Covering this tour stands as one of the most full-circle moments of my life, both professionally and personally. The first issue I worked on had Love On Tour as the cover story – making it even more special was the fact that I had just spent that summer following the tour across Europe and the UK with friends that I had met because of, or at Harry Styles shows. All of this to say, nearly three years to the date, I hopped on a plane over to Amsterdam to interview his crew myself. From the home of Ajax Football Club, I went behind the scenes of the Together, Together tour, revisiting my roots in his world and combining them with everything I have learnt about the production industry.
Production Manager, Andrew Thornton, who began the journey for Together, Together in August 2025 picked up the story: “This is one of the biggest shows many of us have ever worked on. The extended lead time we have had has meant that the process has been focussed and organised.”
Thornton brought together some of the industry’s best for the project, including: Solotech (audio, lighting, video), Nighthawk Video (LED runway), Core Control (cameras), Neg Earth Lights (rigging), Opto Live (playback), Rock-it Cargo (freight), Team Audio (communications), Ox Event House (scenic), Stageco (steel), Planet SFX (lasers, eco jets and pyrotechnics), KB Event (trucking), CoTour (travel agent), Twenty Three (LED infrastructure), TAIT (staging), and Sarah’s Kitchen (catering).
“All the vendors have worked well together. I prioritised communication between me, the vendors and the design team. We communicated via Slack, with big team chats weekly,” Thornton explained. “We went into rehearsals feeling the most organised I think any of us had ever felt.”
The production takes a team of 148 plus additional local crew two days to load-in, the contents of 80 trucks. Meanwhile, many of the crew are working behind the scenes to prepare for the 30-night Madison Square Garden residency. “MSG has been happening in the background, occasionally the foreground, and throughout the process I have been able to lean on my stage management department with Duncan [Ladkin, Stage Manager] running the show and future freighting and trucking,” Thornton added.
Thornton told TPi that the team wanted to gather “the Avengers of touring crew”, which for him isn’t just about the ability to do the job, but to be a team player. “For my heads of department, I look for kind and patient team managers, which isn’t just the ability to work within your department but to work as one collective crew. One of the hardest things to get is the cohesive feeling from everyone that we are working together. This filters from the top down, from artist management to production management; we are all approaching this in the same way – with the same attitude of patience and kindness towards one another,” Thornton added. “Everyone is working towards the same goals and enjoying themselves.”
Read the full cover story in TPi Magazine #294…
Words: Alicia Pollitt
Photos: Julian Basjel and Anthony Pham
