Eat to the Beat helping to keep Coldplay and their crew on the road in 'A Head Full of Dreams' Tour

Eat to the Beat (ETTB) are keeping Coldplay and their crew fuelled during the band's 'A Head Full of Dreams' tour of North America.

ETTB, the artist, production and crew catering specialists, are accompanying Coldplay on all 22 dates of their North American tour which kicked off in New York on Saturday, July 16and wraps up in San Francisco on September 3.

The ETTB team have already provided backstage catering services for the band’s 19 European concerts from May 24 to July 6 which took in eight locations — France, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and the UK.

Susanne Traynor (left), ETTB’s Operations Manager, who oversees support of the Coldplay gigs, has been coordinating the logistics of the mammoth tour from ETTB’s head office in Chesham, Bucks. Susanne was on sitein fourcities of the European tour, Nice, Manchester, London and Hamburg and was in New Jersey as the US tour commenced.

Says Susanne: “A Head Full of Dreams is a really great show and a big logistical challenge. Coldplay have alarge crew out on the road including the production team, vendor’s crews and drivers who all need to be fed at each location. In Europe we have been catering for around 180 crew at each show plus a further 50 people in the ‘band party’. In America the crew numbers are even bigger with ETTB catering for around 300 people at some of the venues.”

A typical day sees the ETTB team arrive on site at 6am to provide breakfast for the Coldplay crew. Fresh provisions are sourced in each city and dressing rooms are prepared for the band and support acts and are stocked with drinks and snacks.

ETTB cook and serve lunch and dinner for the entire crew and the artists, providing high quality restaurant-style menus to suit every palate including Vegetarian, Gluten free and many other dietary requirements.

Says Susanne: “If the band is playing consecutive nights our team will rest up in a hotel. When the band moves on ETTB stock the Coldplay crew buses with drinks sandwiches and snacks as the tour heads to its next destination. We also load up our own truck with the help of local crew, shower and bed-down on the bus in readiness to do it all over again at the next stop.

“Our typical working day is let’s just say long. It’s pretty full on and there’s certainly never a dull moment. Life on the road is hard but it is fun working alongside a great production, their crews and the artist. They all work really long hours in a high octane environment, so good food available throughout the day is vital to keep them refreshed and energised.”

About Global Infusion Group
Originally launched in 1984 as Eat to the Beat – an artist, production and crew catering business specialising in backstage catering services for music, entertainment, film and TV industries – the company has catered many of the biggest names in the entertainment world.Eat to the Beat provides backstage catering support for international tours, major festivals such as Glastonbury and Reading, concert venues and TV and film locations. Additional divisions were added to the Eat to the Beat brand as the business evolved and diversified and now includes a bespoke corporate & private party planning, catering and event design division (GIG…fyi)since 1988; global sport and automotive event catering (GIG SPORT) since 2002 and a logistics and brand support division to promote predominantly food and drink products (e2B Logistics) since 1997. All divisions trade under the umbrella of Global Infusion Group which has its UK headquarters in Chesham, Bucks. The company has catered functions at iconic locations such as Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street to the Great Wall of China and the more remote; the Ice Fields of Inner Mongolia. GIG were also on site providing catering at London 2012 and Sochi 2014 Olympic Games.GIG has established international offices in California, United States, Qatar, Middle East and Shanghai, China catering across Asia and the Far East. It is soon to open a branch in Brazil to service the South American market. The group employs around 170 full-time staff world-wide supported by up to 3,000 freelance professional specialists to support the hundreds of global events and functions it works at each year.

For more information, please see:
www.globalinfusiongroup.com

PAUL SMITH ASSOCIATES
21st July 2016