De mannen van Lonely The Brave weten natuurlijk verduveld goed wat het tourleven allemaal inhoudt. De Britse alt. rockers stonden hier alleen al dit jaar op Paaspop, Pinguins in Paradiso, Pinkpop en Rock Werchter en het wordt nog mooier: ze komen terug in november voor shows in de AB, Brussel (15e), Metropool, Hengelo (27), Melkweg, Amsterdam (28) en W2, Den Bosch op de 29e. Een goed moment om ze om wat tips te vragen om al dat touren te overleven, te genieten en toch ook tof te blijven. Gitarist Ross Smithwick weet raad. Meer data onderaan, maar eerst: een recente video inclusief live-impressie.

10 essential tips for touring

1. Don’t be a diva
Whatever level you’re at, no one likes a pretentious, up themselves rock star wannabe. We’ve all seen it. It’s not a good look.

2. Have a great crew
If you’re lucky enough to have this luxury, this makes touring better for many reasons. If you have a crew with a sense of humour, even better. A light sprinkling of bullying is good for them, keeps them on their toes. Ofcourse, don’t take it too far as this could spell disaster. I like to put random objects, mainly litter in our guitar techs tech box. He ofcourse, finds this hilarious..

3. Be a nice human
This should apply to every single person on tour, as in every day life. Everyone is there for the same reason, so try not to be an arse as much as possible. From fellow bandmates to the security at each venue. At some point you will cross paths with these people again, and they will remember you for better or for worse.

4. Don’t snore
If you snore and share the same room as me, you’ll be pummeled into oblivion with shoes and pillows. I just can’t tolerate it.

5. When in Rome…
Take time to see the sights. It’s so easy after a while to just sit in the dressing room on your ipad, but if you’re somewhere new, get your camera and go walking. This is ofcourse not always possible, as a lot of the time you’re in and out of a city before you even know it, but wherever possible take advantage of the fact that you have been given the privilege of seeing the world.

6. Smell My Cheese, You Mother
Okay, so taking the leftover rider from the venue each night is a must, and can keep you going during those hard times, but whatever happens, never, ever misplace the cheese selection behind the back seats of the van in the middle of summer for two weeks. The van will smell like a morgue on wheels in no time.

7. Remember where you are
If you get to tour across the world, there will be many things that are new to you, so try and stick to the local rules as much as you can. Do not for instance, go to Amsterdam, get blind drunk and question why you have to pay to urinate in the bar your drinking in. Even if your the politest person in the world, it may not come across that way after an all nighter and you may, just may come across rude and end up being escorted towards a police car. Hopefully if that did ever happen, you’ll have persuasive band mates to help you out.

8. Take headphones
A no brainer really. Sometimes during an 11 hour journey you just need to close your eyes and shut off as best you can and not hear everyone around you shouting and screaming at the screen on the tour bus as yet again another Fifa tournament has ended in defeat.

9. Stick together
Your touring party and your band are your family on the road. There will be highs, there will be lows and it’s at these times which can make or break a tour if you’re not all in it together.

10. Meet your fans
The reason you’re doing this is in the first place is to bring your music to people – people that love your band and have paid their hard earned money to see you. We have some of the loveliest fans around and it’s always a pleasure to meet, and in some cases really get to know people at the shows. It makes all the hard work on tour worthwhile.

Lonely The Brave



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