How to Go on Tour

Taken from:
http://www.artsandmedia.net/cgi-bin/dc/expo/2003/10/14_tour
and

(Without killing your bandmates and losing your ass)
By Conan Neutron
If you've accomplished the feat of actually getting a band together, you're naturally inclined to want to share it with the rest of the world.

Unfortunately, what most people don't realize is that the world of luxurious tour buses, endless free drugs and copious sex is nothing more then an illusion propagated by the media.

But if you enjoy seeing places far from home, meeting cool people, and love the culture of music, you're doing the right thing.

Booking
Everybody but masochists and the neurotically friendly hates booking. It's a thankless, terrible job. Fortunately, there are ways to make life easier. The Internet is an incredible resource for booking and touring. Pollstar.com, Google and your favorite webzine that features tour dates will all become your friends very quickly as you become painfully familiar with places you've never seen before.

Nine times out of ten things are easier and quicker if you approach venues by telephone -- especially because not all the great venues out there have even figured out how the "information superhighway" works, let alone have an up-to-date calendar.

Before trying to book a venue, talk to other bands — bands you like and/or sound like. See who your favorite bands play with when they go to a particular town, check out their music, make contact, tell them about yourself and that you're a fan, and offer to trade shows. The key to successful touring is the buddy system -- that's how underground music works. You can also "snipe" for shows -- that is, find the places where bigger bands are playing and attempt to get on their bill. Your success with that can vary greatly.

Approach the booker willing to do their job for them. It sucks, but it works. "Hey, we're looking for a show on this date with this local band, do you think you could help us out?" goes a lot farther than "Do you have a show for us, some band you've never heard of from who knows where?"

It also shows that you're smarter then the next band and willing to go the extra mile. This will get you noticed at the better venues, and makes for a good first impression. Some bookers love it when you have a few dates to throw at them, and some aren't flexible at all. Try to be ready for anything, including plenty of flakiness.

Get everything in writing -- addresses, names, payment, etc. If it's a door deal, what percentage is yours? If it's a flat fee, how much do you get there? Does the venue take a cut of the merch sales? Don't be afraid to ask the important questions. Find out beforehand and get it in writing, so when the sleazy ex-con reprobate at the venue tries to convince you it's different than what you've been told, you can tell him where to stick it.

Be ready to send lots of demos and press kits out to potential bookers. It doesn't have to be a work of art, but it should describe who you are and what you've done with a minimum of hyperbole, and clearly list the date or dates you want.

Ok, so you've got the tour booked. Cool, but you're not done yet.

Promotion
Now it's all about promotion. Assume that every place you play is going to do NOTHING to promote the show. Seventy-five percent of the time you'll be right; the other twenty-five percent you'll be pleasantly surprised. Track down local college or pirate radio and send them your music -- try to arrange to play live or give an interview if you can. Is there a local Internet music discussion group or message board? Check them out and let people know you're alive.

Research local music papers, find a writer that you like and make contact. Send them a package and see if they'll do a preview or review. If you have a friend in town, send them flyers or posters to put up, or ask them to make some. You could very well spend a decent chunk of change sending this stuff out, but every bit of energy and money used to promote the show can increase your visibility.

Travel
Your chosen vehicle is going to be your home away from home for the duration of your trip. So once you've begged, borrowed or stolen your van, be willing to spend money on oil changes, get the wiper blades replaced, rotate the tires and get everything checked out -- an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure for a blowout on a freeway 2,000 miles from home. Get something big enough to haul all of your equipment, personal belongings and people -- and that won't break down on hills or in the desert.

Enjoy yourself. Space your drives apart, make sure that everybody gets time to themselves. Realize that sometimes a bandmate's "funny" habit becomes impossible to deal with on the road, so, think patience and respect. Realize that, for a short time, anyway, this is your world, and you're spending 95 percent of your day preparing for that half hour where you go out there and do what you're driven to do.

It's what separates the hobbyists from the diehards, and it's harder then hell, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

More advice on how to book a tour:

http://www.artsandmedia.net/cgi-bin/dc/expo/2003/10/14_tour

http://www.ehow.com/how_2025344_organize-rock-tour.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_2186627_up-book-own-musical-tour.html