions in June.

Every day was different, and tasks varied from advancing shows with artists, to helping with setting up stages, to assisting with headliners' wardrobe, to driving artists around for the logistics team. My personal highlights included: driving Kerri Chandler to a secret lagoon out of Reykjavik for a hot pool party; assisting the Radiohead crew with the change-over and load out of the show, and assisting the Foo Fighters team during their time at the festival.

Links

Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia
Volunteer Coordinator

United Kingdom, 2015 - 2017

I was offered the role of Volunteer Coordinator for 2015's Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia, after volunteering as a steward in 2013, and providing support at artist hospitality in 2014. The event is the UK’s largest celebration of psychedelic sub-culture, and previous performing artists have included Goat, Fuzz, Spiritualized, Allah-Lahs, Suuns, Factory Floor, Moon Duo, Hookworms, and Anton Newcombe.

“Nathalie has developed into a key member of our festival team. Her dedication, hard work, knowledge and passion for the industry is exceptional. As our volunteer co-ordinator, Nathalie helps the wheels of the festival turn - it would almost definitely grind to halt without her sterling input. I would wholeheartedly recommend Nathalie for work within the industry; just so long as it is not at the same time of year as our festival!” - Craig G Pennington, Director of Liverpool Psychfest.

My responsibilities in this role included: recruiting voluntary staff through social media, universities and colleges; producing information packs; organising volunteer rotas and schedules; delegating tasks according to volunteers' strengths and experience; supervising the team during the festival, and overseeing the artists' Green Room - also staffed by volunteers. The role was a diverse, challenging and fun one, and gave me the opportunity to work with a great team of enthusiastic volunteers on all aspects of the festival.

Links

Let's Eat Grandma
Tour Manager

United Kingdom, 2015 - 2016

Let’s Eat Grandma are an experimental pop duo from Norwich. Band members Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth began making music together at the age of 13, and were signed to Transgressive Records a few years later.

I managed a few shows for the duo in 2015 and 2016, including a support show for Kiran Leonard in Brighton, and a performance and BBC Radio 6 Music session at Festival No.6 in Wales.

“Working with Nathalie is a pleasure; she's dependable, friendly, hard working and goes to great lengths to make gigging a more calm and enjoyable experience for everyone.” - Jenny and Rosa of Let’s Eat Grandma.

Photo credit: Francesca Allen.

Links

Bruis Festival
Media Coordinator

The Netherlands, 2013 & 2014

During the 2013 and the 2014 edition of Bruis Festival, I worked as their Media Coordinator and VIP-Stage Director. The free festival takes place annually in one of the biggest parks of Maastricht in The Netherlands. To help maintain the free event, the festival also had a VIP-section for sponsors, with intimate music sessions by artists from the line-up and a space for radio and television stations to do interviews. It was my job to contact the artists to request an acoustic session and create a time schedule for the VIP-stage, and also to request interviews based on the media's wishes and availability.

During the festival I had to maintain good communication with artists, media, and the festival production team; take care of stage management of the VIP-stage; escort artists to be at their interviews on time, and made sure the audience were informed about the acoustic sessions. The 2013 line-up for Bruis Festival Maastricht saw The Black Angels, Miles Kane, La Pegatina, and Kitty, Daisy & Lewis. The 2014 line-up included Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, Bombay Bicycle Club, Asgeir, and Gabriel Rios.

“There's only one word that comes to my mind when I think of my work with Nathalie: focus. Absolute 100% dedication and focus. She is also very straightforward, honest, and makes you feel at home with her perfect sense of humour. Highly recommended!” - Tim Op Het Broek, Official Host for Bruis Festival and DJ at Radio L1.

Photo credit: Katja Primozic.

Ragstock Indoor Festival
Booker & Production Manager

The Netherlands, 2013

The Ragweek is a week of charity events organized by students in the city of Utrecht, The Netherlands. In 2013, it also included an indoor charity festival at the EKKO venue on 5th March. A team of eight students organised the event, and I took on the role of Booker and Production Manager. My job was to select and book artists; to create a suitable time schedule for the event and sound checks; to arrange backline equipment; to take care of artist hospitality, and to provide stage management.

American party blues artist Andy Frasco headlined the festival, with support from Riverdistrict, Bodypolitics, and DJs The Stress, Badly Drawn Boys, and Lucy RAFF. It was a heartwarming experience to organise such a fun event for charity, where we tried to save on costs as much as we could; we even cooked dinner for all the artists and crew ourselves. We raised €1141.10 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation!

Your next project here?
Find out how you can contact me below!

For enquiries, please send an email to nathalie.candel@gmail.com.

You can also follow me on Instagram: @LetMeCandelIt.

Would you like to download my CV? Click here.