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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 confi-
dence 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 leg-
endary 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 manage-
ment. 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."
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