Eli5: How are large bands able to move from one city to another so quickly?

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It just occurred to me when I saw a band on tour go from Connecticut on the 20th to South Carolina today the 29th while playing at various venues between the two states.

Like logistically it’s insane to me plus how are the singers voices not burnt?

12 hours later: Thanks everyone! Absolutely fascinating for sure, especially the Wendover YouTube links. Didn’t know that channel existed.

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26 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

There’s different kinds of tours (van tours, bus tours, and flying tours) but the majority of US tours for large-ish musicians is bus tour. The crew sets everything up and has an amazing system like commenters say above. The band sleeps in the bus overnight while it’s driving to the next destination – so they’ll often leave the venue at midnight-2am and then arrive at some point early the next day. They have bunks that, apparently, are very cozy. Some tours will have 2 drivers that rotate shifts if there are longer stretches, but otherwise they will keep the same driver for the leg.

It’s a ton of coordination on the TMs part, because every venue is different (some have showers, some don’t lol), but they save money on hotels this way and keep it efficient.

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