FatHand Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Thought it might be useful topic. Promote your tour a bit, share some helpful information, funny stories etc.Anyway, we're doing a small tour of four dates this week. Starting with McGinties in Perth on Thursday (20th May), Friday in the Jazz Bar Edinburth, World Headquarters Newcastle on Saturday and finishing in Pivo Pivo in Glasgow on Sunday.Really looking forward to this, nice wee road trip. Will report back on this next week with reviews on the venues. Really looking forward to the Edinburgh and Newcastle shows in particular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast Caz Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Sage advice - If you're going to finance anything make it reliable gear and a top range sleeping bag. Eat yer greens at every chance. Ginsters sponserships just won't do haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Jack Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Good idea - As a reference point, there was a touring thread aeons ago, which I compiled into a Touring Tips article -Touring Tips - Articles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 The They Might Be Giants film gave me a new outlook on touring and gigging, and a policy I'm going to stand by from now on.No coffee = No show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FatHand Posted May 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Good idea - As a reference point, there was a touring thread aeons ago, which I compiled into a Touring Tips article -Touring Tips - ArticlesYeah good article! That sums up the tips for touring nicely so we can concentrate on sharing contacts, ways of getting shows sorted in different towns. The differences between cities is quite an important one I think, any help to cut down the time it takes to organise things can only be a good thing. This is the first tour that I've been on as well as organised so think the organising tips are really helpful.Two of the shows were booked using band contacts in other cities but I've found this is not necessarily the best way to confidently know you have a venue to play on the date that you want. I had to sort out the Newcastle venue myself then leave the other bands in charge of the details of the night. The Perth gig was organised by a friend of mine who has a similar mindset to me so was happy for him to do it all. The Jazz bar was just by being in contact regarding similar acts that I was booking for Aberdeen so got in there that way and the Pivo Pivo one was a matter of phoning up the venue (I got Marcia our singer to do that, the womanly charm seemed to work). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Von Mondragon Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Yeah, but is it a tour, or just some gigs in a row...retreats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Surely it's only classed as a few gigs in a row if all the gigs are in and around the same place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast Caz Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 It's not a tour if you ain't suffering from Zackleys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FatHand Posted May 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 This is the way I worked it out:I've got a gigI've got a couple of gigs booked on consecutive nightsI've booked a few shows in a row in different citiesI've got a small tour plannedI'm going to say that a tour is 4 or more nights in a row in different cities (not including your own town). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Yeah, but is it a tour, or just some gigs in a row...retreatsand is a band headlining or just playing last? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Von Mondragon Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 Someones paying attention at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gladstone Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 I've said it before, and I'll say it again...It's only a tour as far as Ab-music.com is concerned if it's My Mind's Weapon or The X-Certs.EDIT: Or Copy Haho. Forgot about them. They're allowed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorge Posted May 18, 2010 Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 and is a band headlining or just playing last? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FatHand Posted May 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 Well just got back from our 4 nights and it was amazing fun. It was a mixed bag in terms of crowd size but that is to be expected if nobody really knows you. The Jazz Bar in Edinburgh was our busiest and hardest show, we had to play for an hour and a half which was hard work! Amazing buzz though. Newcastle was really good too but not hugely busy. Perth was dead but a good warm up practice type thing and Glasgow was not well attended either but great fun as the folk who were there were into it.The parties were ace too but I won't go into all that.This is the first time that I've done a tour of sorts and the biggest things that have come out of it are a huge increase in confidence in our music, tighter and more professional shows, greater awareness of what is going on stage at all times and knowing when to let it rip (very important for the type of music we play). Got some great ideas of how to string songs together for a really coherent show by doing a jam on stage, fairly loose but then bringing things to a climax by going into a fully written track.Anyway, still buzzing from it now. I might put up a track from the Glasgow gig that I recorded on my little Zoom recorder. Have to see if there is one that has no or as few as possible fuck ups on it! Keep you posted on here.If you get the chance to do even just a few shows one after the other it will improve your band no end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Von Mondragon Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 Ace, sounds ein good laffen. Just read Miles Davis biography (Iain Carr), all us rock musos are effete ponces next to those guys with the 4 sets a night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 If you get the chance to do even just a few shows one after the other it will improve your band no end.Boom. Touring is the best practice you can get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FatHand Posted May 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 Ace, sounds ein good laffen. Just read Miles Davis biography (Iain Carr), all us rock musos are effete ponces next to those guys with the 4 sets a night.Yeah, you'd need a fair amount of time to build up the stamina for that! Would be up for giving it a go though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ca_gere Posted May 25, 2010 Report Share Posted May 25, 2010 The jazz bar gig was great fun. Folk were really into it. The type of band you have, an hour and a half set of non-stop playing is the way to go. The more gigs u do, the easier this will be I'm sure. People just love dancing to funk music and a standard play-stop-play-stop set breaks the flow. I thought u did a great job of keeping the vibe going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RF Scott Posted May 25, 2010 Report Share Posted May 25, 2010 A tour is a series of more than one shows, in different locations. If I went and played two shows in Switzerland, I could call it a Switzerland tour.Less semantics, more getting out there and DOING STUFF! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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