Smoke Season – TOUR TIPS

In this Tour Tips segment, the electronic duo, Smoke Season, give you their tips for being on tour. You can check out the feature, after the break.

1) Keep hydrated – Every tour bus needs a shit load of water! It is very easy to forget to drink enough water when you are running around and on the go so much. Also, if you are drinking beer or wine or even hard liqueur after your set, it is doubly as important. Bonus tip: chug an entire water bottle right before bed especially if you’re in a city with high altitude. (Just be ready to go pee around 3am).

2) Stake out the local late night food options – Hell hath no fury like your hunger after a show. So, as it is always best practice to stake out what the late-night options are for food in whatever city you are in. We like to save all cheese intake until after the show, so our go to’s are: Mac n Cheese, Grilled Cheese or Pizza. Typing this is making me hungry…

3) Sleep masks and ear plugs are key – Inevitably, every tour crew has a snorer. Getting enough rest is essential to not getting sick on tour – which for obvious reasons you want to avoid at all costs. If you can’t sleep because there is a human foghorn in your hotel room, then you will be doomed to a restless night sleep. Bust out the earplugs and a sleep mask (for that early morning sun intrusion) and you will be in the clear.

4) Find time to take in the scenic views – When on tour you are moving so fast from one city to the next. It is easy to keep your head down and miss a lot of what is around you. Granted, driving through the plains of Wyoming might be monotonous, but there are new realms to be discovered in every city.. and on the way to every city. So take some time to take in the sights and sounds. Bonus tip: bring a sweet ass DSLR camera with you to fully capture the magical surroundings.

5) Pack extras – By the end of a particularly long tour, at least 10% of your cables and cords will meet their demise. Shit breaks — especially with heavy use, so we highly recommend buying an extra of the most important cords in your rig and bringing it with you. All venues have extra XLRs and 1/4″ cables, but for your keyboard’s power cord, or your in-ear receiver, bring a back-up. There’s nothing worse than the panic of realizing your most important piece of gear won’t power on during soundcheck.

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