Touring Tips

Cover Your Artz Touring Checklist

         What’s the reason for your tour?

§  Single/Album/film clip/building band awareness?

         How long have you got to prepare for the tour?

§  Minimum 6 weeks to get all the promo out

         Which locations are you going to go to?

§  East coast tour/regional state?

§  Check how far away the venues are from one another – are they too close or two far?

         What type of venues are you going to play?

§  Size, distance from last location?

         Does the meet the requirements of the band?

§  Stage size, production requirements?

         Are the gig dates the same as a major sporting event, public holiday, exam time?

§  If so, re think the tour dates

         What type of deals do you need to make the tour balance financially?

§  Door deal/guarantee/versus deal

         Do you have the deal in writing?

         When are you being paid?

         What’s the right ticket price (if you have one)?

         Do you have the dates confirmed in writing?

§  Nothing worse than travelling all that way to find that they have forgotten you

§  Do you have the email and contact telephone numbers of the person you spoke to and the venue?

         Do you have merchandise and CDs for sale?

§  This will help the income sheet of the tour

         Are the details for the tour on your website and social media spaces?

§  Send out invites minimum 3 weeks out and a reminder on the week of the shows

         Do you have posters for the venue and distribution in the area?

         Do the posters have all the relevant information on them?

§  Who is the band, when is the show, why are you doing the show, where is the venue, how do you book tickets, the bands website, AND can you see the information from far away e.g. car driving past

         What type of promotion are you going to do?

§  Press releases

·         To media, your record label, publisher, booking agent , venue and all other valuable members of your team

§  gig listings

§  emails

§  social media event

§   radio ads

§  street press ads

§  Interviews

§  Publicist?

         Have you booked

§  flights

§  accommodation

§  cars

§  Trucks?

         Have you got musical equipment insurance in case something goes wrong?

§  Insurance is only 2 to 3% of the cost of replacing the gear

         Do you need public liability insurance?

§  Large events will require you to have your own insurance as well

         Have you booked your tour team?

§  Audio engineers

·         Monitor engineers for big shows

§   Lighting

§   Merchandise person

§  You can find these people on www.coveryourartz.com

         Does everyone have a copy of the tour schedule and where they are staying?

         Double check your confirmation with the venue including

§  Sound restrictions

§  Access times to the venue

         Does the venue have a copy of your bio, photo, posters and press release?

         Double check your confirmations for

§  Flights

§  Accommodation

§  Cars

§  Trucks

         Have you booked backline for when you might need it?

         Does the sound engineer have a copy of your stage plot and production rider?

         Does the production team (sound engineer, lighting person, merchandiser) have the load in times and times for performance?

Good things to remember:

·         Sometimes a support slot for a similar band is better than a headline show when you are starting out

·         Be honest about how many people you can bring to a show

·         It’s better to sell out a small venue than under sell a big venue

·         Have your next show booked in the area so you can entice people back with their friends to the next show

·         Have a reliable team around you. No one can successful do it on their own long term

·         Leave things the way you found them. Not only is it cheaper, you are more likely to be invited back

·         Plan small shows in the lead up to your bigger events. There is no better promo than word of mouth.

·         Keep a record of all money in and out. It will help you make decisions next time around.

 
Click here to download as a PDF

Good luck with the shows!

Let us know if there is more we can do to help www.coverourartz.com