Grueling prep work for rock road shows
By Brian Offenther |
April 12, 2012, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IT'S been said that the secret of rock 'n' roll is making the preconceived seemed spontaneous. If the audience thinks the music comes instantly from the consciousness of a band, success has been achieved.
The same is decidedly not true for tours of said rock bands.
Reporting this news to a friend recently, I was stabbed in the heart with a question: "What preparation?"
As in, what preparation could I be stressing about preparing for a rock tour?
That question stung like "Et tu, Brute?" in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," or the most well-placed Socratic query.
As this is being published, I'll be in Beijing touring with the RockTigers, a South Korean rock band I'm taking on the road for their first China tour. It's a lot of fun, and it's a lot of work.
The prep-work is extensive, amazingly so. The smallest detail is like a link in the train: one breaks, everything has to stop. It's nothing close to glamorous. Every single day involves public transportation, grimy food and prep rooms that haven't been cleaned for years. And, like most art in the world, it's mostly a money loser.
As Abe Deyo, perhaps the most experienced tour manager in China, has said about taking bands on the road, "I either have to love it or get paid loads of money. Needless to say, the former is more common."
Preparation starts with finding a band and working out a range of dates for a tour. Consider the effort it takes to work out a vacation schedule for four or five friends.
Getting the band booked for the dates is the next step. It's really an art in itself: It would be great if every show is at the most popular venue in big cities on a Friday or Saturday night, but that's not going to happen. Negotiations have to be made with the venue and any opening acts. Soon after, lodging and transportation need to be locked down as well.
The band is coming to town. How will people know ? Advertising the show must commence. Press releases, gimmicks, fliers, posters, social networking, memes - all may be utilized. Disarmingly, for the most part, it's impossible to be in all the tour cities before the day of the show. Are the venues reliable to help in this regard? Are there others who can help?
Which relates to the most difficult part of touring: artists. Artists to make fliers, write for the press, operate the venues, artists who are touring - they're everywhere! And if there's one thing certain about an artist, it's that they are artsy.
Artsy is a nice way of saying "unreliable."
As unreliable as things might be, it means there needs to be equal pressure to keep things together.
If things are going to be properly "spontaneous" on-stage, they need to be equally prepared behind it.
The same is decidedly not true for tours of said rock bands.
Reporting this news to a friend recently, I was stabbed in the heart with a question: "What preparation?"
As in, what preparation could I be stressing about preparing for a rock tour?
That question stung like "Et tu, Brute?" in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," or the most well-placed Socratic query.
As this is being published, I'll be in Beijing touring with the RockTigers, a South Korean rock band I'm taking on the road for their first China tour. It's a lot of fun, and it's a lot of work.
The prep-work is extensive, amazingly so. The smallest detail is like a link in the train: one breaks, everything has to stop. It's nothing close to glamorous. Every single day involves public transportation, grimy food and prep rooms that haven't been cleaned for years. And, like most art in the world, it's mostly a money loser.
As Abe Deyo, perhaps the most experienced tour manager in China, has said about taking bands on the road, "I either have to love it or get paid loads of money. Needless to say, the former is more common."
Preparation starts with finding a band and working out a range of dates for a tour. Consider the effort it takes to work out a vacation schedule for four or five friends.
Getting the band booked for the dates is the next step. It's really an art in itself: It would be great if every show is at the most popular venue in big cities on a Friday or Saturday night, but that's not going to happen. Negotiations have to be made with the venue and any opening acts. Soon after, lodging and transportation need to be locked down as well.
The band is coming to town. How will people know ? Advertising the show must commence. Press releases, gimmicks, fliers, posters, social networking, memes - all may be utilized. Disarmingly, for the most part, it's impossible to be in all the tour cities before the day of the show. Are the venues reliable to help in this regard? Are there others who can help?
Which relates to the most difficult part of touring: artists. Artists to make fliers, write for the press, operate the venues, artists who are touring - they're everywhere! And if there's one thing certain about an artist, it's that they are artsy.
Artsy is a nice way of saying "unreliable."
As unreliable as things might be, it means there needs to be equal pressure to keep things together.
If things are going to be properly "spontaneous" on-stage, they need to be equally prepared behind it.
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