Marina City – TOUR TIPS

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

1. Get a Planet Fitness membership
This is the golden tip. If you get yourself a black card membership at Planet Fitness then you and a guest can go to every Planet Fitness across the country. You will be able to shower and work out. We highly recommend doing both of those things. Being on the road is tough enough, build your immune system, overall health by showering every day and working out. It’ll help with your endurance and just make you feel better eating all that pizza.

2. Get yourself an air mattress
You never know where you are going to sleep. We have 6 members in the band and usually have 1 other person with us, hotels only have 2 beds for 4 people. Some of us sleep on the beds and some of us are able to bring in our air mattresses. Our suggestion would be getting a twin size mattress, it has to be able to fit in between two hotel beds. Again, you never know where you’ll sleep, even gaining a lot of friends across the country, who let us sleep in their homes, they may only have room for you in their sun room, or their unfinished basement, or their laundry room, you should be prepared to sleep comfortably where ever you end up.

3. Singers take care of your voice
The headline says “singers” but this is really good for everyone in the band. You should be drinking water all day, it should be your main drink. Singers should mostly be drinking luke warm water (cold water tightens your vocal chords). Drink Throat Coat tea (so get a portable tea kettle), you should humidify your voice, get a portable humidifier, and any time your voice feels stiff, breathe it in. Also, suggest getting a portable car humidifier for when you have to sleep in the van on dry cold nights. Make sure you drink Emergen-c and take vitamins every morning. We know that good food is expensive but save a little more money, before tour, to eat real food, rather than just PB&J every day for every meal.

4. Be a venue’s dream band
Get to the venue at load in, or a little before, make sure you call the venue if you are running late. When you load in the venue put all your equipment stacked together in one spot. Do not spread all across the venue floor. As soon as possible give your sound guy a stage plot and input list of your show, preferably try doing this before you even show up to the venue. Do an easy sound check, once you know your equipment works just sit there in silence waiting for the sound guy to give you directions. Do not “noodle”, play nonsense on the guitar, because you’re bored, or trying to show off, no one cares. When sound check is done make sure you know your set time, and don’t wander off too far or, at least, always have a member at the venue in case the staff needs you to do something like move your van, or move your equipment, or play earlier or whatever. Make sure you’re ready to play about 15mins before you get on stage. Once your set is done, get off the stage quickly, and load out right away. Maybe have one member go back to sell merch, but everyone else should be loading out and breaking down. When the show is over help clean up the green room and stage and make sure to thank all the staff. Be the first one there and last one out. Always make a great impression.

5. Promote outside your show
If you are an opening band on a tour, that has a line out door, then go meet everyone, sing a couple songs, give out stickers, introduce yourself to them. If you do a good job we can guarantee that the people will be a lot more interested in your set. They will feel as if they just gained a new friend and they want to support you. If you are on tour, and people are not lining up out the door, then go to nearby public places like parks and malls and pass out stickers/CDs, while telling people about the show. This strategy helps us a lot, but even if it doesn’t work that day, it’ll at least get your name out to more people in that area for the next time you come out.

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