what's the longest tour you've ever been on?

[peteroberts]

I just returned from a 13 day road trip with 10 gigs...5 states...4200 miles +...bad bar food...close quarters...four worn out band members...several hundred dollars in gas...about 30 hours of sleep total...good Lord was that exhausting!

I had never been on a 'tour' of more than 5 days before this.

comments:

It was the hardest money I ever earned, but also the most fun. I hope one day I get to have a roadie/bass tech and a driver!

Take backup equipment and/or tools! I bought a soldering kit just before I left and it came in very handy when my speaker cable broke on Sunday night in a small town.

Take hard cases! Gig bags won't do!

Other things I learned:
- try to keep it together and not party all the time
- try to eat as healthy as possible
- get sleep whenever possible
- if you have an exercise routine, stick to it or modify it
- don't book too aggressively, you will get burnt out
- be nice to your bandmates even if they are grumpy
- try and see some of the country you are traversing
- take a day off once in a while!!!

We are supposed to do a 1 month tour starting August 1. Road warriors: how can I help keep my sanity being on the road with the same 3 guys for 30 days?!? I told the bandleader that less traveling and more days off would be the ticket.

[nonsqtr]

Yep. Your experience dovetails with mine. The road is hard work.

It's not necessarily as glamorous as people make it out to be sometimes.

(Oh yeah, let's see, four months, two weeks, and one day).

[xshawnxearthx]

31 days, 26 shows(3 got cancelled(all friday nights too).

played nj to cali and back.

13,000 miles

not sure how much gas money, but i can tell you that even though we got paid everynight and sold merch, i still spent 1,000 dollars out of my pockets on food, guitar repairs, hotels, weed, gambling and strippers(spent two nights in vegas), a cell phone, and gifts for friends.

stayed in hotels a lot(what can i say, we need to be able to shower and not in a truck stop)/ stayed ona few peoples couches(need to do more of that next time).

$1,600 brake job in colorado(but we did get to lounge in a pool at a condo complex all day and hit on ladies). and yes, we got taken for a ride with the brake job.


this was all D.I.Y. so, until we get a record label and a booking agent, we are sticking two 7-14 day tours.

[Eric Moesle]

Not "always" as glamorous? Try never.

Road work is a monotonous, demanding, tiring, expensive, dirty, cramped, and frustrating experience. Even if you party, it will make the next day or two even worse. Try driving the entire next day with a severe hangover and not slugging one of your bandmates in the process.

The best advice is to keep these things as short as possible, limit it to a week or two at most if you can - better to do a bunch of small chunks and recharge your batteries than to burn out all at once. Plus, you can hopefully avoid some of the problems and expenses that crop up with vehicle/equipment failures and maintenance.