On The Road: Riffs On Wheels

Jägermeister, the champion of hard rock and shot liqueur of champions, is about to go mobile—though not in the way you might think. Jäger will be fielding the biggest, baddest, totally self-contained mobile staging that has ever hit the road.

For nearly a decade Jäger—the shot of choice among legions of headbangers—has backed heavy metal touring through its product, swag, cash, signage, CD compilations and underwriting of Jägermeister Music tours. Along the way, the company has more than tripled its sales to more than 3 million cases annually, with virtually no traditional advertising. It's a classic meeting of product and market.

This year Jäger is upping the ante even more with its Jägermeister Mobile Stage, which will, in fact, be the second stage on this year's Ozzfest tour (Billboard, Feb. 24).

"In years past we've had a strong presence at Ozzfest, but not to the level we'll have this year," says Rick Zeiler, director of marketing and brand development for Sidney Frank Importing, U.S. distributor of Jägermeister. "We really feel like we've become a partner with Ozzfest this year, as opposed to just one of a few important sponsors."

The Jägermeister Mobile Stage was built for about $750,000. "This is an idea that up until about three months ago we weren't 100% sure was going to happen," Zeiler says. "Then our executives gave us approval to proceed with it. Obviously, it's a very expensive proposition, but they really believe this thing will be a success, and we're already seeing some of the benefits of what comes from building it."

As might be expected, the Jäger mobile stage will rock mightily. "It's actually a 44-foot-long trailer, and the stage itself is 34 feet long by 16 feet wide by 20-plus feet tall," Zeiler says. "We've got an enormous generator that's going in this thing. The clam-shell opening is revolutionary and brings the stage height up to allow a House of Blues-style stage."

Mobile stages have been set up in remote locations for decades, but historically, such elements as sound, lighting, rigging and power have to be trucked in as well. The Jäger stage is completely self-contained. "The only thing we need is fuel for the generator and the 'toter home' that will be pulling the stage," Zeiler says.

Uh, toter home? "Yeah. What's groundbreaking about this is not only the stage dimensions and how big it will be and how good it will sound, but also the fact that we have a toter home, kind of a modified motor home, that will be pulling this thing around," he says. "So our guys can go out and live in very comfortable quarters on the road. We can go do a desert event, or anything, because we don't need to plug into anything."

Indeed, Zeiler and company have assembled a team of people to help run the program. "We sent our tour managers Jack Carson and John Weaver, who work on the Jägermeister tours, to truck-driving school" to obtain their certified driver's licenses, Zeiler says. "So they can not only take this truck from one event to the next, but also help us manage the stage, sound, lighting, etc. And we're looking into hiring a full-time sound guy."

Peavey and Schecter, big sponsors of the Jäger music tours, are providing sound and PA for the stage, and Grundorf is supplying the cabinets. Chauvet Lighting has contributed about $100,000 worth of lighting, and JVC is providing the "bling" for the stage and toter, Zeiler says.

Word is getting out about the project, Zeiler says. "The reaction to this mobile stage is unlike anything we've ever done before. We've gotten interest from the NFL, the [National Hot Rod Assn.], NASCAR, Ozzfest. We really feel like this could be a groundbreaking promotional tool for Jägermeister. I believe it's the biggest idea we've ever come up with in the music field."

The Jägermeister Mobile Stage will debut March 15-18 in Gainesville, Fla., at an NHRA event. But the big coming-out party will be Ozzfest, which begins as a free event in July. "Ozzfest is a great way to kick this thing off," Zeiler says. "Them having enough trust and belief in Jägermeister to provide the second stage at Ozzfest is really saying a lot."

Zeiler expects the stage to stay booked. "We've had such a response from so many different companies, we feel like everyone will know about this stage in the next couple of months," he says. "We should do something big for Billboard. You tell us where you want it."

Well, I do tend to have this big barbecue/guitar pull throwdown every spring . . .