Touring Advice?

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Touring Advice?

Message Board > Music Chitchat - General ( Indie, Jazz, World, Electronic etc.) > Touring Advice?

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SaL
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Hello, I am looking at booking a tour for the summer, just wondering if anyone has had any experience with doing a summer tour?

What are the pros/cons of doing it in the summer versus fall.

I am aiming at booking maybe 1 month-6 weeks of shows.

Anyone have any advice? for booking a tour in general?

Thanks - Sat, 8 Mar 2008 9:22pm

Tyler
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I haven't ever booked a tour so these are just observations as a promoter. a lot of bands do summer tours so it's much harder to get promoters to commit. a month of touring wouldn't be too hard to manage. in contacting promoters, be personal and honest. don't be all bigheaded about your band but don't put yourselves down either. try to find similar bands in the other areas and form friendships ahead of time. consider convincing a more well known band to let you hop on their tour, then absorb all the contact information for your own future reference. make sure you have enough money to cover yourselves in case problems come up - shows getting cancelled, vans breaking down, etc. buy some wet naps to use on your body in case you don't get to shower for a while, something I read in a hardcore zine hahaha.

I'd like to hear advice from people who actually know what they're talking about though. - Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:10pm

Sati
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I've booked a tour. Don't do it.

Make sure everyone in the band gets a cc of the tour schedule so that you're not driving like maniacs on no sleep across Manitoba only to get there and find out your show's the next night. D'uh. - Fri, 14 Mar 2008 1:12pm

Tyler
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hey Sati, you've peaked my curiosity! what band were you in? myspace link? come onnn - Sat, 15 Mar 2008 10:02am

{UTA} Mike
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dont forget to take your multivitamins! - Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:31am

Aidan Logins
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Pack so that if any bag or case gets lost/stolen you can still put on a good show.

In hotels, if you get a room with two beds. The more comfortable one is always the one furthest from the TV.

Strings break. Change strings RIGHT after a show. or FIRST THING in the morning if you plan on using that guitar later on. And stretch them as many times as you can during the day. Being out of tune is the number one reason bands can have a shitty set.

When buying food (including restaurants and room service), try to choose something that won't go bad right away. If you don't eat anything right away you'll be glad it's not bad later. And room service food comes with free plastic wrap if you ask for it. And never ever eat lobster or oysters or anything that could possibly make you sick- no matter how nice the place looks. If something goes wrong with shellfish it goes VERY wrong. performances suffer.

That's all I've got.

and go to http://www.tstouring.com
There's a link somewhere that says "download a sample chapter." download it and read it. If you like it buy the book. I don't have it, but I will someday soon. - Sun, 16 Mar 2008 6:40pm Edited: Sun, 16 Mar 2008 6:42pm

c
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cool, thanks for the info. - Sun, 16 Mar 2008 10:31pm

stefan
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1. bring a computer, or at least have some idea as to where you'll be able to gon online. There is a good chance a show has fallen through or the promoter has fucked something up. Checking your email may mean the difference between a mellow day off, or hours of driving for no reason whatsoever.

2. Avoid the crackhead that runs the Tongue n Groove in Lethbridge. He'll fuck you over. This is from both personal experience and widely known fact of anybody who has played there.

3. Make at least a couple of detailed schedules that include guarantees, addresses, phone numbers, printed out location maps from google or mapquest, and any additional info you may need.

4. Bring posters. Don't ever think that nursing a plate of wings and a courtesy pitcher a few hours before a show is more important than hustling for a turn-out. Bring posters and get them up around town (I usually do a two block radius around the venue). This is extra vital in small towns where a gig only happens every few weeks. Street traffic is always good.

5. Kill and eat hitchhikers along the way. It'll boost band mentality, sustain your need for protein and lower the chance of inter-group tensions. It's a great way of bonding. Those German metal bands were onto something.

6. Bring lot's of strings, picks, capos, reeds and all of the other small things that don't seem like a big deal at the time. - Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:02pm

Sati
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I booked someone else's tour. Tyler you seem to have me mistaken for someone uber cool. One day we'll meet and you'll laugh.

Good tips up there. I remember Nev telling me about how he programmed his laptop to run hard all night just to save him from freezing in the van up north somewhere while on tour.

And stay friendly cuz small, first tour kinda gigs fall through a lot, so hitting local record stores & coffee shops can hook you a shitty basement show or even an opener on something good if you just keep yourself open to it. Sometimes playing for a handful of kids can make you way more in merch etc than playing half full bars.
And making contacts on the way out can net you more gigs in those towns on the way back, especially if you're good. - Mon, 17 Mar 2008 1:53am

{UTA} Mike
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Another good and cheap program ( free if you torrent it..) is Microsoft Streets and Trips, its a great street map tool, you can calculate your gas costs with it too, and if you do get lost with this program it means your probably in Northern Ontario at night in the fog and you shoudlnt have taken that shortcut! - Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:16am

Don Lownote
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hey Sati!

You should book our June tour! I got all the same questions!

Don
Lownote
myspace.com/lownote - Mon, 17 Mar 2008 3:52pm

Sati
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Don, you're being silly again! Gimme a call, we'll go for coffee and I'll tell you everything I know in the space of -- 10 minutes!

That said, I know that we (Nev, Scott, me) have all had ideas at one point or another about building more features into the database which can help bands booking tours hook up and share/access resources. We've actually got a lot of info in there that you can't see because so many bands list entire tours and all those bits of data are archived.

Of course, its getting increasingly clear that we need our current services (hosting/advertising etc) to be more fully supported before we can afford to build in more features. Once we do though, you'll all be BLOWN AWAY. - Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:30pm Edited: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:32pm

Mr. Hell
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"if you do get lost with this program it means your probably in Northern Ontario at night in the fog and you shoudlnt have taken that shortcut!"

Sounds like a familiar tale.
All I have to add to this is:
Always be polite and willing to compromise with those you work with because it will benefit you later on.
If you're a metal band, play Prince George for sure.
Make sure your drummer brings more than $40 and three wife beaters for the entire tour.
Theft proof your gear storage area and if you can't, don't ever leave your vehicle unattended.
Instead of letting band mates get on your nerves, remember that you're on tour and the worst time you could have on tour is better than your best day at a shitty job.
Make sure you have a lot of money for back up to do the tour because you will not make enough from shows and merch to be comfortable.
Have fun! - Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:44am

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