Who was a full-time road pro, and ended up hating it?

[BWB]

Inspired by the "which do you like better?" thread.

Friends:

The road sucks.

I put 200,000 miles on a van in 3 years playing gigs.

At first, the adventure was fun. But after a few months, the whole damn mindnumbing grind of it got very, very old.

My impression of the road: Waiting Around.

We've set up our gear, and we're Waiting Around. We played the gig, need to get paid, we're Waiting Around. In between dinner at Shoney's and the gig, we're Waiting Around. Off day in someplace spectacular like ... Charleston, Illinois? Not much money or entertainment available as usual? I'm in the hotel room watching TV and Waiting Around.

At the end of it, all my friends had moved on with their lives without me because I was never home, I rented a house I essentially never lived in after being "home" about 30-40 days a year, I had $200 in my checking account and my gear, hearing, and psyche were shot to hell once the whole thing unraveled.

It took 6 months of decompression time to re-orient myself to being in one town all the time, hanging out, etc.

Ugh. Gives me the willies just thinking about it -- and this was 14 years ago.

[Matt Dean]

I feel ya. That's why I went back to school after being a working pro for 8 years to learn another skill so I could have a life. I still play in bands, have killer equipment and have a great time playing music. I just do it local and have a day job.

[agreatheight]

I did only 6 weeks on the road, and it would take an act of god/God for me to do it again. I hated it. Hurry up an wait is the whole thing. 22 hours of boredom to get to 2 hours of playing. This was the early 90s, and I hope it would be better today with the advent of portable electronics, but still... there is a reason people become addicts on the road - there is nothing else to do!

[TimWilson]

Not me, dude. I MISS the road, big-time. I loved every minute of it. I mean EVERY minute of it. Even the waiting around, because I was waiting around with my best friends, laughing, joking, and talking about music. In hotel rooms, we were always writing, recording, and learning music.

Sure, every Shoney's in every town looks the same, but I never lost the rush of walking in there—or ANYWHERE—with 'my guys'. Everywhere you go when you're on the road—even to the fargin' laundromat—if you're with your guys, you feel like you're there because you're part of something special that's happening... Something just a little bigger than what was happening before you showed up. Even when you all roll into the local Kroger to restock on Ramen noodles, it gets just a little quiet and you feel the eyes. They know you must be a band by your clothes and hair. They know you must be good because you're not locals—you must be a touring group. The babe at the register asks and you give her a pass for the show that night.

I guess what I mean is, there IS a 'rock star' kinda feeling when you hit the road, no matter if you're playing clubs or stadiums. I never lost that sense of awe and wonder that I was really out there, doing it. And I felt like I was getting away with something, like it was too good to be true. I always felt in the back of my mind like, 'Man, I'm gonna get caught. Somebody somewhere soon is gonna grab me by the scruff of the neck and expose me: "This guy ain't real. He don't belong here. I knew this kid in school and he's a geek loser!" I was always waiting to get kicked back to the chess club.

If I'd known then what I know now, I would have treasured it more. You think it's gonna last for as long as you want it to. It doesn't. Not even close...

[JoelEoM]

i loved it.

not a band situation, though i have done small, short tours...i was on the road for 6 years straight, with about a week of vacation a year. literally, full time travel, 7 days a week, year round. 15 passenger vans with a trailer, all over the country. i put about 500,000 miles on in that time. i ended up hating the job i was doing, but not the travel. i would travel again in a heartbeat, just not while running a magazine crew. it takes a certain type of person, thats for sure, and i've found i'm one of them and travel is in my blood now. ill vouch for the decompression period though. i just quit back in july, and im still adjusting to a 'normal' life, and not liking it much. as for friends 'moving on', ive found the exact opposite. even after 6 years, most of them are doing the same damn thing, and complaining about how boring their lives are. they also have the same tunnel-vision mindsets when it comes to any topic you can name. they'll utterly refuse to think outside the box, to their own (unseen) disadvantage. like i said, i would certainly go on the road again if a different situation presented itself. i leave you with a quote from mark twain that very well sums up my love of the road - "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."

[ShawnStones]

For me, I found it's HOW you travel/tour. The first time I ever toured was in a van with a 5x8 trailer. And it was just the band. And it sucked. It was self-funded and our guarantees were crap, So we were broke, eating ramen, mac n cheese and bologna sandwiches, sleeping in the van. It was the longest 2 month ever.


But then I joined my current band and I'm on a bus with a full crew. I could tour like this for years. I have my own "bed", don't have to load my gear when I'm done playing, don't have to drive to the next city.

I wouldn't take back the van experience for anything, it was a great time with some great friends, but definitely not something I could do for more than a month or two at a time. Been on the bus for 15 months now and all I need is a 2-3 week break ever few months and I'm ready to roll again.

[gweimer]

I did about 5 years of roadwork. The first half of that was at least 3/4 out of town gigs, and we did 21-28 nights/month non-stop. That's where you learn your chops, or drop out quick. For all the bad things that can happen - and they all did - I never hated it. In a time when roadwork meant packed houses and friends to crash with (in any interpretation you choose), the good always outweighed the bad. In these times, I feel for bands that do roadwork. With no guarantees like we had, it's gotta be brutal.

[adge]

a slightly different point of view- im yet to do the touring thing, but im looking forward to doing it, i understand what a band goes through but still looking forward to the day when i leave to go on tour..

im not one for the "usual" day in day out lifestyle... i dont have a "serious" job and i dont have a family to take care of... that may be why im so keen...

[Rick Auricchio]

Originally Posted by BWB

I'm in the hotel room watching TV and Waiting Around.

Sounds like Pink Floyd's "The Wall."

[knarleybass]

I miss the road as well.

