Choreographing Concert Tours
A concert tour entails a lot of work in terms of scheduling, planning, and logistics well before the artist steps on stage. Touring schedules require the coordination of venue availability, travel and accommodation acquisition, fulfillment of production requirements, and artist downtime – all this while routing by geographical proximity and fiscal responsibility.
The Planning Timeline For the major touring artists and bands, who are into touring arenas and stadiums, tour planning is done six months to one year in advance or even more. The earlier preparation should commence and the more important the artist, the larger the production, and the more time that is needed for preparation. However, even the local groups performing in touring clubs need to plan their schedules weeks or months in advance.
Booking the Venues Establishing the routing and the availability of venues are among the first things that an artist will consider after they decide that they want to tour. For major artists, the agency and promoter negotiate with facility owners like arenas, amphitheaters, theaters and casinos for holds on dates. Holds enable the artist to book venues and dates in advance even as other factors like traveling, accommodation, time-tabling, and production are arranged. In the case of independent bands that are relatively new, the band members themselves, or even a music manager, would directly get in touch with club promoters and owners to get shows and dates for the band. They bargain on availability, charges, ticket prices, and concessions per show value among other things. A first date at an anchor venue is agreed upon, this gives a first day, further shows in nearby venues are then logically routed by geography and any days off required. The sooner an act can book and route their dates, the better choice of venue and routing they will be able to book.
Choosing Days for Loading and Unloading Equipment
Fans have no idea how much more complicated concerts are in the background. Complex structures like scaffolding, lighting truss, video, and stage installation have to be constructed-often greater requirements for large-scale shows in an arena. A load-in day is therefore scheduled to give time to offload production trucks and build the technical parts of the show before the musicians arrive for the sound check rehearsals. Additional time allowance is also required wherever phases call for such features as hydraulic lifts, moving parts, or complicated automation. Likewise, there is a load-out day for dismantling the show following the expiration of each show’s duration. This means that two essentially unused venue days surround every scheduled concert date: drop off the day before and pick up the next after. For bands at small halls, like clubs, load in and out might take several hours rather than one day. This is due to production requirements together with local labor/union regulations that determine the time spent at each location.
Accounting For Travel Time As in the case of technical load-outs, travel time must also come between cities and tour stops. It depends on the particular routing there may be travel on show dates, other legs allow a full day of travel only in between performance cities. Scheduling routine coordinates travel days during the time that the musicians would not be performing or even awake. Artists and crew travel in airplanes, coach buses, or trains to from one city to another in the shortest time possible. Market separation, supply of touring vehicles, and costs define travel modes. Relentless control of the schedules and transports assists in maintaining adequate tour routing – because any significant disruption can be fatal.
Pre-Reservation of Hotel Rooms Not only does one have to book stages and venues well in advance but accommodations for the touring entourage also have to be pre-booked in each city. When organizing a large-scale tour that involves more than a dozen or more trucks and a large number of road personnel, tens of hotel rooms are rented at a time. Local tour crews, in some instances, negotiate for cheap rates or even patronages from major national hotel chains to reduce expenses on lodging. About the venues, early bookings of hotels also enable one to get better hotels within the per diem budget. Some of the specific ways that last-minute or sold-out cities affect housing costs are highlighted below. The local transport and time inconvenience are reduced by selecting hotels near the booked premises.
Reasons for Days Off and Total Duration of the Tour
While such reservations do attain preliminary dates, there are still large gaps between the anchor dates which are subsequently booked in as well. Gaps enable the necessary breaks between stretches of concerts so that the touring musicians and personnel do not get tired. These “off days” also serve to provide scheduling availability that can allow for the pickup of additional single “one shot” shows in some of the major markets. The length of a tour is negotiated between the management and musician, and factors considered include the number of markets to be covered, the number of persons in the touring entourage who will be living on the road, the practical routing course as per geography, and the tolerance of the artists involved. Tours typically span 4 to 6 weeks for newcomers or more than twelve months for superstars who perform in arenas. Length also depends on supporting activities related to the tour, such as a new album release or coordinated to coincide with festivals or the summer touring season rather than the holidays or other difficult seasons. Tour routing, scheduling, and the duration of the tour are not random but they entail a lot of planning.
Coordinating Rehearsals, Sound, and Lights with Logistics
While many venues and logistics are sometimes planned up to 12 months in advance, rehearsals and production planning occur 4-8 weeks before the show dates. Band members practice new compositions and arrangements of songs they are currently performing at their concert venues during a tour. Technical teams also develop the lighting, videos, and effects within the rehearsal timeline during technical rehearsals. Rehearsal schedules are somewhat variable yet also depend on last-minute tour preparation as in merchandising designs or sponsorship. Some of the principal cities may also need advanced local promotions and media.
It is a wonder that major concert tours come together at all, given so many variables: venues, housing for personnel, transportation, local promotion, technical production, and the artists themselves. But as these are well-choreographed live events, the most essential element is the coordination and funding of these performances to create the magic. However, admiring fans in each city only watch a few hours of splendid shows that are established on months of preparation. When the audience sees their stars on the stage, they are watching merely the result of a very intricate touring process.
