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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Philippa Chandler

A job that changed me: I was a music festival artist liaison. At 22 with a walkie-talkie in hand, I’ve never felt more powerful

Alcohol
Philippa and Hannah, two young women wearing festival lanyards and sunglasses laughing at an outdoor festival
‘As a mix of party host and bouncer, charm was a key technique for keeping order backstage. It was a form of weaponised cheer’: Hannah and Philippa Chandler at Truck festival, UK, circa 2004. Photograph: Philippa Chandler

My friend Hannah and I scored a job working in the “artist liaison” team at a music festival in 2004. We were both Australians, living in a share house in London, and our role was to manage backstage dressing rooms and keep the artists both happy and under control.

I was 22, with a walkie-talkie in one hand and the keys to a sea container full of alcohol in the other, and I’ve never felt more powerful.

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