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Any quick tips/advice for going on the road? I'll be starting a small 2 week tour with "The Capitals" on Wednesday. Just wondering if some of the more experienced HODers have some words of wisdom or even some road tales for me, I'd like to hear em!
Cheers, =C=
I've not done much but I have noticed one little thing which seems like nothing but is important - what you eat. Unless you're doing some high end tour staying in great hotels, chances are you'll be eating food from service (gas) stations or just grabbing it where you can. And belive me, after two weeks of junk like that, you'll feel sluggish and uncomfortable, and not too good. So that's my advice - grab some healthy food whenever you can!
just make sure you have backup parts, felts, wing nuts, springs and such. enough drumheads plus1 for the time you will be out.
get sleep when you can, traveling takes allot out of you.
Check out the modern drummer with Steve Jordan on the cover, there's an article with some great tips about touring in it.
The most important advice that ANYONE will ever give you: TAKE YOUR WALLET WITH YOU ON STAGE!!!
Thanks for the tips, guys!!!
Sounds like Don has it down to a science, right on man! I liked your band's site, lots of tour dates too...
Hanayalator, that issue with Steve Jordan is the only one I have missed in like 4 years!!! My subscription ran out and I kept forgetting to renew... I'll have to borrow it from a friend, thanks.
My only advice would be to crash to at my place if you happen to be gigging in Montreal [img]cool.gif[/img]
On a more serious note, are ya?
Heheh, thanks for the offer Susperia, but the full Canadian tour will be next year...
This one is just a mini-tour of BC and Alberta.
That Bobby Rock diet can shock your system if jump right on the Trail Mix and soy milk bandwagon he suggests. Moderation in all things.
Lotsa luck, 'runk! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]
GOOD ADVICES ABOVE.
One advice very importat:
ALWAYS KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR THINGS (DRUMS AND EVERYTHING ELSE). Do it in every place or situation: in the van, stage, parking, hotel, in the gas station...
Organize your bags, in order you can count every piece (bag) of your equipment (musical or not) every time you move from one place to another (hotel to stage, town to town)
Well, I am a little obsessed about security.
Good luck
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 03, 2005 05:42 PM: Message edited by: Juan Expo ]</font>
Yes Juan,
I Back that comment up fully!!
It seems people these days will steal atoothbrush if they can sell it!
GET INSURANCE.
But make sure you read the T&C'S of your insurance thats as important as getting the insurance itself! trust me i know.. [img]mad.gif[/img]
ps: i remember a post on here with an audio link about weckl playing in spain(i think) and the airport lost his clothes !!
well it cant be hard to replace black jeans and black t shirt!!! lol [img]tongue.gif[/img]
ive not seen that guy wear anything but the above since 1999!!!
SHIT THAT'S GOOD WASHING POWDER!
Five Eight, you're very right about the shock to the system. I went Veg over 6 months ago and oh boy, did I feel shitty for awhile! But, it passes and your body adjusts.
By no means am I suggesting anybody go Veg or Vegan when they hit the road! The snacks I've suggested are just easy to store on the road. I've been in the middle of South Dakota, Kansas, etc, in the middle of the night with no restaurant in site and been super happy to get some peanut butter wrapped in white bread.
YUM!
And DSOP is right when he says take your wallet on stage. ALWAYS know where that is! Sometimes when I'm leaning on the bar between sets and somebody brushes past a little too close, I find myself slapping my back pocket just to make sure it's still there!
And to add to Juans reply: Yes, keep your eyes on your gear (and suitcases), and additionally, load your stuff in and out YOURSELF. Yeah, it's great if people/fans want to help, but it's really easy to lose track of your stuff if you aren't the one physically packing it in the van.
You don't want to get to the next town 100 miles away and think, "Gee, I don't remember seeing my Dunnett snare in the back of the van last night...." [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img]
DOOOD,
I play on the road A LOT!
Some of the things I take with me (in no particular order) are:
Extra Drum Heads: Don't have to be new. Older heads will be just fine. They just have to get you through the gig!
Extra Snare Drum: A must.
Extra Pedal(s): Again, a must.
Spare and extra felts, washers, springs,etc..
LOTS o' Drumkeys...
Your pillow from home: It's not much but it is a piece of home.
Duct or Gaffers Tape: Useful for a LOT of things...
Your digital camera [img]graemlins/camera.gif[/img] and cell phone [img]graemlins/cell.gif[/img] : Be sure to take the car chargers and home chargers for these things.
Earplugs and Mp3 player: Great for getting away from the bandmates for a few miles!
