Tips for first tour

[drewfromutah]

I know some of you are seasoned veterans so I thought you could give my band and I some advice. We're leaving on our first tour June 18th and going down the west coast for 8 days - playing a mix of cafes, venues, and houses. We booked everything ourselves, made our own merch, etc, so this is all DIY and is costing us a good amount especially since we're all college students. We're doing it for the experience. Might as well do it while we have the chance, right? We only have 6 shows booked right now and we'll have 1 day off in which we're all going to have a go at surfing in the pacific. Should be fun.

We bought a 15 passenger van van which fits all of our gear and people FAIRLY comfortably - still not sure how we're going to sleep. Don't want to drop $1500 on a trailer right now. So we'll have to figure that out. For food, we are going to bring tons of frozen things (burritos, small pizzas, hot pockets) and wrap them in tin foil and put them in the engine bay to cook them (it works!). Other than that, a few 48 packs of bottled water is all we have.

Any advice will be appreciated.

[Deacon Blues]

and wrap them in tin foil and put them in the engine bay to cook them (it works!)

please tell me this is a joke

[drewfromutah]

and wrap them in tin foil and put them in the engine bay to cook them (it works!)

please tell me this is a joke

It's not. It works fine. Jeep clubs do it all the time when they're out climbing. http://www.roadroast.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Moving on!

[OU818]

Hah! I have cooked Pizza Pockets that exact way

They came out kind of terrible but at that point I would have chewed on a frozen one.

[baytamusic]

Get an oil change. Isolate your equipment with a wall in the back if the van. Then try to park backed up against a wall at night. Oh, and buy a cooler and pack it with food for sandwiches and stuff. Ditch the cooking on the engine. That can't be good for you. Don't speed.

[baytamusic]

Also if you have a lot of Windows in the back cover them or tint them or something.

[Neiloler]

Drew, stop by OLER Audio for a discount on a booster pedal so you can have some cool custom pedalage (and laud my name brand all over the west coast ) [seriously, PM coming]

I'd also say black out the windows with tinfoil. Silly? Sure. Look like you're trying to attract aliens? Definitely. But it'll keep the van cooler so you don't have to run the AC as much (maybe), and it'll also keep prying eyes from desiring your band equipment. You'd hate to have your hard-earned gear stolen.

[Nork]

Drew, stop by OLER Audio for a discount on a booster pedal so you can have some cool custom pedalage (and laud my name brand all over the west coast ) [seriously, PM coming]

I'd also say black out the windows with tinfoil. Silly? Sure. Look like you're trying to attract aliens? Definitely. But it'll keep the van cooler so you don't have to run the AC as much (maybe), and it'll also keep prying eyes from desiring your band equipment. You'd hate to have your hard-earned gear stolen.

dude do it. OLER Boost FTW. wicked enclosures too. and you actually get to meet neil! c'mon!

that's a good idea with the blacking out. where are you guys gonna sleep?

[Y0UNGBL00D]

All really good ideas. Especially parking against a wall and tinning your windows

[MaxProphet]

if you take off some bread crusts then put them between the slices and squint your eyes it looks kind of like a roast beef sandwich

[timboardman]

I'm in (roughly) the same boat. I'm just about to head out to the states for the Bamboozle festival tour and I am looking forward to it!

Neil - where do I have to be to find an Oler boost in the States for Third Eye Blind?

[bodhi2600]

try to film/video every moment...
especially the shows. (the surfing too)
you could get enough good footage for a cool dvd.
good luck... it sounds like a blast.

[danbond]

Insure your stuff. Please insure your stuff.

Bring a spare amp and guitar and strings etc.

Remember that whilst tour is really fun, the point of touring is to play your music to new people, so try to keep that in mind when staying up late, drinking too much, partying. Theres no point in playing a show if you are a hungover mess.

Try to cook at peoples houses. Ask during your set if someone has a place you can stay, or a garden you can camp in.

For the future, when booking shows on a tour, make sure you get promised some money, a place to stay and some food. These things are important if you want to tour without losing money. If someone isn't prepared to offer you 2 out of 3 of those things, it's not worth playing for them, because the show will almost certainly suck.

This is cool, but more for promoters: http://apologiesfriendsgabyandihaveroof ... -show.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ddjembe Mutombo]

my advice is to use priceline price negotiator to book 1 or 2 star hotels close to your gig. Then everyone shares 1 room. I was able to book sheratons for $50 a night when I was on tour a couple years back. Obviously a 3 star might be out of your reach, so look at 1 or 2. 1 stars are going to be sketchy... expect to see hookers and druggies there. haha.

[baytamusic]

Hotels. Haha. Only in the worst circumstances. If your shows are iffy you'll end up spending more on hotels and gas than you'll make. You'll find people to stay with. Usually you won't even have to ask. Don't worry about that part at all.