Let’s go on the road…

It’s a great idea – all sorts of artists and bands have been doing it since classical musicians moved their minstrels from court to court. Since the Methodists took music to the pacific islands and the Salvation Army wandered down my street in Coburg way too early on a Sunday morning.

Let’s go on the road, play loud, play often, get drunk, meet girls/boys (your call) eat bad food and most importantly stay up very late.

I lived it, loved it and ultimately got sick from it but even today still enjoy wearing those scars of a truly surreal experience few humans get to have.

So how do you do it, when do you start planning, who is the first person you call, the car rental company, the accommodation, the PA people, the merchandise company or your girlfriend to see if it’s ok to go (?) Relax, it’s never going to be cool to go, not really, not when you forget to call, not when you are having a f@#$%g great time!

But lets go anyway… here are some simple tour administration things to think about.

1. We can’t afford it

You’ll rarely be able to afford it. The question should be; can we afford not too? You need to be stretching your canvas, playing to new rooms in far off places, making new fans, increasing the bands’ experience for the sake of both attracting new audiences and also to give you all something more to think about. Songs of the road, gigs of our lives, the solidarity that only comes with night after night of playing gigs together. So go…

2. We’re not good enough yet

No you’re probably not. So rehearse like hell, put together the best set you can and go and improve it on the road. No one ever won a tennis match practising! You need the experience of continuous gigging, set autopsy during the car ride the following day, recognition of your band mates strengths and weaknesses both on and off the stage and facing your own personal playing demons – e.g. I keep losing my voice, my hands are blistered from hitting too hard, my amp sounds crap out of the rehearsal room. So go…

3. Our single is only getting played in Melbourne

Well what a great reason to go to Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane. Service it to the local public radio stations, street press, bloggers and reviewers, record stores and anyone else who’ll take a copy. Tell them you’ll be coming through touring, it gives them more reason to take a listen and stamps a great big ‘we’re serious’ stamp on your collective foreheads. Offer to come in and play on their radio shows, in their stores, at their house parties, run comps to get them down early to meet you at sound check, give tix and CDs/downloads away in street press. Even iTunes gives us all a free download every week! So go…

4. Where do I start planning

With your agent or by approaching the booking managers of the gigs you want to play at. Look at what rooms bands like yours played at during a similar stage of their careers. Speak to your mates bands, check out the venues websites, local street press online in other cities and the travel blogs of other Australian acts. Look at your own social network management – where do your Myspace / Facebook / Twitter fans live? Ask them about touring in their town. Heaps of people have heaps of local knowledge and if they are fans they’ll want to share. Use them…

5. Got my gigs what next

Let’s get on Google maps and work out the first logistic. Is it too far too drive in the time I’ve got to get between gigs or going to cost too much too fly? Adelaide to Brisbane overnight wont work but cheap flights might however it’s going to cost a fortune to fly all our amps and drums. In fact in many cases they need to be cargo listed and go on a completely different flight.

There are 4 basic contingencies you need to think about here:

a) Who’s coming – crew would be great but they add beds, flights, Tarago seats and wages to the equation.

b) Are we taking our gear or hiring backline

c) Are we driving everywhere and what vehicle will we need to do this.

d) What is the cheapest accom’ in each city – can I park the car, minivan, truck there safely full of gear?

6. OK we’re doing it, what can possibly go wrong

Nothing, it’s easy, thousands of brave troops have been there before you. But a few things to think about because every decision here has an implication. Make sure you’ve got at least enough money for petrol and make sure you fill the hire car before dropping it back. Car hire companies charge twice as much per litre.

Be sure that your vehicle will fit into the hotels car park – we don’t want to take off the roof of the Tarago on a water main in the basement or have to unload it every night because we’re leaving it on the street.

If you are flying with excess baggage and you know it’s going to be a drama, call them – they’re less pissed off when they know what to expect. Also sometimes it makes more sense to book a more expensive flight on Qantas than Tiger because baggage is less restrictive. The bonus here is you don’t need to hire that piece of backline when you get there, however you do need to make sure that it will fit in the vehicle you’re picking up at the other end.

Think of posters for the venue, merch that might just make up the difference in your tour bottom line, allowing an ample amount of time for getting from A-B. Don’t be late for cheap flights – they’ll make you pay for another. Maybe appoint a Tour Manager – the loudest, the bossiest, the most organised – girls in the band are ‘generally’ better at this than boys. Think through the process in a linear fashion – I leave here, I’m going there and this is what I need to have when I arrive, After that I’ll need somewhere to sleep. It’s easy, so go….

Now write it all down including the booking numbers and details for flights, cars, hotels, backline, production crew and of course the venue. Add any radio, TV, magazine contacts and interviews you have been lucky enough to get and put it in a book with a nice picture of the band on the front and a cool title – Australian Autumn Tour 2010, Summer Eastern States Run, All My Ex-Wives Hate Me Tour – even the name of your single, EP, album perhaps.

‘Cleveland!’... PG