A COOLER: QUITE POSSIBLY the most important thing to take with you. After being on the road as much as I have, you learn that surviving is expensive and can quickly deplete your wallet of any earnings you might make. If you?re constantly buying junk at the Quickie Mart, eating fast food, and constantly buying drinks, you?ll find that it?s easy to spend $10-20 dollars a day. Go on the road for 14 days and that can easily add up to $140-280 dollars spent on provisions.
OUCH....
Fact: It?s a LOT cheaper to buy water in bulk than it is to spend $1.50 on a single bottle of water every time you stop for gas. Also, try to find a cooler large enough to store between the front seats stocked with those bottles of water, V8, Gatorade, and assorted energy drinks and anything else that might need to be chilled.
Most of the contracts my band has with clubs normally allow the band a free meal, but for other meals of the day I also have a spare 10 inch tom case that I fill with snack food before the van ever gets out of town. This has proven to be as important to me as my spare snare!
A day or two before the start of the tour I go out and buy peanut butter, canned chili, bread and pitas, ?Clif? Bars, raisins, peanuts or mixed nuts, Fig Newtons, granola bars, Pop Tarts and other assorted snack items so that I?m not constantly relying on the local greasy spoon [img]graemlins/pizza.gif[/img] for my meals. Also, when you do catch yourself in a gas station looking for something to chew on, grab an apple or banana. Mix that with a granola bar, peanuts, crackers or anything else in your box, drink a bottle of water and you?re set for a few hundred miles!
Bobby Rock wrote an article for MD a few years ago entitled ?Diet of a Road Warrior? that?s also a really great source of information and inspiration. Check that out for more healthy eating tips, or visit his website at www.bobbyrock.com.
Anyway, that's my take on it. Check out my bands webpage at www.damonfowler.com for more info on myself and the band. As I said, we travel a LOT and any info I can share, well, I'm glad to.
GOOD LUCK!
Man, how could I forget the T.P???!!!!
There's usually an extra roll in the bathrooms of the finer hotels I've stayed at so no use spending money on it.
Not much nicer than 7-11 napkins......but softer!
I used to know a drummer that would go into 7-11's on the road, dispense a massive amount of that mystery hot dog chili on one of those styrofoam plates, top it with the glue-like cheese and call it dinner [img]confused.gif[/img] . No attendant ever had the heart to charge him!
Glurg.....
Good one, Five Eight! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]
Good tips guys.
It's good to have some kind of check list of your gear. Make a clear one so that even the bass player can use it if needed. Sometimes you are so tired that you can't even think and those are the times you'll wish that you'd have that kind of list.
I also take a piece of chain and a couple of locks with me. If you have to leave your drums in a shady club over night you can make the thieves life a little harder by tieing your cases together.
Stop at major grocery chains instead of Wendy's for lunch. A quartet can pig out for ten bucks on a pound of deli turkey, a loaf of bread and a squeeze bottle of mustard.
For you drummers who know how to read a few paperback books can make 300 miles a day a lot less arduous. [img]wink.gif[/img]
In a groupie's apartment/trailer it's not considered impolite to mention: "Baby, you look like you can whip up a mean box of Rice-A-Roni."
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Bwaaaaaahahahahahaaaa. Ok, I have to remember that one! [img]graemlins/devil.gif[/img]Quote:
Originally posted by Five Eight:
In a groupie's apartment/trailer it's not considered impolite to mention: "Baby, you look like you can whip up a mean box of Rice-A-Roni."
Seriously, these are all great tips guys - thanks a million! A lot of this is common sense but it's good to hear it and be reminded.
I think in conclusion next time I will have to just get myself a drum tech! It would make life on the road a LOT easier. Hell, I better go find one right now, I have a day to do it! It might be easier (and cheaper) than building or buying a robot like ASIMO or whatever.
Thanks again, you guys rule!
=C=
I wouldn't bring up the Rice-A-Roni until after you've shown her your sensitive and romantic side. [img]cool.gif[/img]
You sound like a well-travelled road gourmand, kinkymook. I recommend Skippy over Jif and Peter Pan (take the Pepsi challenge with all three and you'll know what I'm talking about.) Jelly comes in those squeezeable bottles now so don't forget that either. Why not do it up right?
Keep the Mickey D and Pizza Gut sludge down to once or twice a week max. Starving in Lone Ranger, South Dakota is the ONLY reason anyone should ever ingest a convenience store hot dog lathered with that yellow goop they claim is cheese.
No one's mentioned it but don't forget to take a personal roll of TP with you, I shit you not. [img]rolleyes.gif[/img]
You guys have it down.
& the Mook has it flat cold nailed.
Cooler, w stored grocery store items - now THERE'S an imperative item!! Also the bulk water gallon jugs.
