My area of interest in the
entertainment world is being a tour manager. I believe that the job of a tour
manager is to make sure that life on the road runs smoothly for everyone
involved. This implies getting the band securely to venues and lodgings,
overseeing cash coming in and cash going out, and dealing with Promoters and
Venue Managers. During an interview, tour manager David Norman stated: “My day
consists of moving the Artist and band from city to city, along with my Travel
Agent, booking flights, ground, hotels, etc. Doing day sheets (info on what
your day will be like including departure times, show times, soundcheck times,
travel after the show)”.
On August 14, 2015. Tom
Begley posted an article about How to put on a mega–gig: the tour manager’s story. He explains how the life of a tour manager is not easy. There are issues
that you have to deal with such as being woken up at 4am to take a singer to
the hospital, or the lost of a $3000 dollars guitar unit, equipment not being
provided when it should be and so on. Every artist and tour is different. A
tour manager is involved in everything from booking
hotels, flights or a masseur to getting people the food they want. Basically being
the middleman, between the artist/crew and the promoter, and sometimes the band
and the fans, especially at signings.
The bigger the band, the more crewmembers there are. Begley also
stated: “You
don’t see the city you’re in: you don’t leave the arena. At the really big
shows, my job is all about getting the band in and making sure their food is
all there. Generally, everything is well organized. You still get problems but,
ideally, the show should be exactly the same every day, because things run like
clockwork. Everything is super-scale: even the rehearsals involve so much gear;
it’s like putting on a full gig”. Whatever needs to be done is the tour
manager’s job. If the singer wants to stand in the cold for an hour and a half
signing autographs, the tour manager stands there with them.
Here is an example of a daily itinerary of an Artist that is on tour.
