Giggs Podcast
The Giggs Podcast, hosted by Nikki Sanz, Founder & CEO of Giggs, the professional career platform for the live event industry, dives into the world of touring and live events to share the good, the bad, the ugly, and the unbelievable moments of gigging life, along with invaluable lessons learned on the road.
We’re here to fill the gap in content about what it truly takes to work on the road. Our episodes explore every discipline within the live event industry, showcasing big wins, hard-learned lessons, and everything in between. We honor the pioneers of this industry, offering invaluable insights from the older generations who shaped modern touring.
Whether you’re an aspiring tour manager, a seasoned backline tech, or just passionate about the live event scene, this podcast is for you. Join us as we take you behind the scenes to explore the highs and lows of gigging life.
Episodes
79 episodes
#64 | Backstage at the 20th Annual CMA Touring Awards
For the 20th annual CMA Touring Awards, Giggs went backstage at The Pinnacle in Nashville and talked to over 20 winners, nominees, and industry leaders across one night.We open with outgoing CMA CEO Sarah Trahern — her 13th and fi...
#63 Alex McNamara | How the Trades Saved Her Life
Alex McNamara is a technical director, welder, rigger, and Yale School of Drama graduate who installed the turntable for the original Hamilton production, led 600 workers on a $300 million Soundstorm build in Saudi Arabia, and built her ...
#62 Ryan Maag | The Creative Director Who Choreographed the Olympics
Ryan Maag started as a backup dancer on the Weird Al Yankovic tour in 1998 and figured out fast that the person choreographing makes more than the person performing. Twenty-something years later, he's been creative director for NFL halft...
#61 Neville Shende | What Prince Taught a Bus Driver about 5-Star Service
Neville Shende — known on the road as NELVIS — has spent more than 40 years in the concert touring world. He started as a guitarist and guitar tech in Winnipeg, stumbled into bus driving on a 9/11-disrupted Aerosmith run, and spent the n...
#60 Mandi Naylor | Feeding Thousands at the NFL Draft, Super Bowl, & Bonnaroo
Mandi Naylor has spent over a decade running food and beverage at some of the biggest events in the country — the NFL Draft, the Super Bowl, Bonnaroo, ACL, Lollapalooza, CMA Fest, KAABOO, and the NASCAR Chicago Street Race. She's managed...
Giggs Rewind: Rachael Bronstein | Managing Money on the Move
We're bringing back one of the most practical conversations from the Giggs archive. Nikki Sanz sits down with Rachael Bronstein, founder of Life's Jam — a financial coaching service built specifically for the touring and live events comm...
#59 Brandon "Fitz" Fitzgerald | Rigging Beyoncé's & Post Malone's World Tours
Recorded live at Rock Lititz, Brandon "Fitz" Fitzgerald is back by popular demand after his previous episode (#19) became one of the most-DM'd conversations we've ever put out. One year later, Fitz comes back with a year on the road that...
Giggs Rewind: Marty Hom | Tour Managing Legends… Rolling Stones, Beyoncé, Shakira, Olivia Rodrigo
We're bringing back one of the most popular conversations from the Giggs archive. Nikki Sanz sits down with Marty Hom — a true legend of the touring world with 40+ years of experience tour managing The Rolling Stones, Beyoncé, Fleetwood ...
#58 Doug Wilson | From Van Driver to Tour Director
Recorded live at Rock Lititz, Nikki Sanz sits down with Doug Wilson — long-time tour manager and Director of Touring — for a grounded, honest look at what 20 years on the road teaches you.Doug's path started with a chance encounte...
#57 The Future of Virtual Production | Kingfisher by LEO Events
Recorded in Nashville, TN, this special docuseries episode of The Giggs Podcast steps inside Kingfisher Production Studio, the new virtual production offering from LEO Events. Nikki Sanz walks through the space and talks with the ...
#56 The Music Industry’s Health Crisis | Theresa Wolters (MusiCares)
What does real support for music professionals actually look like when the gigs stop, the bills pile up, or the stress gets too heavy? In this episode, Nikki Sanz sits down with Theresa Wolters, Executive Director of MusiCares, to...
