How to self-manage a tour. Part 2: Logistics and organization

In the previous post we discussed the initial planning to self-manage a tour, where the most important thing is: to have the team (artist + staff) confirmed with availability to travel, to have the dates confirmed, and to have a budget to pay for the tour independently of the payments to receive for each concert. Now in this entry we will talk about the organizational details, so that everything goes well at the time of starting the tour.

First of all, the most important elements are the work permits and / or invitation letters, for both the artist and the staff, especially when travelling to other countries. It is absolutely not recommended to do a tour without this, due to risks of fines and serious penalties.

Then, another important element of the logistics of a tour, has to do with the succession of dates in the calendar, versus how to transport ourselves between one date and another, especially if they are on consecutive days. This is something fundamental, and was mentioned in the previous post. Since the budget is often limited, it is much better to try to manage the dates geographically as close as possible to each other, because if not, it makes the item of transportation very expensive. In addition, this allows the artist and team to be well-rested, as the trips between one city and another are shorter.

Once the concert locations are clear, obviously the next step is to decide how to travel from one city to another, and also how to do it within each location. To do this you have to consider the amount of kilometers to travel, and reach a balance between comfort, security, and budget, regardless of whether that cost is covered by the local promoter or by us. For example, it may be more comfortable to rent a van for transportation, but if it is very expensive, we must evaluate if it is better to travel in a train or even in an intercity bus, where we must also consider the transfer of instruments and equipment. The best way to do this analysis is to ask yourself: 1) how much budget we have, 2) how many people and which type of load needs to be transported, 3) consider the safety of everyone and everything in the move, and 4) always keep in mind WHAT IS THE MAIN GOAL OF THE TOUR. It is recommended to perform this analysis in an excel sheet, considering all these variables.

Once the transportation has been defined, the next step is to manage the accommodation in each city. Here, along with the aforementioned variables of budget, comfort and security, we must add CLOSENESS to the venue. Not necessarily the closer it means the more expensive, but you do have to look for the best alternative according to the existing possibilities. All this also considering what are the alternatives, if any, offered by local production.

The next item is food. Again, alternatives must be considered together with local production, and also to consider if any member of the team has special needs in terms of food, in order to not have subsequent health problems. A separate mention is that although there are ways to save money, safety is also important, therefore it is not good to eat in places with not proper hygiene and / or food care conditions.

Finally, the concert itself must be managed: backline, schedule plan, infrastructure, etc. All this was explained in a previous article in this same blog.

Without a doubt that a good organization and planning in advance of all these elements, will make the tour run very good, and even if all is ok, you can add more dates and concerts during the tour itself.