ON TOUR

WILLIE WILLIAMS, PRODUCTION DESIGNER AND DIRECTOR

“I always loved music, but it never occurred to me that it was something I could do for a living,” says Willie Williams. Growing up in Sheffield, England, Williams was an excellent student who had every intention of attending university and becoming an electronics engineer. He fell in love with theatrical design as a teenage extra with the local opera company, but never considered it as a possible career. “Both my father and my grandfather sang opera. My father didn't make a living out of singing opera; he always had a day job as well. Subconsciously, I guess, I just assumed you couldn't make a living out of working in the arts.” That notion was about to change. During the long summer vacation between high school graduation and university, Williams attended a music festival where he met groups of musicians from London and Liverpool. “It was the height of punk rock in England. It was an exciting time when you believed anybody could do anything.” Williams decided to defer university for a year and beginning in 1976, crisscrossed England in a van, working as a roadie for several punk rock bands. Enthralled with the visual and lighting effects possible with live events, he quickly lost all interest in engineering.

With no lighting design or stage production courses available to him at the time, Williams had to learn his chosen craft where he could. In between working with small bands on the road, he found jobs with lighting and equipment contractors, all the while soaking up as much information and experience as he could. After five years, the band he worked with most frequently, broke up and he found himself looking for another gig. “There was this young band from Ireland called U2 that had just put out their first record, which I thought was great. I knew they were about my age. I was 22 at the time. I set out to find them.” Locating the manager's phone number, Williams called from a pay phone, described his experience, and offered to send more details. “He said, ‘Actually we're looking for someone to do lighting,’ at which point I just about dropped the phone.” Williams met the band members when they came to London the following week for a radio interview. “We just got along like a house afire.” Beginning in 1982, and for the next 18 years, Williams and U2 literally grew up together. “When I first got on board, they were doing colleges and small places. In a way it was the completion of my education and the way I was able to gain the confidence to take really big projects. The first time we did an arena show, it was the first time any of us had done one. The first time we did a stadium, it was a first for all of us.”

Between U2 tours, Williams has designed and directed major tours for many legendary rock acts. A fan of David Bowie since his early teens, it was particularly rewarding when Williams began an association with the artist in 1989, on his Tin Machine Tour. In 1995, Williams heard that R.E.M. was planning to tour again after more than a half dozen years off the road, and he telephoned the band's management. Once again, everyone clicked, and he began yet another continuing working relationship. Over the years, Williams’ family has often teased, “You're having fun, but when are you going to get a proper job?” To which he replies, “No sign of a proper job as of yet.”