THE ARENA RIGGER

MICHAEL DILGER wants to work 100 jobs before he dies.

He’s been a restaurant facilities manager, a truck driver, a landscaper, the gatekeeper at a state park and a short-order cook at Larry’s Family Restaurant in The Colony, to name a few.

His full-time hat for the past year-anda-half has been that of arena rigger. The 34-year-old Dilger is an independent contractor who works for companies that engineer the lights and sound for concerts and events at the American Airlines Center, Gexa Pavilion, Verizon Theater at Grand Prairie and the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

For a typical job at the AAC, he arrives at 4 a.m. and works 130 feet off the ground, walking on a 4-inch-wide beam, balancing his body to pull heavy lights up from guys on the ground. Around noon, when they finish, he grabs a meal and maybe a nap before returning at 9 p.m. to run spotlights during the show and then tear everything down. If there’s another show at the AAC or elsewhere, he turns around immediately to work that. Working 9 p.m. to noon the following day is common. Sometimes riggers can nap during shifts, when things are slow. At the AAC, there is a platform above the scoreboard that serves as the riggers’ lounge, Dilger says.

They’re used to working back-to-back shifts in their desirable field of work.

“You can’t say ‘no’ because if you say ‘no’ just once, they bump you down on the call list,” Dilger says. “There’s always someone gunning for your job.”

Besides that, he says, “it’s feast or famine.” He has to book jobs when he can because there could be lulls that last for weeks.

Dilger always is prepared when working overnights. Aside from the tools he needs for work, he has in his truck Clementine oranges, a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and an ice chest with milk and a case of Shiner Bock beer.

Bars close at 2 a.m., and riggers work at least until 4 in the morning.

“That’s our happy hour,” he says.

Finding a meal at 4 a.m. also can be a challenge.

“I’ve fallen in love with Oak Cliff’s 24hour restaurants,” Cesar’s Taco’s and Metro Diner, he says.

The biggest perk of the job is seeing all the concerts. Dilger has seen Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Muse, Lady Gaga and Juan Gabriel, the 65-year-old Mexican mega star known for entering stage on horseback. He once had dinner at the same table as Stevie Wonder.

Recently, he went on a six-city tour with Russian/German electronic musician Zedd. His next goal is to get picked up for a world tour.

Whether it’s that or something new, we know Dilger’s next job won’t involve sitting at a desk.

“I love things that give me an adrenaline rush,” he says. “If I don’t sweat at work, I don’t feel like I’ve had a good day.”