The gtrst & I share a small road-dog microwave in the hotels.
Sometimes we take a small elec-frij for the milk & juice, etc...if you don't have these, then the cooler is the shedt - make sure it has a plug-drain-hole AWA pull-handle & wheels on one end! [otherwise you'll be gettin' a frequent, unecessary workout when it's loaded to the hilt w food / ice / water]...
In addition to the ole' stalwart credit card[s], I go down to the bank a day or so b4hand & pick up a few smaller-denomination Travelers' Checks / Cheques; rarely keep cold hard cash on me [& NEVER in the hotels while i'm away], unless it's change back from the checks themselves...just common sense stuff...
OH yeah...& don't forget the Real-Feel "stop-sign," &/or Regal-Tip Practa-Pal knee-pad[s]...<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Or the Hamburglar Helper or Mac n Cheeze...Quote:
I wouldn't bring up the Rice-A-Roni until after you've shown her your sensitive and romantic side
...Your possible choice of face[s] if all she 'whips out' is the Ramen noodles [img]eek.gif[/img] [img]confused.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thinking.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/sure.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/whatever.gif[/img]
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 04, 2005 10:00 PM: Message edited by: got_a_match_grip? ]</font>
I used to love Ramen until one very sick evening in Tokyo long ago. The human animal is incapable of digesting Ramen or, as they say in Japan, cup o' noodle.
No thanks, I'll have a steeck-dog instead. [img]graemlins/gulp.gif[/img]
Yeah, i've eaten my fair share of cheaper canned tuna [water-packed, not oil!], PBS's [sometimes w jelly], & the ever-elusive Ramen 'soup' [brothy-flavored water mix], which also makes for a good luchtime or mid-lunch/dinner holdover/filler...
[The Silver-Spoon Kids, or perhaps i should've said "golden-," probably won't understand this [img]tongue.gif[/img] - & i'm NOT talking about the cool SSK's that grow up & out of it, & indeed become self-reliant, "can-do" type peeps... [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img] ]
As a great & wise man/ teacher once said, "...Just making friends & influencing peeps," i always say... [img]graemlins/thinking.gif[/img] [img]rolleyes.gif[/img]
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 05, 2005 04:13 PM: Message edited by: got_a_match_grip? ]</font>
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The Dale Carnegie School of Drums, right? [img]tongue.gif[/img]Quote:
As a great & wise man/teacher once said, "...Just making friends & influencing peeps"
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Good drum-techs are not easy to find OR train. Most of them will tighten all your stands so tight that they'll be useless after two nights. And don't get me started about letting them tune your drums. These guys are really low on the evolutionary scale, I'm tellin' ya. A good drum-tech will cost you at least $2,000 a week, but these guys are worth their weight in gold.Quote:
Originally posted by CLWarunki:
I think in conclusion next time I will have to just get myself a drum tech! It would make life on the road a LOT easier.
If you're looking at someone to merely haul your stuff around, and then YOU setup and tear down, then that role should be easy to fill with your basic carbon based life form.
<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 05, 2005 07:10 PM: Message edited by: drumming sort of person ]</font>
$2000 a week!? I have to say, if I were earning enough from drumming to pay someone else $2000 dollars a week to set up my gear, I think I'd get someone half as good and give the rest of the money away...
All of these mentionned advices are really good: eating right, no booze, good sleep, saving money, warming up, bringing spare parts,... but be prepared to live with the sarcasms and laughs of other band members. From my experience, most musicians on tour are worriless party animals and even if not most bandleaders. But then again I've never done a major top pro world tour, only provincial tours...
CL,
An often overlooked issue is the sound guys in various venues. If your tour is going to include house sound run by the local sound engineer then I would suggest getting on his good side right off the bat. These guys will make or break your gig depending on their mood and level of stupidity (er' intelligence). Most sound engineers just don't hear the way you might hope and really it is amazing how bad most of them are. Even in big clubs or major concert venues the sound guys can be tone deaf. I've found that chatting with them before hand, learning his first name, and keeping a positive vibe can inspire him to try a bit harder for you. Buy him a drink (just one!, possibly a Red Bull) and let him know how you run your mix. Then cross your fingers!
ps - Bring your own bass mike.... or else you'll get a 57 right up your you know what.
Good advice and I concur with everyone.
One thing I'd like to mention is to keep
your focus on work as much as you can,
trying to learn something new, all the
time. If there are women in the band, do
NOT get intimate with them.
LOL
I know, right? What does that have to do
with anything? Well, it has a LOT to do
with everything if you do what you should
not do. Anyway, be cheerful and remember
to contribute to everyone.
[img]cool.gif[/img]