Touring?

[Sam L4]

Looking into the prospect of touring and was wondering if anyone has any advice? Would just be booked the good old fashioned DIY way.

Any help is much appreciated.

[black_matter]

I have no first hand experience in touring, but I would advise a well planned route, a well planned financial sheet that states where, when and how money will be spent and a reliable mode of transport.

[shaun]

Originally Posted by Frosty Jack

Number One Rule:
What happens on the road, stays on the road...

As for the rest, erm..
Make an effort not to get in each others faces too much.
Never discuss band politics when you're pissed.
Do something other than sit in a bar or the van waiting to play a gig. Get out and about, take a football or whatever. Saves you getting too pissed in the afternoon through boredom.
Remember that no matter how big you reckon you are in your hometown, when you walk into a venue somewhere else, to them you're nobody. Acting big is a sure way to get shot down. And be as professional as you can with setting up, soundchecking etc. The crowd's expectations will be higher for a touring band, so you have more to prove.
Remember to eat. It's easy to spend three weeks pissed and having nothing but the odd kebab and Ginsters, but you'll soon have no energy for the shows at night. All you can eat pizza places are your friend. Collect offer vouchers before you go.
Buy booze collectively to get case discounts.
Start smoking rollies instead..
Driver gets the best bed/chair/floor.
Get AA cover before you go.
If you get stopped by the feds, swallow your pride and be nice. Never try to be funny.
Have deodorant and chewing gum available at all times.
You can't have too much Gaffa tape.
Insert a tracking device into your drummer.

this was a post from one of the similar threads in the similar threads section. pretty good.

[RF Scott]

Originally Posted by black_matter

I have no first hand experience in touring, but I would advise a well planned route, a well planned financial sheet that states where, when and how money will be spent and a reliable mode of transport.

I think you'll find that any money you make from DIY touring will go to petrol, petrol, petrol, so its not really worth planning, as long as you have a money box/keep a record of the money box/aren't an idiot.

Don't rely on AA routefinder, if you can a list of adresses (venues and where you'll be sleeping) and sat nav if you can get hold of one will save A LOT of hassle. A LOT.

Look after your equipment - if you are using decent heads and whatnot, its not really advisable to let other bands use them, unless you don't care and like the idea of trying to find replacement parts, etc.

spare guitars, spare guitar head if you can. spare strings etc obviously.

contact telephone numbers for venues/bands youre playing with - make a couple of copies and make sure your mobile is always charged.

to save money try and avoid always eating in service stations - they will rip you off to the max and make you increasingly hate humanity.

merchandise is a good way to add to your petrol money and obviously getting people to remember you, even if its just a tour cd-r or whatnot.

a good book might save your sanity.

driver gets best bed/floor/etc, as said above.

make sure you have enough sleeping bags etc to keep warm - theres always going to be a threat that you'll end up with nowhere to stay, your transport will break down, b+bs/travelodges are full, etc. not actually done this, but maybe try filling a few hot water bottles before you leave a venue?

make sure you have replacement keys for your car/van etc, so that you aren't stuck in berwick upon tweed for 3 or so hours, on top of leaving stonehaven late and being delayed at rikki's due to insurance, in the horrible cold, with only a mcdonalds to entertain you. a fucking mcdonalds. doing this also means you don't have to pay shitloads to a locksmith, and you get to arrive at a venue for soundcheck, watch other bands, eat tea and not have to go from the van to the stage! hooray!

[black_matter]

Originally Posted by RF Scott

I think you'll find that any money you make from DIY touring will go to petrol, petrol, petrol, so its not really worth planning, as long as you have a money box/keep a record of the money box/aren't an idiot.

Yeah that's a good point but I was saying that, on the basis of being safe, bring some money along as a backup and keep that well planned. Just for the shits and giggles.

[PVH]

Come on there was a Morrisons aswell! And that guy did some magic work!

Originally Posted by RF Scott

make sure you have replacement keys for your car/van etc, so that you aren't stuck in berwick upon tweed for 3 or so hours, on top of leaving stonehaven late and being delayed at rikki's due to insurance, in the horrible cold, with only a mcdonalds to entertain you. a fucking mcdonalds. doing this also means you don't have to pay shitloads to a locksmith, and you get to arrive at a venue for soundcheck, watch other bands, eat tea and not have to go from the van to the stage! hooray!

[RF Scott]

Originally Posted by project:venhell

Come on there was a Morrisons aswell! And that guy did some magic work!

That Morrisons was a sign that we were entering daily mail country

"Hi, do you have today's Guardian?"
"..."
"Umm, today's Guardian?"
"We don't stock it."
"Oh."
"All the papers we have are over there"
"Ok"

I went over to find The Daily Mail, The Daily Record and The Daily Fuckwit. Agreed about that locksmith's magic work (or magic van really!), but it was a little less enjoyable when you realised you were paying a whole bunch of money for the pleasure. A whole bunch.

[black_matter]

how long in advance should you plan a tour though? like if you were looking to plan say....summer 2008 would you need to plan a month, a few months or even a year in advance?

[PVH]

A couple of months for planning the UK is normally fine.

[RF Scott]

Originally Posted by black_matter

how long in advance should you plan a tour though? like if you were looking to plan say....summer 2008 would you need to plan a month, a few months or even a year in advance?

A few months at least, if you were trying to get decent shows and not just anything thats going. If you were going to be touring say in May, It'd be good to start at around January at the latest. Touring during Summer is a little risky, however, as you've got
a)all the festivals
b)people on holiday
c)hot weather so less people will be sprawling to grotty music venues
d)things like the world cup