Since 2023, music industry insiders have known Kate Beasy as a tour manager for Bad Omens — the person wrangling load-in times, hotel accommodations, and generally keeping everything afloat. Before all that, though, Beasy was just another fan who traveled four hours to see her first concert and threw underage shows around Melbourne, where she’s now based. From there, she parlayed those skills and appreciation for music into a full-fledged gig, whether that’s managing complex logistics or running around with Parkway Drive, Bon Iver, or Ed Sheeran. Earlier this year, Beasy wrapped Bad Omens’ DO YOU FEEL LOVE tour — a 20-city arena trek across North America where she handled everything from advance and logistics to managing a 150-person touring party. On paper, that means taking late-night phone calls, coordinating with security, and ensuring that doors open on time, but in practice, it’s thriving under pressure, in situations where there’s little room for error or peace of mind. No two days are alike, but Beasy took us through a typical 24 hours on the road, misconceptions about her work, and the strangest request that has ever appeared on a rider.
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What do you remember about your first show?
This used to be embarrassing, but now I love it: My first concert was Nickelback at Rod Laver Arena 2012. We lived in a very small town, four hours out of Melbourne, Australia, so it was a huge deal that we were going to Melbourne to see a band from Canada. It was so loud. Everybody was having the best time singing along to every word. They had pyro! “How You Remind Me” will always be a banger, and you can’t convince me otherwise.
Let’s talk about your work. What was your first job in the music industry?
The council in my local area was weirdly cool about giving 15-year-old kids money to put on underage events. I knew how to put on a show in Melbourne, but then a band asked me to come with them on their tour, and that was when the missing pieces were filled in. We were all tour manager, ticketing, merch, catering, driver, backline, lights, therapist, literally everything back then!
Bryan Kirks
How did you meet the Bad Omens team?
First time working together was Knotfest Australia 2023. The tour party was much smaller then!
What does a typical day look like on tour?
Make lobby call, whether that’s getting onto the bus from the hotel or waking up at the venue. Meet venue staff and runners, make sure catering is set up and on schedule before I hunt down the location of the coffee machine. Once the caffeine has entered my bloodstream, it’s looking at dressing rooms — making adjustments if the rooms aren’t right. Checking in with the crew, making sure we have everything we need. Then it’s ensuring everything is set up for end of night, looking at the days ahead, ticketing, guestlist, soundcheck, VIP, doors, supports onstage, changeover, show time, packing everything down that we had set up, and getting onto the bus to do it all again!
Bryan Kirks
What do people misunderstand about being a TM? What are the biggest responsibilities that go over most people’s heads?
Anybody can be as organized as a tour manager and have all of the spreadsheets and contacts in the world. It’s the ability to manage the people that is often misunderstood. We are only as good as the people we have around us. I put a lot of thought and care into the planning to ensure everybody has a great day. However, we are all human, and some days are just a lot harder to get through than others, so if the tone is set and the structure is in place for people to know they’re supported, then we can get through those days as a team.
What’s the strangest or most unexpected item that’s shown up on a rider?
I worked for an artist in Aus who had a note on his rider that read something like: “Flowers need to be delivered to (insert address) by this date. If your show falls on a day when they need to be sent to get there on time, please organize.” Turns out it was the artist’s anniversary, and he struggled to remember what city he was in half the time or the date, so this became his way of ensuring he never missed it. Kind of genius, actually!
