What does a Tour Manager do?

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The idea of using a band/concert tour manager is to make sure the tour is running smoothly, all band and crew are happy, performance revenue is being collected and tour-related bills are being paid.

The following is a (very) brief guide to the work you should expect from concert tour manager you work with.

A band tour manager is basically the person who takes care of booking all the accommodation, transport, equipment and crew involved with the tour. They travel with the band on the road, dealing with all the day-to day problems as they arise. They also act as accountant; producing budgets, picking up cash for performances and paying suppliers and other expenses as the tour progresses.

On very large tours the role of band tour manager may be split between 3 or 4 different people; for instance tour manager, production manager, production assistant and tour accountant (s).

Tour managers are usually freelance and are paid by the artiste or artiste’s management company from the tour funds. They work on a daily or weekly rate. The tour usually pays for the tour manager’s accommodation, travel, communication costs and other expenses.

Caution:

Concert/band tour managers are not regulated; there is no Association of Concert Tour Managers. Tour managers do not need to sit exams or hold related qualifications. Anybody can call themselves a concert/band tour manager.

There are related academic and vocational courses such as theatre stage management and event management courses but I is not aware of specific courses dealing with concert/band tour management.

I mention this as a tour manager is supposed to relieve you of the stress of organising and administrating your concert tour. It is therefore important to know that the tour manager you are retaining has some experience in the role or can offer you a good, non-conditional guarantee. Or both.

As a general rule, tour managers do not book or arrange the shows. This is the job of the booking agent working in conjunction with promoters.

The band tour manager will be contacted by the management, usually during or after the booking of the show (s). (In certain cases the management may consult the tour manager about the suitability of certain venues or whether it is possible to reach certain cities in the time allocated etc.)

The tour manager’s job really begins once the dates have been booked. Here at Tour Concepts I will take the date sheet supplied by the booking agent and work on the following areas, budget, advancing and on-the-road.

Budget

You have a list of dates and the fees (income) from each show. Great, but how much is it going to cost you to do those shows? At the very least you are going to need transport to and from the gig and maybe somewhere to stay if the show is a great distance away.

Before agreeing to under-taking the tour, the artiste’s management should have a look at the costs involved. The tour manager will be called on for this as they usually have more experience.

The booking agent should have given the manager a list of the fees the band will receive on the tour. The person responsible for the budget should then subtract figures for likely expenses.

When compiling a budget or list of possible expenses I use the following main categories:

WAGES
PER DIEMS*
ACCOMMODATION
TRANSPORT
SOUND
LIGHTING
BACK LINE
PRODUCTION
REHEARSALS
OTHER EXPENSES**

* Per Diems is a daily amount paid to touring crew to cover living expenses, food etc. From the Latin ‘for the day’. Apparently.

** Other expenses would include any foreign artist taxation, management commission and agents commission.

The responsibility of the tour manager is to present the costs as he or she perceives them and to offer solutions if the costs are too great.

The income minus the expenses will give either the profit or loss (shortfall) for the tour.

Advancing

Once a budget/ list of predicted expenses has been agreed, the band tour manager will then start to ‘advance’ the shows.

There is a saying, ‘the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.’

Or, ‘hope for the best, plan for the worst.’

Advancing is the way tour managers’ ’sweat in peace’. It is the process of contacting each promoter and venue to ensure the entire artiste’s technical and hospitality demands will be met and to resolve any problems the promoter or venue can foresee.

The tour manager will also ask about contact names and addresses, arrival times, equipment load in times, sound check and performance times, any supporting/opening acts and finally what time all live music has to be finished by.

Common problems are incorrect venue addresses, limited physical access to venues (i.e. lots of stairs to hump gear up!), clashing sporting or other musical events, sound level limits and insufficient or inappropriate technical equipment.

Good tour managers will have an encyclopaedic knowledge of these problems and be able to anticipate them and/or advise the touring party well ahead of time.

By anticipating these problems the tour manager will save the tour both time AND money.

On The Road

Once the advancing has been done and the tour manager has all the appropriate venue information, contact details and times he or she will usually produce the tour itinerary (AKA ‘tour book’ or ‘book of lies’!)

The itinerary details all the information for the tour, in a day-by -day format and is issued to all touring personnel as well as to related offices, friends and family.

The tour manager will then travel with the act on the tour. The job on the road varies enormously depending on the type and success level of the act.

The following items are definitely part of a band tour manager’s day-to-day workload:

Overseeing hotel departures on time
Settling accommodation bills
Overseeing travel arrangements i.e. band and crew onto the bus or to the airport in good time
Paying per diems to band & crew
Overseeing venue arrival – double checking hospitality and technical arrangements
Arranging up to date running order with venue and promoter
Overseeing promotional activities i.e. TV, radio and press interviews at the venue or at other locations
Supervising any support or opening acts
Ensuring venue is ready to open on time by supervising sound check times
Liasing with transport department regarding the next days’ travel
Ensuring all acts perform on time and for the allotted time
Settling performance fee with promoter and collecting any due cash
Ensuring all touring equipment is re-packed and loaded back onto tour transport
Preparing band and crew schedule sheets for the next day< Overseeing band and crew on to appropriate over night transport or to next hotel
Reporting this show's attendance figures to management and booking agent

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