Touring - Yes/no/maybe?

[Watersedge1234]

For those of you who tour professionally (or did at one time or another) - do you enjoy it?

[stevel]

I was in a top 40 band and while we didn't "tour" like you probably mean, we did do what you might call "travel" dates. These were usually 4-6 hours away from home. We would drive out, play a gig, stay overnight, play another gig nearby (hopefully) and usually drive back after the gig (yes, I drove at 2 or 3 am to get home by sun up).

It was a blast. The time of my life. I was in my late 20s, early 30s at the time, married, but with no kids. Once the kids came, just couldn't do it anymore (there were other issues too).

Was making 300-500 per man per gig (usually on the 300 side) which at the time we needed to pay bills (we also played in town gigs on the other days of the week).

I wouldn't go on a tour now (my kids are 8 and 11 and I have a "career" job) unless I would make a *really* good amount of money - which I understand doesn't really happen.

I have a lot of college-age students who drop out of college for a year to "go on tour" with their band. They love it. They get to travel, they're under the impression that they're "living the life" and "on the way to making it" so they're happy.

I'd say Yes if it's worth it. But only you can decide if it's worth it. If you're going to break even, and you're in a life position where you can do it for the experience and just enjoy it, then go for it.

But there's a big difference between some local band "going on tour" by booking shows all over a region, and being hired to go on tour as a sideman for some major act - which are you doing?

Steve

[Watersedge1234]

Hey Steve,

Thanks for the insight bro. Im actually doing what you've described at this point, commuting to dates around the midwest, but I will most likely have the opportunity to tour in the coming months (I'm an audio engineer by trade). This wouldn't be the sort of "get your college buddies in a van and go around the country" sort of tour, it would be a professional ordeal.

Anyone around these parts have experience of extended touring? Is it enjoyable, or a drag after a bit?

Thanks in advance!

[JacieFB]

Not extended. I've done a month or so at a time several times. While 75% or more of the shows were horrible, I found myself in downright bad situations (like guitar player falling asleep at the wheel and wrecking the vehicle), and I lost my ass financially every time, I made memories that I wouldn't trade for the world. And I would do it again in a heartbeat if I had some sort of guarantee that the shows would at least be decently attended, regardless of pay.

[dirk_benedict]

My experiences were basically the same as JacieFB's (minus the van wreck)...I know guys who continued to do this throughout their 20s (and play 100+ shows a year) and have to sleep on couches when they are home. Not everyone's cup of tea, but for sure, memories galore.

[cadduc]

semi pro tours on the west coast from san diego to seattle and vancouver bc

playing dates is fun, but for me we had a goal, to try and market our tunes,

without a goal, you are just staying up late and meeting wimmen, that is fun, but the biggest positive is playing 5-7 nites a week, that over months and months of time does make you a better player and more effective writer

that said, no neither i nor anyone i worked with made a living then or is making a living now doing this, at 60+ years old, no royalties for tunes we wrote or recorded

oh wait one guy did/hello ray

[Watersedge1234]

I'm sure it'll be an awesome experience. Ill be going out as an audio engineer so it'll be a bit different, but the same in a lot of respects as well. I also wont really have to worry about the monetary situation, so I'm just gonna enjoy the ride...

[Bozak]

I toured regularly over the course of 6 years in the 90's, all over the states, Europe, Canada and even down to South America once.

During the time I had mixed feelings, it's amazing how lonely you can get out there even though you're constantly with people, there were certainly times of complete misery, but now many years later I miss it very much and wish I could go back and do it all again, I would be so much more thankful for being there and think I would enjoy it more.

What really kills me is seeing Facebook posts from friends still on the road, with pictures of gigs around the world and wishing I was there, depressing.

[Watersedge1234]

Originally Posted by Bozak

I toured regularly over the course of 6 years in the 90's, all over the states, Europe, Canada and even down to South America once.

During the time I had mixed feelings, it's amazing how lonely you can get out there even though you're constantly with people, there were certainly times of complete misery, but now many years later I miss it very much and wish I could go back and do it all again, I would be so much more thankful for being there and think I would enjoy it more.

What really kills me is seeing Facebook posts from friends still on the road, with pictures of gigs around the world and wishing I was there, depressing.

See, that was what I was wondering about. It seems like being out would take a lot out of you, especially an introvert such as myself. For me, it'd be the opposite of loneliness, I wouldn't be able to break away from people for any amount of time and am worried I will be quickly drained. However, it appears it's an on/off sort or thing (3 weeks on, 3 weeks off at least at this point) and I'm quite sure I could handle it if that be the case.

