Veridian – TOUR TIPS

In this Tour Tips segment, the pop rock band, Veridian, recommends advice for being a musician on the road. You can check out the tips, after the break.

1. Spares. Always bring spares of everything! The last thing you want is to turn up to a venue miles away from home and be missing one small important cable. It’s a bit like if a DJ loses his memory stick with all of the tracks for the evening on it. We’ve had times before on tour where we’ve lost a cable the night before and then have been trying to find a Maplin (RIP) or similar musical/electrical shop the morning after in the pouring rain. Nightmare!

2. Pillow. Bringing a pillow on tour is not only helpful when you’re looking to catch asleep in the back of the van or a sneaky power nap at the venue before soundcheck. But also when you turn up to a hostel or someone’s digs to crash at. Better than using a smelly pillow which may or may not have been washed!

3. Van Beers. We usually keep a stock of beers in the van when we’re on tour. Once we’ve got through our crate and the support band’s crate if they’re on the herbal teas (that’s only happened once), then we can crack into a few warm tinnies in the van to avoid paying £5 a pint at the bar. Saves money for snacks and Jägerbombs!

4. Portable phone charger. This may be a necessity for general everyday life rather than on tour, especially if you have a phone like mine that needs charging 3 times a day! But in this day and age having a charged phone gives you a lifeline to the promoter if you’re lost, it gives you your Sat-Nav for your directions between shows and hotels, music on Bluetooth in the van, Deliveroo or Uber Eats when you’re short on time for dinner… We’d be a bit lost without a charged phone!

5. Photographer & Roadie. Having these two people with you on the road is extremely important. We do all of the driving ourselves between the 5 of us but having an extra pair of hands to load into the venue and strip the stage after our set is so important. Often our singer will run to the merch stand after we play so having another person who doesn’t have sweat dripping down their face is really helpful. And also a photographer… You want to be able to post pictures after every tour date of the night before and you want those pictures to look glossy and show yourself in the best light. Definitely a top tip!

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