Overbay's job brings him in contact with music's biggest sensations

Sparta man works knee deep in stars

What takes six tractor and trailers, 10 miles of speaker cable, four buses of workers and 11 tons of glass and metal?

Overbay should know because he was one of the drivers for  Aerosmith's last tour,  which travelled under the name Nine Lives. Over 50 tour personnel traveled with Aerosmith to make sure that each show was a success. There were sound engineers, instrument technicians, bus and truck drivers that toured with the band from June 1997 until January 1999.

Aerosmith was recently featured on the Learning Channel show How'd They Do That? because of all the work that takes place before and after each concert. The show aired on Dec. 8. "I didn't even know when it was going to be on, but when I came home for Christmas my sister-in-law told me she saw me on it", Overbay said. "The show sent us copies of it."

Overbay said that a normal day on the Aerosmith tour was to wake up around 5 a.m. and get up to shower and then drive to the concert site. "The equipment has to arrive to the concert site on time because it it can be pretty expensive if it's not there when it is supposed to be", Overbay said. "It's just the rules of the road." The fines can be several thousand dollars, depending on how late the equipment arrives. 

"Normally, the trucks are unloaded by 12:30 and the drivers decide what to do and where to eat", Overbay reported. "Then some of us would go walking and exercise. When I would get back, I'd work with the fan club stuff and set up the limos and then it was time for supper." After supper, Overbay said he would sleep for a few hours during the concert and by 10:30 or 11 p.m., it was time to load everything up and get back on the road. 

"With the Aerosmith tour, I usually had every other day off, which I spent sleeping much of the time", Overbay explained. Overbay had to miss the last Aerosmith concert because his agent had another job set up for him.