Veteran Tour Manager Aaron Chugg Passes

Prominent and well respected tour manager Aaron Chugg has died, a friend has confirmed to theMusic.com.au.

Reports of his passing appeared on social media last night and this morning further messages of condolence have been posted.

Boom Crash Opera wrote, “RIP Aaron Chugg. Aaron was our Tour Manager for quite some time. We bonded with him and he taught us a lot!”

It is believed he suffered a stroke while mixing at a festival last week and passed away yesterday.

A former manager of The Screaming Jets, Chugg was the tour manager/live sound engineer for Psuedo Echo, Hoodoo Gurus, Alex Lloyd, Evermore and The Whitlams amongst others. He was also a proficient Front Of House, was the Production Manager for the Sydney Olympic Torch Relay and a regular speaker on the music industry seminar circuit.

Most recently he was the Tour Manager for Shannon Noll, a post he had held for a number of years.

Phoebe Pinnock, frontwoman for Heaven The Axe, told theMusic that she met Chugg while he was tour managing Rose Tattoo.

“He was a funny, quick witted guy who always had a lot of time for me and he was a shit hot mixer,” she said.

Sydney-based musician Matt Cornell posted last night, “Over the years, I've had the pleasure of touring with so many different musicians, artists, road crew and tour managers. And today, sadly, we lost a real character, Aaron Chugg. I worked with him for several years with the Shannon Noll band, he was one of a kind, rest in peace Chuggy, I'm sure the man upstairs will have a vodka waiting for ya!”

Another Noll collaborator, Melbourne guitarist Brenden Allen posted, “Rip Aaron 'Chuggy' Chugg, a genuine nice guy and great tour manager/sound engineer. Thanks for everything, it was a pleasure to have worked with you, you'll be sadly missed.”

Hoodoo Guru's frontman Dave Faulkner has added, “The first thing anyone would notice about Aaron would be his almost-manic energy: everything was at a million miles an hour (apart from his driving, where he was calm and alert). He was always cracking jokes which were often put-downs of the people around him but it was hard to take offence because he 'paid out' on himself as much as anyone.

“Aaron's constant barrage of quips became something we found endearing and was more like a mental tic with him – he just couldn't help himself. Definitely a smartarse! In fact that was one of the things he found most difficult about working with us in the beginning because he didn't laugh at our jokes and we didn't laugh at his. Eventually we found middle ground – which was probably all of us bitching about other people instead of each other!

“Although we've crossed paths quite a few times over the years since we stopped working together, we last saw Aaron in the Qantas Lounge at Perth Airport a few weeks ago. He'd been at the WA gig of [the Future Music Festival] with the Roses while we had just played our show on Rottnest Island. He was stoked about the way The Stone Roses had played the night before and was keen for us to come to their Hordern Show back in Sydney a few nights later. Unfortunately I already had another commitment that night so I couldn't go.

“Even at that brief meeting in the airport lounge his passion for his job was still very apparent, which is a rare gift after going through the grind of touring rock 'n' roll for so many years. He remained dedicated heart and soul to music and got satisfaction out of being the man on the spot who could make things happen. Aaron, we need more people like you, not less, and we'll all miss you.”