Michael Anthony Doesn’t Understand Why His Roadie May Retire

A roadie working with Michael Anthony for 43 years said his boss didn’t understand why he was considering retirement.

Kevin Dugan, the former Van Halen bassist’s right-hand man, is now 70 and considering the end of his career.

But when he first mentioned it to Anthony, Dugan had to explain the thinking behind the potential move, since the musician didn’t appear to have thought of it himself.

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“When I first told Michael that I wanted to get off the road, he said, ‘I’m not going to do that, why should you? I’m still going to be out there,’” Dugan – whose working day is often 14 hours long – told The New York Times.

“And I said, ‘Michael, are you trying to compare your day to my day? You come out and do the show. You leave in a limo, go back to the five-star hotel or go back to a private jet … and fly home. Your day and my day are worlds apart.’”

Dugan said that the long hours had enforced lifestyle changes on him. “I’ve pulled way back on drinking on the road,” he said. “I cannot fathom working with a hangover. I did that for a lot of years. And when you’re middle-aged, you can bounce back from a hangover. But now it takes too long.”

Anthony accepted he gained an advantage from such a long relationship with Dugan. “With that kind of experience, I can go up onstage every night and feel totally relaxed and confident that he has everything handled,” he said.

Veteran U2 Roadie Prayed Every Night During Sphere Residency

Meanwhile, 71-year-old Dallas Schoo said he was beginning to feel the strain of having worked with U2 guitarist The Edge for four decades – especially during the band’s Las Vegas Sphere residency.

“There are 17 steps from the floor … up to that stage,” he recalled. “I was 70 years old at the time, and I’m running up and down and up and down those steps with an eight-pound guitar, for 40 shows.

“I get paid handsomely for that. But I’m always thinking, ‘When will I trip? Is tonight the night I fall down those stairs?’ I say a prayer every night, I really do. I ask, Please help all these machines. Please let my command of them work; not for me and not even for the Edge, but for these 30,000 fans. Let it work for them. They deserve that; they want to hear this great act and these great songs.”