Neshiima – TOUR TIPS

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

1) Sleep – try and get at least some sleep every night before a show. Whether it’s on a couch, in a comfortable bed or a not so comfortable floor – some shut eye will help the next day. The better you feel, the better you’ll play!

2) Prepare for breaking gear – always make sure you have spares of anything that is likely to break. Now, we wouldn’t recommend carrying around extra amps or a bass drum but make sure you always have spare strings, sticks, drum skins and leads with you. Not every town will have a music store around the corner for last minute replacements.

3) Eat well – It may be easier and quicker to grab a quick road-bab (Kebab on the road) after each show but doing this every night will quickly make you feel terrible. Eat well, stay hydrated and as above, get some sleep. If you’re sitting on the toilet every night before a show, you probably shouldn’t have had that road-bab the night before!

4) Network – this is the most important thing that any new or young band can do. Introduce yourself to venue staff and the other bands playing on the night. Don’t be a dick and people won’t be a dick back to you. You never know when those dudes you played with that one time at the other end of the country could help you out with a favor.

5) Stay Organized – plan everything well in advance and definitely plan for mishaps. Leave for each show with extra time to allow for things like traffic jams or breakdowns. Keeping tabs on money is a big thing too. Designate one band member to take care of the financial affairs while on the road – counting merch sales, fuel costs, and performance fees. Chucking it all into a box and using your money as and when you need it can be chaos and you can easily run out of cash very quickly!

Keep up with Neshiima on Twitter and Facebook!

Did you find these tips useful? Let us know in the comments below!