DIY Tour Booking Tips

[tbirdted]

does anyone have any good advice when booking your own tour? any good websites or other resources? lists of promoters?

or, experiences booking your own tours and what worked and what didn't work ... ?

thanks guys.

[TheBestBet]

The only advice i can really give you is just don't give up no matter how turned off and frustrated you get. And make sure you start at least 3 months in advance.

[untitled94]

honestly i haven't really had to book so much myself because i've had alot of people help me out along the way

but i'd really say this stuff --

be realistic. chances are you're not going to be able to book a 35 day full US tour for your band asking $150 a night with no off dates for your first tour

use myspace, talk to friends you know in the areas you plan on going, talk to bands from those areas as well.

by persistent -- but not annoying -- and just give yourself plenty of time and ensure the shows you get are at least worth you showing up for

goodluck!

[remoteCONTROL]

go to smaller bands myspaces that are touring and copy all of their dates. they probably got them from someone else. the tough part is finding venues that fit your size of band. we've played 1000 person venues and 100 people showed up. if it were a 100 person venue it wouldve been packed, instead it was a little awkward. byofl.org is a good launching point but has some outdated info. if you play washington oregon idaho or utah, shoot us a message on myspace or a PM on here and we'll get you some solid contacts

[PaperTigerD]

Chances are more often than not that some of your shows will get cancelled. In order to pick these dates back up use the myspace shows search for wherever you are suppose to be playing. Most of the time if its a smaller local show it'll be more promising because you'll have a better chance of getting on it, and I've found that on the last tour I was on those shows we're ones where there were more kids, and we ended up making more money than we would have with our guarantees.

[tbirdted]

thanks for all the input guys. much appreciated.

[miketrondson]

Here are things that worked well for my band in the past..

- Use Myspace to network with bands similar in popularity and sound. Try to co-book with them. It usually works well for me.

- Make friends with every single band you can, no matter how good or what genre they are. Usually they can help you some capacity.

- Show trades! Offer as many as you can without burning yourselves out. Ask for them to get you exactly what you got them. If you need help in South East, Michigan let me know! I could possibly book something.

- Start booking 3-4 months ahead of time.

- Try to go out for a week hitting areas about 4 hours from you. Hit those places repeatedly, if possible more than you play at home. Build up a fan base in those regions, then use them to leap to other areas.