Olivia Rikabi `26 & Hayden Suarez-Davis `25

“We would be told the plan for the show five minutes beforehand, and then we would go straight into the announcements without rehearsal. If you messed up, that’s fine. It taught me that for anybody working behind the scenes, the most important skills are being easy to work with, problem solving and thinking on your feet.”

Rikabi’s introduction to the technical side of the industry came from their experience as a musician. In 2018, Rikabi created a post-punk psychedelic metal band, Fervor, with their friends. In addition to playing electric bass for the band, Rikabi took the lead on booking venues, landing numerous concerts in Brooklyn, New York. It wasn’t until 2020 that Rikabi became more serious about audio and lighting work, but they quickly became skilled enough to do freelance work for friends.

“I was definitely a musician first before I was behind the scenes,” said Rikabi. “Which I think has given me a leg up because I understand what it takes to have a good performance.”

This spring marks the third semester Suarez-Davis has been involved in working concerts, and he cites two spring 2022 experiences as being particularly formative.

“The first show that I ever worked was Magdalena Bay. It was the first time that the Gardner equipment had been used in two years. We had to do a lot of awesome troubleshooting, and they put on a phenomenal show,” said Suarez-Davis. “My best memory, and the thing that made me apply for the concert job this year, was working with Japanese Breakfast. Every single