[Mr_Dave]

Depends who you are touring with. Fly out, do a questionable gig and find out after it you have no place to stay that night and then the only choice is a room above a topless bar with no clean sheets... Been there, but didn't end up staying there though... Or i've been in hotels, doing good gigs that finish early, travelling well and being paid well... I like touring, good and bad its an adventure, as long as the bad ones are short...

[nbw]

Since I feel like my life is little more of waiting around and getting by just to get by I'd be ecstatic about the chance to go out on the road. I've slept in my car more times then I can count and all the waiting around would give me a chance to get better at Go(via laptop).
I mean, it couldn't possibly be any worse of a lifestyle then working 50hours nightshift a week at a walmart... lol

[DWBass]

Back in the very early 80's I toured for about 6 months! Never frikkin' again! I hated the artist.....hated the other musicians.......hated the motels (not hotels, motels).....missed my friends and girlfriend! This echos my experience playing pro (minor league) baseball too! IME, you have to have the mindset to be a touring musician. All that traveling in cars, vans, buses and planes got tedious really quick! Packing and unpacking! Washing clothes! Ugh!

[RDUB]

I did ten years, around '75 to '85. I really loved it for the first few years. We made decent money those days, too. Toward the end I just got tired of it all... the travelling, the drunks, the psycho club managers... I wouldn't trade the experience for anything, but I wouldn't do it again!

Now I enjoy playing as a great break from the day job. I don't have to worry too much about the money, and I can accept gigs on my own terms. I even enjoy driving around the country again, go figger!

[guy n. cognito]

I did it for about 6 months, and never again. At the end of our little tour, I had a net of $400 in my pocket, my gear was shot and I was tired and sick. During that time, we played 5 days a week.

Hurry up and wait was the mantra of the day. I liked all of the guys in my band, but 24 hours a day together put and end to that. I only have so much "fellowship" to go around, and I ran out of it in the second month. The only alone time I got in 6 months was in bathroom stalls!!!

[spunj13]

Originally Posted by DWBass

Back in the very early 80's I toured for about 6 months! Never frikkin' again! I hated the artist.....hated the other musicians.......hated the motels (not hotels, motels).....missed my friends and girlfriend! This echos my experience playing pro (minor league) baseball too! IME, you have to have the mindset to be a touring musician. All that traveling in cars, vans, buses and planes got tedious really quick! Packing and unpacking! Washing clothes! Ugh!

in the last couple years i've spent about...
let's see.
3 to 4 months on the road (still working up to having a big enough fan-base/etc. to tour more extensively)

and in all that time?
TWO hotels.
NO motels.

mostly... floors of fans. walmart parking lots. that sort of thing.
sure it's gruelling, but i wouldn't give it up for the world.
doing another 17 days in about a month...
then going out for another month at the beginning of the summer, and if all goes well, but the end of the summer i'll be touring full time.

yeah, i miss my GF when i'm gone.
but it's my job (so to speak, at least while i'm on the road)
you deal with it as it comes.
in and out of the van every day... eating what people donate or you can scrape together out of donations ... what you can eat cheapest (ramen on a campstove, or instant mashed potatoes with cheez-its we found work very well)
dealing with shady venues/owners...
low turn-outs
broken-down van/equipment.
people talking trash... whatever...
it comes with the territory.

granted...
i've not spent as much time on the road as a lot of you,
but...
from what i've experienced so far?
it's something i see myself doing for a long time.

[spunj13]

[MNAirHead]

I had mixed feelings..

I did it for 5 years.. played every day except the 48 christmas eve/night.. made good money.. travelled on busses.. had road crews.. airline travel if it was more than 500 miles

I absolutley loved being endorsed.. I've never been so lonely

I wouldn't trade it.. I did it too long to the point where I hated it.

Waiting ----- you forgot repairing the time spent repairing cords.

[Rusty the Scoob]

I'd have to really be into what I was doing to go back out on the road. Sure, I had some fun times, but overall it was BORING. The first post in this thread summed it up well for me.

[davetakis]

Originally Posted by TimWilson

Not me, dude. I MISS the road, big-time. I loved every minute of it. I mean EVERY minute of it. Even the waiting around, because I was waiting around with my best friends, laughing, joking, and talking about music. In hotel rooms, we were always writing, recording, and learning music.

Sure, every Shoney's in every town looks the same, but I never lost the rush of walking in there—or ANYWHERE—with 'my guys'. Everywhere you go when you're on the road—even to the fargin' laundromat—if you're with your guys, you feel like you're there because you're part of something special that's happening... Something just a little bigger than what was happening before you showed up. Even when you all roll into the local Kroger to restock on Ramen noodles, it gets just a little quiet and you feel the eyes. They know you must be a band by your clothes and hair. They know you must be good because you're not locals—you must be a touring group. The babe at the register asks and you give her a pass for the show that night.

I guess what I mean is, there IS a 'rock star' kinda feeling when you hit the road, no matter if you're playing clubs or stadiums. I never lost that sense of awe and wonder that I was really out there, doing it. And I felt like I was getting away with something, like it was too good to be true. I always felt in the back of my mind like, 'Man, I'm gonna get caught. Somebody somewhere soon is gonna grab me by the scruff of the neck and expose me: "This guy ain't real. He don't belong here. I knew this kid in school and he's a geek loser!" I was always waiting to get kicked back to the chess club.

If I'd known then what I know now, I would have treasured it more. You think it's gonna last for as long as you want it to. It doesn't. Not even close...

yep. i couldnt have said it better. now that i'm turning 40 this year, i miss it even more, especially considering who i was on the road with.

[57pbass]

I have never been out on a tour but have worked full time as a musician playing 5 / 6 nights per week in one town.

After reading through this thread- if someone was to offer me an opportunity to tour I would evaluate the whole situation carefully and make my decision..