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Who here misses touring?

Joe.shaffer

Joe.shaffer

Nov 25, 2008
568
4
Cabot, AR
#1
Just wondering if this is a passing phase for me or if I'm really screwed.

Who here has toured? I'm talkin all out go for it live in a van touring, and misses it? Did you get over it? What prompted you to stop?

I've never played a stadium or anything close to it, basements and seedy bars is about the extent of my fame. I've never played with anyone famous. But by God I'd give anything to be doing it again. :(
 
#7
Man I do miss it!!! I used to tour with different types of "show bands" based out of Nashville. I have traveled in many rickety vans pulling trailers, station wagons, RV's and on very rare occasions the coveted silver eagle busses.
No matter what it was always a great adventure. Sure there were many annoyances and I most likely wouldn't go back to it now (except under ideal conditions) but I have awesome stories and fond memories of my days in the trenches.
 
#8
there are definitely things i don't miss about it.
(not knowing what you're going to eat from day to day... where you're going to sleep)

but i don't miss it.
i CRAVE it.

i'll be doing three different tours this summer (two week longs, and one 6 week... so about 8 weeks on the road) and then another 3 to 4 week in the early fall (at least that's all we have planned right now)

and i don't think i could deal without it.
it's all i ever wanted.
a life on the road.
and that's probably crazy, but i wouldn't have it any other way.

[spunj13]
 
#9
I had a year and a half break from the road and sides from the birth of my son, it was the worst time of my life.

You miss touring? Get back into it. Yeah it means making some sacrifices but lets admit it, touring has a romantic quality that you just can't get anywhere else.
 
#12
i miss it loads!

it could be hell at times, but i miss the early mornings wake ups and early flights, gear lugging and repairs to busted kit, sweaty rooms and bandmembers, meals on the run and the perennial search for a working launderette after weeks of living in the same clothes...

the best bits were always meeting people in the biz who were working just as hard as you and meeting famous people and discovering the things you have in common with them...the there was the crowds, i've played some huge venues in my time

another good bit was having roadies, a tour manager and a tourbus to live in during my tours of the U.S. and Canada (and the bathroom full of beer from unused riders)

girls? never any time for that (save one or two, but it's not the maelstrom of chicks and drugs some people make it out to be...)

ah, the road....hopefully it'll call again soon...
 
#15
been touring for 20 years now.
toured 27 countries so far....
being home too long freaks me out. can't do it.
ended a 2 year run in november, decided to try to stick around and run a studio and record/write for the rest of the year.
had a restless day few weeks ago and grabbed a tour as foh for a band called school of seven bells, leaving tuesday.
can't wait, it's a short one but we will circle the us in just 2 weeks.
trying to get on a run with my own band this fall....
 
#17
in the 90s my band was signed to roadrunner records and we toured i miss it very much.i remember growing up and you know in the back of your mind your hoping that one day you will make it.then you know finally you eventually hook up with a group of guys and
your dream starts to come true.we were a new artist freshly signed to roadrunner and we had put out our own cd and it eventually attracted the label.the plans were to either remix the exsisting album or re record.anyway road runner put us out on the road.opening for such bands as faith no more ,stp,stabbing westward,alice cooper,etc it was short lived with roadrunner because we eventually were doing showcases for the bigger labels
such as warner bros etc.roadrunner was all for it because they kinda hope that a bigger label comes by and scoop you up.anyway found out from are a and r rep that one of the guys who basically was the leader of the band was turning offers from these bigger labels down behind our backs,it turned into a huge mess and things fell a part.sorry to drag this out but it was pretty devastating to lose everything we had i miss it a lot
 
#18
Touring is absolutely awesome when you're young, single, unattached, etc , but I can honestly say that while it was fun, to tour now that I'm older... there 'aint no way in hell I'm doing that again!! Living in vans, and eating potato chips for dinner would kill me now:)
 
#20
tcbass4ever said:
well the nice thing about being signed to the label was we were on a tour bus but it still had its moments just like anything after a whlie it starts to get to you
Click to expand...

I think, anything that follows could be another thread entirely but I got a question for ya. How does it feel? So you're starting to see this picture getting some kind of shape and it feels like all the hard work is paying off. At last! And then you end up back home doing bars and all. How d'you get up from that? I admire some people still being alive after something like that. Feels like someone comes and crushes your dream you know, I could never forgive the guy.
 

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