Sun Seeker – TOUR TIPS

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

1. Always go to Gainesville (if you like gators).
Ah Gainesville, Florida… birthplace of Tom Petty and countless ska bands. No tour is complete without a stop in this spellbinding land packed to the brim with wacky swamp-related hijinks! Even if Gainesville doesn’t fit into your tour routing too well, the time, money, blood, and tears spent getting there will all be worth it when you feel the exhilarating rush of watching a gator run at full speed – straight at you! But be weary of where you buy your snacks – on our last visit we were informed that “the convenience store scene has really been lacking”.

2. Stay on earth.
Ask most any band, inter-planetary touring is just not worth it. With the global stock market as it is, there’s just no way it’ll end up a profitable endeavor. Also to be completely honest, the audiences are never as fun as they are back home. Take the sentient gaseous beings that have been turning up to Saturn shows recently for instance. Sure, they buy a lot of merch but how does security stamp their hands? How do you tell if they’re responding well to the music? And nobody wants to live with the guilt of accidentally breathing in an audience member. It’s just a huge liability. If you and your band forgo this advice and decide to add celestial dates to your world (er…galactic) tour, for heaven’s sake don’t forget a towel.

3. Airbnb’s are sometimes terrifying especially a specific one in DC.
If your touring situation is like most bands (ie lacking the funds to stay in swanky ass hotels every night), then you know that finding a cheap place to sleep can be a real gamble whether you’re staying at a seedy motel in Wherethefuckarewe, Arkansas, or with that one guy from high school that used to casually bully you when you were a freshman but turned out to be an alright dude when you eventually bonded over a mutual love of German industrial music. These dice rolls can turn out to be surprisingly accommodating, but sometimes things go horribly wrong – case in point, don’t go for one star Airbnb’s just because they’re the cheapest. You’ll probably be ultimately glad you shelled out a little extra so you don’t end up sleeping in a broom closet with homophobic signs taped to the walls and a toilet paper-less bathroom you have to share with a tweaker staying down the hall.

4. Just because you won $500 worth of taco bell gift cards doesn’t necessarily mean you should use them.
Dear lord, where do I even start with this one? Occasionally during weeks on end of long nighttime drives and moneyless shows, that luminous Taco Bell sign looming up over the horizon can come to seem like a beacon of hope whispering “give me your tired, your poor, your hungry masses” and like doomed sailors heeding the siren’s call, we give in to the mouth-watering deliciousness of the crunch wrap supreme/fire sauce combo. Come morning the mirage fades and all we’re left with are digestive pains and low self-esteem. Don’t let this be you.

5. Learn a set of contemporary pop hits to pull out if the gig isn’t going well.
Every band knows the disheartening feeling of playing to an audience that’s not really “getting it”. You felt like you played the show of your life but alas, nobody really cared. In these cases, a surefire way of turning the night around is to throw those silly traits like “originality”, “spontaneity”, and “fun” out the window and become that unstoppable top 10 cover band you always knew you could be. When your band launches into The Chainsmoker’s most recent international smash hit, not only will audience participation grow exponentially, but legions of adoring fans will swoon over how current and hip your band just became. What could go wrong?

9/12 – Caledonia Lounge – Athens, GA

9/13 – The Syndicate Lounge – Birmingham, AL

9/14 – Three Keys at the Ace Hotel – New Orleans, LA

9/15 – Proud Larry’s – Oxford, MS

9/16 – Merry Widow – Mobile, AL

9/18 – Barracuda – Austin, TX

9/19 – Armoury Deep Ellum – Dallas, TX

9/21 – The Vanguard – Tulsa, OK

9/22 – The Riot Room – Kansas City, MO

9/24 – Lost Lake – Denver, CO

9/26 – Racoon Motel – Davenport, IA

9/30 – Iowa State University – Ames, IA

10/2 – Subterranean – Chicago, IL

10/5 – Big Room Bar – Columbus, OH

10/9 – Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA

10/10 – Great Scott – Boston, MA

10/11 – Union Pool – Brooklyn, NY

10/12 – DC9 – Washington, DC

10/13 – The Evening Muse – Charlotte, NC

Keep up with the band on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

(Photo credit: Angelina Costillo)