Touring is tricky business

When you say you’re in a rock band, it’s a common follow up to say you have certain shows lined up or an album release coming.

This creates a subliminal lure to get someone to keep tabs on your band long after you end the conversation and part ways.

Sometimes we lie and say there’s an album in the pipeline even when we know the band hasn’t met for a jam session in months. We want to stay relevant.

A true band, however, will tour. This is the pinnacle of success for a rock and roll artiste. Travelling the world and playing at sold out shows and arenas is what we dream about from the first day at practice.

Everyone wants to see the world and have crowds swelling to the exits. The reason being not only do you get to see the beautiful splendors of the universe but you get to expand your fan base with new fans of diverse cultures and from more fans will come more sales.

It’s a good experience to play for different crowds and it is an amazing feeling to hear people from halfway across the world recant your songs word for word like they’ve been listening in on your garage practice sessions.

It sounds lovely, doesn’t it? That’s why Kenyan bands play these mediocre venues with such passion. That’s the closest they get to touring and playing for more than just their friends.

However, most bands don’t realise there’s a lot more to touring than the glitz and glamour that meets the proverbial eye.

Touring is stressful. You get pulled away from your friends and families for weeks on end to play fifty different states if you’re lucky.

If you’re a band is really blessed and you land a huge tour with good sponsoring, you could be away for over a year.

The only people you get to interact with are your bandmates and the nonchalant tech crew.

The only conversations you have a lethargic reruns of the show you just played, how much beer the bassist drunk last night, the girls that were stalking the lead singer after the show and how you haven’t had a good shower in weeks. It’s a lot tougher than it looks on television.

Loathe each other

When you’re on tour, your band is all you get to see. Let this sink in. That annoying dude that smells in your band is your bunkmate for months.

It’s not just a few hours of fun jamming but a seeming eternity with these personalities we can’t stand for prolonged hours. You will loathe each other if you didn’t before.

Take Lamb of God for example. After a sold out show in Scotland a few years ago, Mark and Randy get into a fight after issues with Randy’s struggles with alcoholism seemed to get the better of the heavy metal front man.

The next night, the two had to share a stage together with Randy adorning shades and a cap, black eye and all. It’s all in the life of touring.

Your tour bus, being a bus can simply break down in the middle of a dense South Asian forest on the morning before an important show.

When no help comes, you have to find a way to get there. This includes trekking for miles with all your gear on your back. Don’t even get me started about not being paid for shows.

Touring is challenging to say the least. Maybe that’s why most of our bands choose to play safe gigs. Think you can still handle it?