#55 Patrick Ledwith | Building Stadium Tours for U2, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Beyonce
Recorded live at Rock Lititz, this episode features Patrick Ledwith, Managing Director of North America for ES Global, reflecting on a career that spans nearly four decades across touring, staging, and large-scale live production....
#54 Kyana White | From WME Intern to Tour & Production Manager
Recorded live at Rock Lititz, this episode features Kyana White, a tour manager and production manager whose path into touring did not start on a bus. It started in TV, in internships, in low-paid PA work, and in learning how major produ...
#53 What Tour Life Really Does to Families | Stage Wives
Behind every tour is a whole other job happening offstage: parenting, schedules, safety, emotions, and the quiet pressure of “don’t make this harder for them.”In this episode, Nikki Sanz talks with Rachel Smith and Rhyan Shirle...
#52 Suzi Meyer | Pay vs. Respect: What Crews Actually Want
Recorded live at Rock Lititz, this episode features Suzi Meyer, Chief of Staff, in a candid conversation about workforce development, burnout, leadership, and the future of live events.If you care about crew culture, retention, or...
#51 Jesse Sandler | The Production Manager behind Bon Jovi, Nickleback, Phish
Recorded live at Rock Lititz, Nikki Sanz sits down with touring production manager, Jesse Sandler, for a behind-the-scenes look at how a touring career actually gets built—one cosign, one good attitude, and one “figure it out” moment at ...
#50 Butch Allen | Designing Shows for Metallica, Eric Church, and The Eagles
Recorded live from Rock Lititz, Nikki Sanz sits down with Butch Allen, VP of Global Business Development at TAIT, and a touring veteran who’s done nearly every job on the road (“everything but audio”).Butch breaks down what actually mov...
#49 Improving Mental Health on Tour | Amber Health
Recorded live from Rock Lititz in Lititz, Pennsylvania, host Nikki Sanz sits down with Dr. Chayim Newman and Zack Borer—the co-founders of Amber Health—to talk about what it really takes to support touring crews and live ev...
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#48 Nicholas Weldon (nicDub) | Live Video Directing for Rihanna, Bruno Mars, Kings of Leon, P!nk
Live video direction isn’t just calling shots—it’s reading the room, listening to the music, and trusting your crew to move with it.Recorded live from Rock Lititz, Nikki sits down with Nicholas Weldon “nicDUB”, a legacy roadie w...
Ask Giggs #8 | Touring Is a Human Endurance Test
Ask Giggs is back, and this one is for anyone who’s ever said, “I’m in shape… but I’m not in tour shape.”In Ask Giggs #8, Nikki answers community questions about managing the physical toll of touring, building real stamina, and ...
#47 Rock Nashville | The Exclusive Look at Music City’s New Touring Home
In this special docuseries-style episode, we’re taking you inside the construction of the brand new Rock Nashville—the highly anticipated live entertainment campus from the team behind Rock Lititz. Nikki Sanz gets a sneak preview of the build, ...
#46 Allison Noah | How To Be “The Connector” as Stage Manager
Allison Noah is a rising star in the industry — one of the few women in her role as Stage Manager, and a standout leader in the next generation of road crews.She got her start at Grammy-winning label Sono Luminus, where she did everythin...
Giggs Rewind | Sooner Routhier: Color, Collaboration, and Coldplay
Sooner Rae Routhier is a renowned Principal Designer who is a 2X Parnelli, Live Design Achievement, Live Production Summit Pinnacle, and multi Top Dog award-winning designer. Her designs can be seen on Jimmy Fallon, The AMA’s, The Ellen ...
Ask Giggs #7 | Missing Holidays: The Sacrifice Behind the Show
We’re back with another Ask Giggs segment, where host Nikki Sanz answers real questions from the Giggs community. In this episode, we get honest about one of the hardest parts of working in live events: what the job asks of your personal life, ...
#45 Zito | Production Managing Legends… Green Day, Ariana Grande, Backstreet Boys, OneRepublic
Our guest is Zito — one of the most respected and accomplished production managers in the world. Over the past 25 years, he’s worked with artists like Green Day, Ariana Grande, Josh Groban, Babyface, OneRepublic, Blink-182, the Backstreet Boys,...
