Punchline – TOUR TIPS

In this Tour Tips segment, the pop punk band, Punchline, shares their advice for other touring bands. You can check out their tips and listen to their newest single, “Friend From The Future”, after the break.

1) HACKY SACK. This might be my NUMBER 1 most important tip for being on the road! People might instantly dismiss hacky sack as something that teens did in the 90s, but I would instantly dismiss anyone who had that opinion. Hacky sack is a team sport that truly strengthens the bond between band members. It also serves as a physical activity that can be done pretty much anywhere, and it keeps you loose and alert during breaks on long drives. On all night drives, stopping at a truck stop and playing 10 minutes of hacky sack can have the same effect as several cups of coffee. When touring with other bands, it can also help forge lifelong friendships. We just recently finished a tour with The Stolen. Before the tour, they had never really hacked before. By the time the tour was over, they were full-fledged HACK FANATICS, and we shared some of the best times together in hotel parking lots in the wee hours of the night.

2) CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and if you’re traveling with 5 to 6 people, breakfast for everyone could cost at least 60 dollars (and upwards of 100 dollars if you do a sit-down breakfast at a nicer restaurant). To completely eliminate this cost, make sure to book hotels that offer a solid continental breakfast! Everyone these days knows how to use websites to find good hotel room deals, but make sure to not book a 4-star hotel…even though the price might be right for such a nice room, you’ll have to pay for breakfast! Sticking with a 2 to 2 1/2 star hotel is a solid choice because the room with still be nice and the breakfast will be FREE. I have found that Holiday Inn Express has a SOLID continental breakfast. Protein is very important in the morning, so make sure to get plenty of it (and not just caffeine!) Gotta treat that body right if you wanna play your best each night. I didn’t mean to make that rhyme, but now I’m going to always use that expression because it’s great.

3) BE NICE TO THE STAFF AT THE CLUBS. This is common sense, ESPECIALLY when it comes to the sound engineers! Introduce yourself and get to know the people working the show…they are people just like you! You’ll find that these people are amazing music lovers just like yourself, which is why they do what they do. Sound engineers are also in total control of how good or bad you sound to the audience, so it only makes sense that they’d be more inclined to put their best foot forward to a band of decent people than a band of cocky/arrogant/rude jerks. I don’t mean to make this sound like it’s all about what someone is going to do for you either…you can make friends that you’ll visit in each city throughout the year as you roll into the same club 3 or 4 times. It’s nice, and it makes being on the road a little less lonely if you can look forward to seeing some GREAT BUDS.

4) EAT VEGETABLES. Vegetables make you feel good. You don’t have to only eat vegetables, but adding them to all the other potential crud you’re eating on the road is only gonna help. I feel like I noticed a bump in energy on the last tour when I took more initiative to get my daily greens. Yes, pizza is plentiful on the road, but eating cheap isn’t doing you a favor when what you’re putting in your body may weigh you down more than get you goin’! I like using Yelp to find the best of what’s around. Sometimes your dream spot is only a couple of blocks away. Be skeptical of gas station vegetables though. Actually, be skeptical of snacks at most American gas stations. But if you’re on the east coast and there are Wawa and Sheetz, you can usually find some decent options!

5) CAPTURE THE MEMS. Most e’rybody has an amazing video camera because iPhones, so why not use that puppy to capture all these precious memories. Journaling at its minimum point could be jotting down a series of fragments from what happened that day. Like this—

4-22-18
Brooklyn @ Sunnyvale
Arrived early
Hacked on the sidewalk, lots of garbage
Ate pizza near Graham and Metropolitan
Walked in the park
Hacked in the park
The sound guy is the dude from Titus Andonicus and cool as hell, I love him
Onto from The Swellers is in the opening band— Original Sharks
Extremely fun set and last show of the tour
Hacked after the show
Hugged The Stolen guys ten thousand times

Things get blurry as the years go on! You’re gonna wanna have a record of what you did out there to keep it straight. Plus what if you become Beatles-big down the road and don’t have any tour journals you can turn into books! You never know. #itcouldhappen

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Upcoming Tour Dates:
July 26 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade (Hell)
July 27 – Orlando, FL – The Abbey
July 28 – West Columbia, SC – New Brookland Tavern
July 29 – Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall
July 31 – Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage
Aug. 1 – Brooklyn, NY – Knitting Factory
Aug. 2 – Asbury Park, NJ – House of Independents
Aug. 3 – Cambridge, MA – Middle East Downstairs
Aug. 5 – Pittsburgh, PA – Rex Theater
Aug. 7 – Buffalo, NY – Mohawk Place
Aug. 8 – Columbus, OH – Skully’s
Aug. 9 – Grand Rapids, MI – The Stache @ Intersection
Aug. 10 – Lakewood, OH – The Foundry
Aug. 11 – Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge
Aug. 12 – Milwaukee, WI – The Miramar Theater
Sept. 14 – Dallas, TX – RBC
Sept. 15 – Houston, TX – The Secret Group
Sept. 16 – Austin, TX – Come and Take It Live
Sept. 18 – Albuquerque, NM – Launchpad
Sept. 19 – Phoenix, AZ – The Rebel Lounge
Sept. 20 – San Diego, CA – Soda Bar
Sept. 21 – Anaheim, CA – Chain Reaction
Sept. 23 – San Francisco, CA – Slim’s
Sept. 24 – Sacramento, CA – Holy Diver
Sept. 26 – Salt Lake City, UT – Loading Dock
Sept. 27 – Denver, CO – Marquis Theater
Sept. 28 – Kansas City, MO – Davey’s Uptown Ramblers Club
Sept. 29 – Lake Saint Louis, MO – Firebird