best web sites to get on tour

Re: best web sites to get on tour

Benjamin D. Hill said:
I am looking for the best web sites that you guys use to get gigs.
I have found roadiejob.com and crewspace.com(trying to find a friend to get and invite from)
Anyway are there some sights that i am missing and what are some of your favorits.
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I guess it really depends on what type of "gig" you are looking for.

A general roadie-pulling feeder-unloading trucks etc. Or Mixer positions. Or getting gigs that you provide gear for. Or is it simply "your body" that you want to sell?
 
Re: best web sites to get on tour

Benjamin D. Hill said:
I am looking for the best web sites that you guys use to get gigs.
I have found roadiejob.com and crewspace.com(trying to find a friend to get and invite from)
Anyway are there some sights that i am missing and what are some of your favorits.
Click to expand...



Road gigs are more about right-time-right-place more than anything else. If you spend more time working around bands, and are a like-able person and hard worker then things will eventually happen. Be realistic though. There are VERY few jobs available for the amount of people that want those jobs....
 
Re: best web sites to get on tour

Nah, don't sweat the union. Get in a club and get down and dirty. Work 4 nights a week, 2-4 bands a night. Do an excellent job for all of them and check your attitude at the door. When you expose yourself to that many bands someone is bound to notice.


Also, Cruise lines will make you a broke alcoholic. I've seen it happen many times....
 
Re: best web sites to get on tour

Benjamin D. Hill said:
I am looking for the best web sites that you guys use to get gigs.
I have found roadiejob.com and crewspace.com(trying to find a friend to get and invite from)
Anyway are there some sights that i am missing and what are some of your favorits.
Click to expand...

I am a member of several sites like crewspace and while I definitely appreciate the social networking aspect tailored to our business, I have to say that they haven't been sources of employment for me. I got one gig off of one of those sites from a band that simply grew too fast and had young management, so they didn't have a network to fall back on. That being said, getting that gig was also part of being at the right place at the right time because I happened to have a day off in LA to meet the manager and mix one of his other bands that night to prove myself.

I have made my living touring for the past 8 years solely by networking, and then doing some more networking. Tim's got a great idea for you: get working in a club and start making your connections there. I did many years of club gigs while in college and it was the source of my first couple tours. Likewise, when coming into clubs on tour, I have remembered people who stood out from the rest and contacted them when I've needed staff. Two stick out in my mind as they are now two of my closest friends, both with established careers in our industry.
 
Re: best web sites to get on tour

I'd personally be very wary of booking anyone for a tour from a website full stop. Touring is an intense and often stressful experience, you need to know the guys you're going to have working and living (in very confined living spaces) together get on. This is where this job becomes as much about your inter-personal skills as your technical knowledge and experience.

You just can't get that from reading a profile or cv. You need to have worked with them.

Just my take on it anyway...
 
Re: best web sites to get on tour

Benjamin, here is how to get on tour in three simple steps:
1) Get work with a local club or other venue that has a lot of touring traffic through it.
2) Build enough knowledge and respect with the local guys that you're doing things you like to do.
3) Wait for an act to come through town and be looking for more guys.

This will take several years, but you will eventually get asked.

Nobody who doesn't already have a solid set of connections and experience will get any work from any website. You have to go get dirty at a club, for a while. The skills you will build there are skills you will rely on the rest of your career. It may seem like the famous case of the karate student being made to wax cars, but ours is a business that runs on face to face credibility and doesn't take many chances with inexperienced people in important positions. If you don't have a club with a lot of touring traffic in your area, move.

Alternatively, become a shop bitch for a regional sound company. More or less the same applies as above, but this will take longer to put you on tour as you will be doing a lot of gigs that don't put you in contact with touring personnel.

Being active on forums like this one can put you way ahead of your peers in technical capability, but that doesn't matter much if you can't hack it in reality. You need to be honest with yourself, too, because while the folks who might be hiring you may not tell you to your face that you're clearly not committed to the gig, you will hit a glass ceiling of sorts.
 
Re: best web sites to get on tour

Tim Weaver said:
Nah, don't sweat the union. Get in a club and get down and dirty. Work 4 nights a week, 2-4 bands a night. Do an excellent job for all of them and check your attitude at the door. When you expose yourself to that many bands someone is bound to notice.


Also, Cruise lines will make you a broke alcoholic. I've seen it happen many times....
Click to expand...

(Responding to OP with Tim's quote for reference)

I wouldn't automatically discount IATSE, especially if there is work available in your area. I'm guessing you would be in the jurisdiction of Local 12? Contact the Business Agent and ask if they will put you on the over-hire list for when they need additional hands. The best thing you can do in the beginning is diversify. Get your name and face out there anywhere possible and make sure that a great attitude and work ethic are attached.

Chances are slim that you would need union affiliation for most touring rock and roll gigs. Many theater shows, even at the first levels, require IATSE membership. Again, it depends on what kind of gig you are after.

BackstageJobs.com is another site, posting mostly entry-level theatrical gigs.
 
Re: best web sites to get on tour

Thanks everyone for the posts.
I have been reading every post on these here forums for the past 6 years(prosoundweb too).
I have learned so much from being a silent bystander and just reading.
It has compleatly changed the way that i run my own rig.
My understaning of sound waves, watts, speakers, Rigging, Lights, and mixing.
Thanks for the replys and i will keep on moving along
 
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