does anyone work for touring bands?

southshoreconor · #1 03-13-2010, 02:26 PM

i've been touring in my own band for the past few years and this week i was offered the opportunity to go on tour with a friends band (who's quite a bit more successful than my band). i'll be getting paid fairly (enough to take a week off my "normal" job anyway).

my question is, is it worth it? i'd be doing all the driving, loading and guitar teching every night (which i handle myself on our own tours) but NOT playing. to me, playing is what makes all the grunt work worth it. the guys in the band are great guys as well as the other crew members i know who are working with them, so i think it will be a fun trip, i think i'll just miss actually being on stage.

Clank · #2 03-13-2010, 02:38 PM

Do it. You'll have fun and learn alot.

Jim Campbell · #3 03-13-2010, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by southshoreconor

i've been touring in my own band for the past few years and this week i was offered the opportunity to go on tour with a friends band (who's quite a bit more successful than my band). i'll be getting paid fairly (enough to take a week off my "normal" job anyway).

my question is, is it worth it? i'd be doing all the driving, loading and guitar teching every night (which i handle myself on our own tours) but NOT playing. to me, playing is what makes all the grunt work worth it. the guys in the band are great guys as well as the other crew members i know who are working with them, so i think it will be a fun trip, i think i'll just miss actually being on stage.

why not....worst case you go back to playing bass in a week

southshoreconor · #4 03-13-2010, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Campbell

why not....worst case you go back to playing bass in a week

oh i know i won't really mind this trip at all. it's short, i know the guys, and in this case im familiar with and have friends in most of the cities they're playing. i guess im looking for anyone who does this as a job, as well as being in their own band.

cat_saltnpepper · #5 03-13-2010, 03:08 PM

well, some of my friends were in that sort of business I guess. they used to arrive at venue before the artists and set-up all the equipments and doing the sound and all that.
they did had to do a lot of physically challenging works but paycheck pretty good if I remember correctly. actually, some of the guys got paid more than musicians so..

if you are interested in that sort of work or just want to hang out for a short amount of time, why not?

I once did tour with some ethnic singers for 40-day and everyone had to work from A to Z for all the shows. I learned a lot but will never do it again:P

steveksux · #6 03-13-2010, 03:25 PM

If you can take the week off from the regular job, why not? Interesting week, ask a lot of questions, you could learn a lot that may or may not help your own band. You may meet some useful people, make some useful contacts.

Randy

MNAirHead · #7 03-13-2010, 03:31 PM

Best way to improve your band is take notes on others..

steveksux · #8 03-13-2010, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MNAirHead

Best way to improve your band is take notes on others..

That's what I was thinking, getting the inside scoop on a more successful band, but not so much more successful that their experience isn't applicable to your situation, priceless!

And you can concentrate on picking their brains rather than performing.

Randy

southshoreconor · #9 03-13-2010, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steveksux

That's what I was thinking, getting the inside scoop on a more successful band, but not so much more successful that their experience isn't applicable to your situation, priceless!

And you can concentrate on picking their brains rather than performing.

Randy

well the scoop is the band was part of the mid 90's punk explosion. they made a serious name for themselves up until the early 2000's. the guys in the band have families and "normal" jobs nowadays (teacher, bar tender/owner, jewelery maker, session guitarist/cover band) but they can still make the time to tour once or twice a year. my own band opened for them on a 5 week US tour in 2008, that how i got to know them and am in the position I'm in now. like i said, this is just a short trip, 5 days, so I'm looking at it as a break from work and a chance to catch up with some buddies. I've given some thought to the idea of touring full time as crew (TM, merch sales, guitar tech, driver etc.) on my "time off" from touring full time as a band member. could it be something I'd want to look more into? that kinda thing.

steveksux · #10 03-13-2010, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by southshoreconor

well the scoop is the band was part of the mid 90's punk explosion. they made a serious name for themselves up until the early 2000's. the guys in the band have families and "normal" jobs nowadays (teacher, bar tender/owner, jewelery maker, session guitarist/cover band) but they can still make the time to tour once or twice a year. my own band opened for them on a 5 week US tour in 2008, that how i got to know them and am in the position I'm in now. like i said, this is just a short trip, 5 days, so I'm looking at it as a break from work and a chance to catch up with some buddies. I've given some thought to the idea of touring full time as crew (TM, merch sales, guitar tech, driver etc.) on my "time off" from touring full time as a band member. could it be something I'd want to look more into? that kinda thing.

For me, I might enjoy that for a while, but I could never be happy not playing, that's what I get a kick out of. The money is nice, would be fun touring, but being that close to being on stage and NOT being able to, that would be hell after a short while. For me anyway.

I want to be on stage, playing bass, with a good band. Don't have to be that often, couple times a month is enough to scratch the itch.

Randy

Jason P Bass · #11 03-13-2010, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steveksux

For me, I might enjoy that for a while, but I could never be happy not playing, that's what I get a kick out of. The money is nice, would be fun touring, but being that close to being on stage and NOT being able to, that would be hell after a short while. For me anyway.

I want to be on stage, playing bass, with a good band. Don't have to be that often, couple times a month is enough to scratch the itch.

Randy

I agree with all of this.

But on the flip side of the coin, if the OP passes on this opportunity for all these reasons...

Life is so short...

There's no guarantee that any of us will ever get rich & famous...

There are only so many opportunities for adventure...

Would you like to tell your grandkids about the time you could have gone on tour as a guitar tech but chose to stay at home?

T-Bird · #12 03-14-2010, 04:12 AM

Hi.

For me, a week long tour would be a no-brainer.

I'd do it in a heartbeat.

For the experience if nothing else, as stated earlier.

When I was younger, I did a two month "tour" with a group of musicians I didn't know (very well known artist here in Finland), through a show company. I handled driving, setting up and mixing. I had a light engineer to help me with setups as well.

I would never agree to do that again (and never did), it was one of the worst desicions of my life, but I was young and fulla juice so to speak.

Go for it, sounds like You have nothing to loose there. Perhaps You can even promote your own band on the side.

Regards
Sam