GROVES – TOUR TIPS

In this Tour Tips segment, the indie rock band, GROVES, give you their tips for being on tour. You can check out the feature, after the break.

TIP #1 STAY READY SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO GET READY
In the music industry, you never know when opportunity will present itself. Staying ready is one of the best things you can do for yourself. When we got the call to go out with Culture Club we only had about 4 days to prepare. Luckily we had spent the beginning of our year rehearsing our set and prepping to perform these songs live. We also did an LA residency and a small tour earlier this Summer. All those practices and shows definitely helped when we got that phone call. Without that preparation a tour like we’re on now would have been so much more intimidating.

TIP #2 BRING SWIM TRUNKS
We learned this one the hard way but luckily now we all three have a pair of trunks in our suitcase at all times. You never want to be the one left out sitting in the room while everyone else on the tour is doing canon balls. One of the first things we do before arriving at the hotel is make a phone call to see what time the pool closes. Nothing better than taking a dip after a long road trip. A lot of off days are spent throwing poolside pizza parties.

TIP #3 GET ALONG
Let’s face it, when you’re on tour for months at a time with the same people it’s not all going to be rainbows and butterflies. There’s going to be arguments and differences of opinions. It’s important to learn how to get along and keep a positive attitude and vibe around the entire camp. Learn to say sorry when your wrong and forgive and forget. If you hold grudges you’re you won’t last and most importantly when you take the stage leave all that BS behind. At the end of the day, we’re getting to do what we’ve always dreamed of.

TIP #4 EAT DECENT
It’s impossible for every meal on tour to be healthy but any chance you get to eat something good take advantage. Luckily on this tour, we get dinner catered every night we play so that helps us get all our fruits, veggies, and protein without having to hit up the golden arches for every meal. Eating right definitely helps provide much-needed energy for the road. Always remember water should be your best friend. You could never drink enough, especially when playing outdoors during the Summer.

TIP #5 HAVE A CONSISTENT PRESHOW RITUAL
Usually, every day of tour is filled with unfamiliar places, new venues, different hotel rooms, etc. Having a preshow ritual is a great way to add some consistency to your day. Our ritual usually starts about 30 minutes before our set. We meet in our dressing room and get changed and ready for the stage. Once we feel like we’re looking good we put on “Dazz” by Brick to get lose. After a few jumping jacks, we begin our walk to the side of the stage where we usually group hug each other and remind ourselves how awesome it is that we’re getting to do this. About this time Wally, our sound guy plays “Spirit in the Sky” through the house speakers which tells us we have about 4 minutes before showtime. We chose this song because we met Norman Greenbaum at one of the first shows on this Culture Club tour and he was really cool to us. Since then we’ve walked on stage to it every single night.

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