Thank you for the insight. So often when we're young we don't appreciate what we have until it's gone...that's why I'm not rushing into the whole family/kids/settling down thing!

[cruisemates]

When I owned a club in Phoenix I booked a LOT of touring bands. I worked with a booking agent out of NYC named Frank Riley (some might remember him) and I got bands like the Smithereens, Timbuk 3, etc (so many you have probably heard of but my memory fails me know), Mojo Nixon, Jonathan Richman...

Usually they needed a gig between Dallas and LA and I was the stopover gig. Hence I usually paid them enough to cover their expenses while in town. I remember many of them showing up in their vans. I would supply a motel room and a meal, they would do the gig and disappear that night never to be heard from again.

To me it appeared they were mostly happy, but I had a small club and I got a lot of comments about that being the kind of gig that didn't make it fun - especially if they landed on a Monday or something and not many people would turn out.

I could tell it was a tough life - even for the ones marginally "making it" with records out (we still had vinyl). In most cases it appeared they were all just breaking even, but doing it to support the band.

Actually - there were not that many parties and stuff in our town - most of the most serious bands just wanted a good nights sleep. And I would sometimes find they had used my phone and run up a $15 long distance call to a girlfriend or something.

In any case - it wasn't something I felt I ever really wanted to do, even though I have the travel bug. I would rather buy a winnebago with my wife when i reture and see the country that way.

As far as touring with a major act as a sound engineer. It sounds like a lot of fun. I was living in Dallas in the 80s (working as a recording engineer) when ShowCo became one of the top PA companies in the world. I knew a lot of their mixers and heard their stories of going to Japan with with different artists and stuff. It seemed like they had a blast.

[speakerjones]

I've toured both as a musician in a van and as an audio engineer on a bus. Two totally different experiences. Both rewarding in different ways. Touring can be very lucrative if you're on the professional end of it. It gets to be a drag if you've got a family though, IMO.

[Bozak]

Originally Posted by Watersedge1234

See, that was what I was wondering about. It seems like being out would take a lot out of you, especially an introvert such as myself. For me, it'd be the opposite of loneliness, I wouldn't be able to break away from people for any amount of time and am worried I will be quickly drained. However, it appears it's an on/off sort or thing (3 weeks on, 3 weeks off at least at this point) and I'm quite sure I could handle it if that be the case.

Thank you for the insight. So often when we're young we don't appreciate what we have until it's gone...that's why I'm not rushing into the whole family/kids/settling down thing!

It's so hard being in a really great new town and not being able to go out and do or see anything, or meeting someone you really click with and having to leave the next morning, I think that's a big part of the misery, hurry up and wait is the rule, and it gets very tiresome.

It's also not a healthy lifestyle, in Europe the food is great and every club has healthy meals ready for you, in the states you're on your own and unless you have the scratch to eat at nice restaurants every day you're eating Waffle House and truck stops, your body just goes into **** this mode.

The first week everyone is Gung-Ho, the second week everyone is getting tired, the third week the misery begins and after that it gets ugly, that's what I remember, but if you do it and I highly recommend you do despite what I've said relish every day, take pictures of clubs and people, you'll be glad years later.

[JacieFB]

Originally Posted by Bozak

It's so hard being in a really great new town and not being able to go out and do or see anything...

Ahh, that was a running joke for us. Drive into a new city. Hey, this place looks awesome! Let's drive to the crappiest part of town and do a show!

[bkd_guitarist]

I was in a regionally successful rock band in the early 90's. We did four years on the road, extended trips of 2-3 months at a time, all over the US and parts of Canada. We typically spent a total of 8-9 months out of the year traveling. Very active gig schedule, 200+ gigs per year. We had a couple of guys to help with schlepping gear but for the most part we carried our own stuff.

It was great, I would not trade the experience for anything, but it was a grind physically. I did this from age 19 to 23. Now at age 40, there's no way.

Pros:
-Having music as your full-time job RULES
-Saw lots of cool places
-Quantum improvements to my playing

Cons:
-Money sucked
-Exhausting
-Hard to stay in shape

Overall, if you have the chance, go for it. There's no other experience like it.

[Dnealtx]

Touring as a sound engineer can be great.
Especially if its a pro tour and you have a crew to set up and tear down.

I have a friend who is out Backstage Managing for Taylor Swift and the FOH tech makes $$$$
7 digits for a month tour
Even the lighting guy is BARELY in 7 digits.