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Originally Posted by gyutae is drinking all you really do on tour? Is that usually the norm for touring artists these days? |
I really don't know if it's the norm, but I imagine it's what a lot do.
A typical day on our last tour consisted of getting up at about 7 or 8 and driving for 8 hours across Europe to our next show. This isn't actually too bad, our manager did the driving and we're only a 3-piece so we could stretch out. Plus I have a sexy new laptop so could watch episode after episode of South Park.
So we'd get to the venue around 4PM and load in, the headline band (in this case Belle & Sebastian) would soundcheck until about 5, so we'd retreat to the dressing room and wait. That's when the beer gets cracked open, there's not really a lot else to do and after 8 hours in the bus it's good to unwind a bit. A couple of beers down, then comes soudcheck. We're a really quick band to soundcheck, and because we were using the same equipment and crew every night all our settings were saved meaning it was just a case of running through a couple of tracks and ironing out any minor issues.
After that, we probably had 2-3 hours before we were due on stage. Time for a nice meal, washed down with more free beer.
I guess by the time we go on stage I've usually had 3 or 4 already, and I always have one with me when I play. I don't know about you guys but I can't stand to play a show sober - I don't mean I need to be rolling around pissed, but just need to take off that nervous edge that I always get (and hopefully always will get).
After the set there's always that element of relief and elation, so the beer starts flowing and continues for the rest of the night. If it runs out, we'd just ask for more - part of the problem is that it's all free.
Later on we'd have a couple more in the hotel and discuss the evening's events, then fall into bed absolutely hammered.
Repeat to fade....