Dave Gibbon, Gibbo as he's universally known throughout the industry, is one of the genuine characters and 'nice guys' of the business. Clichéd but true!
Down to earth and straightforward maybe but an interesting psychological cocktail lurks! On one hand he delights in the anarchy of breaking all the rules - be it in lighting design, partying or interpersonal communication techniques. On the other he relishes the logic and application of lateral thinking to solve problems via the shortest, least grief stricken route, one that keeps all parties happy.
He has successfully combined the creative expression of designing, the technical discipline of programming and the organisational skills of good management. Above all, Gibbo is driven by a forceful passion and commitment to the job he loves.
If there's one he's is not, it's predictable. By his own admission, his legendary proclivity for having fun has sometimes landed him in trouble! Although he held it together throughout, pre-millennial tension struck in the 'wilderness' years of 96 and 97. A couple of messy and potentially dodgy offstage incidents kick-started the logical side of the brain, and Gibbo's hedonistic, self-destructive alter ego is now fully zipped in a metaphorical straight jacket!
Despite numerous production feats, fabulous lighting designs, being in the midst of the high profile world tour with The Charlatans and winning the Live Young LD of The year Award - circumstances some would class as a crest of the wave - Gibbo is nonplussed. It's a relief to find he just doesn't do ego …..However he does still drink in moderation and he still loves people …. And so characteristically the interview is conducted in a bar.
Gibbo's journey into the glamorous, high-flying world of show-business has not been a linear one!
He left school and went to Swansea University to study Zoology, which was then commuted to Psychology. He left with a BSc, plenty of attitude, and unlike many, an academic qualification that was to prove totally invaluable later when he came to join the ranks of the production industry.
From there it was into a mundane nine-to-five in Birmingham (his adopted home town), running the laboratory and apparatus division of a chemicals. He stuck this stubbornly for an impressive 18 months before the boredom, routine and utter ordinariness became terminal.
He quit and started manual labouring for the building trade. He jumped at the opportunity of joining the concrete gangs working on the M40 between London and Oxford, which proved a lot more exciting and stimulating than the office! "There were absolutely no rules" he comments fondly on these wild times, continuing that he and three other graduates worked alongside some seriously mad, bad, dangerous but fantastic people. They grafted for 18 hour days, earned masses, imbibed large quantities of alcohol and education at the University of Life during a surreal three month stint.
That was at the end of the eighties. The M40 experience paid for Gibbo to spend a three and a half month vacation in Mexico, where he wormed his way around the country, off the beaten track all the way to the Titty Twister bar - which is apparently as mental and vampire-ish as in the
movie! (From Dusk To Dawn, Rodriguez, 1996)
He returned, went to live in Merthyr - by then a mere spectre of its former glory at the heart of the Welsh mining industry - and went back to manual labour and building. Gibbo then relocated to Birmingham, building by day and working as a nightshift supervisor for Black & Decker by night. He remembers a visit to his mother during this time when he told her about his activities as a roofer. She reminded him of his fear of heights whilst a child ….. something he found surprising, that he'd overcome naturally, and portentously, an element about to figure prominently in his future career!
From scaffing on a building site, he started doing some weekend work with Stagecraft in Birmingham, one of the festival scaff crews. His brother John - who has always worked in the music business - was crewing for Paul Weller at the time. They needed a merchandiser, and figuring his brother would be bored of building by this time, John called to see if he fancied a swag job on tour.
To Gibbo, the change in lifestyle and the concept of touring merged quite naturally. On that first Elkie tour he met Phil Freeman and Geoff James who were both working for lighting suppliers Neg Earth. Being on swag and relatively organised, Gibbo had plenty of spare time. He offered to help the lighting crew out, who were labouring hard with one of Freeman's ambitious designs.
The strange concept of the swag man shinning up and down ladders and trusses, quite oblivious to any fear of heights, and actively engaged in the focus emerged. Freeman left the tour and Ian Cameron (Cammo) took over. Gibbo, the truss-tastic swag filth was such a hit that a few months down the road, Cammo was insisting that he was employed by Neg Earth on the upcoming Anthrax and Public Enemy European tour ….. and so his career in lighting was launched.
As third person on the lighting crew, Gibbo had had some basic acquaintance with lanterns, but technology like scrollers and moving lights were a complete ambiguity. However he was quick to learn and well endowed with common sense, so the basic building blocks soon became demystified. The long slog of the lighting crew day paled into complete insignificance compared to the physical demands of working on the road gangs, hammering a pneumatic drill for 12 hours a day. He took to the job like a duck to water.
He also soon discovered a few other advantages of touring over manual labour - like the fact that there was free booze everywhere and you were exceptionally well fed!
A run of tours for Neg Earth followed including the 1993 Rollercoaster tour. Here he met fellow party animal and LD Dave Byars who was LD'ing Blur. They immediately bonded. Byars asked him to come out on the upcoming Blur Modern Life Is Rubbish tour as rigger and moving light operator - another rung up the lighting ladder and another challenge - including healthy competition between himself and Byars as to who could party most!
That was the tour where the lighting rig included sofas, a fridge freezer, microwave oven and other items of consumerist junk …. and much consternation with local crews "It was like 'Can I have the fridge freezer off the truck next please' during get ins" explains Gibbo "At first they just thought we were off our faces!".
The tour received plenty of critical acclaim and gave Gibbo valuable hands-on experience of the Byars work ethic, a consummate perfectionist, building his show with meticulous and obsessional attention to detail. Byars has proved a lasting influence on Gibbo.
In 92 and 93 Gibbo also worked the festival season for Neg Earth. It was sink or swim. The pace was relentless, with en event every weekend for four months and large rigs (including several stages at Glasto and Phoenix) apart and totally rebuilt in between. This also proved to be an invaluable learning ground, offering plenty of experience in all aspects of rigging, patching and balancing dimmers, operating, and also designing rigs for the first time. This was often on the fly, from a pre-designated list of equipment that happened to be going to that site, and which had to be functional for a wide variety of bands. Not an easy brief!
Gibbo is quick to credit those who were his gurus - Phil Freeman, Dave Byars, Cammo, immediately spring to mind. All of them approach the design and build of a show completely differently, but all have the same dedication to getting it right, spot on, perfect. Like them he developed a strong sense of self-criticism, and through them he evolved his own style of working which practised doing things quickly, efficiently, once, and right.
His communication skills also blossomed. His intuitive down to earthiness coupled with the remnants of academia and the psychology degree proved (and continues to do so) a winning combination when it came to getting the best out of the local crew. Gibbo makes a point of their crucial role in a show, they can make the difference between an awesome and a nightmare gig. He asserts, "I take the view that it's their patch and they are more familiar with the working practises of the venue and its eccentricities than I am. I also treat them with the respect that I would like to be treated with. It seems to work all the time".
