Enabler – TOUR TIPS

This new set of Tour Tips was written by Jeff Lohrber, of the hardcore band, Enabler. You can check out their tips for being on the road, after the break.

1. Pack lightly – Only take what you absolutely need. Someone is always bound to bring way too much shit, so if everyone were to do the same thing, then there would be no room for anything. This advice is much easier in the digital age, you can have everything you need on a laptop, phone, or Ipod. Also, the more stuff you have, the more likely you are to lose something, and a band certainly doesn’t need someone accidentally losing their passport or something important because they were focused on remembering shit they didn’t need. I had a band mate once that insisted on bringing his fishing poles on tour…

2. Make sure that all of your gear works before you leave – Seriously, do you have any idea how many times I’ve showed up for tour and band mates of mine haven’t even set their gear up since the last show, let alone tested any of it out. Then you show up to the first show with no band practice and their amp is blown, then they huff and puff and embarrass the whole band on stage. Take care of your shit, without it you can’t play and you not only let your band mates down but all the people who are paying to come see you play.

3. If you are a merch person, do your fucking job. – I can’t tell you how many people I’ve brought out to do merch and then they end up sitting at the bar and hanging out with friends, then complain that you aren’t paying them and they’ve mistakenly drank away all of their money. Tour isn’t a vacation, sure there are fun perks to it, but there is a job to do for everyone in the van, and when someone slacks that means that someone else has to do their job for them, which is no fun for anybody. If the band asks you to do something a certain way, just do it, remember they are the ones paying for the merchandise, not you.

4. Lose the ego – We are all in this together. Respect one another. Show up on time to do what you need to do. Support the bands you are playing with even if you aren’t the biggest fan of what they are doing musically. Unless you are Metallica, it takes more than one band to make a show, and you aren’t shit without each other.

5. Learn to budget food expenses – You don’t need to spend $10 per meal on food, and really, you don’t need 3 meals a day. Americans just eat too much period. I’ve survived easily on one full meal per day, and snacking on food for the rest of the day. There are a lot of things that tie in with food expenses as well. If you buy a meal, and bring leftovers into the van, make sure you fucking eat them or throw them away ASAP. Food goes rotten and smells awful. Also, if you are on a tour where there is catering, grab as much as you can at the end of the night, essentially this is food that has been paid for and will save you and your band mates money the next day. If you have friends to stay with, go to the grocery store and make food at their house, maybe even just band fund food at the grocery to make a meal for the whole band. Making a nice breakfast for your band mates and the people you are staying with (and cleaning up after) is always a nice gesture as well, and it ultimately cheaper than a motel room. Just make sure you save your money for the really good restaurants you come across on tour.

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