What do artists do on tour on days off?

I assume if they have a show Monday and Wed. after the Mon. show they head to the Wed city right away? So they don’t have to worry about travel problems, they have an extra day if there is a problem with the plane/bus/etc.

I guess for other stuff they can do what they want , party, shop, eat .etc.

I had an accounting professor who had a friend who toured with the Stones as the tour accountant. This was in the 70s and he carried around cash for them to use and they did not tell him what they used it for. Some people who sell stuff don’t take Visa or MC or Amex :slight_smile:

Laundry?

well it killed Buddy Holly

What do you think? Hookers & blow

I’ve always assumed they spent it rehearsing for the next day’s show.

Catching up on their sleep? Especially for the older folks who are still touring.

A friend of mine worked for RCA/BMG years ago. During a tour, artists would often go on local radio programs to promote their latest album/tour.

I’d want to see the sights in whatever new city I found myself, including museums and historic sites, but that’s just me.

It depends how well-known you are. In his later years, Jerry Garcia was said to be unable to go anywhere without being mobbed. He spent his tour days in his hotel room. I imagine that’s true for a lot of very famous performers.

I know several artists I’ve seen talk about what they did before the show if they did indeed come in with time to spend that day.

The Barenaked Ladies (2015 version) said they spent the day at one of Cleveland’s pinball spots and hot dog restaurants.

Belle & Sebastian took in an Indians game before their show this summer, and posted pics to their social media. They post pics from most cities they visit (but they’re not that well known here).

That reminds me of a Springsteen show my wife and I went to in Kansas City several years ago. The show started about an hour late because they had spent the afternoon in St Louis at a Cardinals game and didn’t get to KC in time. (Also, they didn’t have a chance to do a sound check, which was painfully obvious for the first half dozen or so songs until they got everything adjusted right.)

Springsteen came to town to visit his daughter who was a student at Duke and he stopped by a local guitar store.

I have it on good authority they’re pretty bored; passing the time in their hotel rooms and wandering around backstage.

Laundry is true, especially if it’s a smaller band touring with a van and trailer. A friend of mine owns a music venue and has gained an excellent reputation by having multiple washing machines and dryers backstage near the green rooms. Bands know to get there early and they can do their laundry - start a load before soundcheck, get it in the dryer after soundcheck and be able to have it out and folded before they go on stage that evening.

Another thing is phone interviews and live promo appearances in record shops (where they still exist) and radio/TV stations.

My wife and I have been friends with Rev and Breezy of The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band for more than a decade. They play Country Blues, Rev playing fingerstyle guitar, Breezy on washboard. They’ve had a few different drummers over they years. As they’ve built their career, they’ve gone from living full time in the van and sleeping on couches of fans to getting supplied with hotel rooms and adding a full time guitar/drum tech and a road manager/merchandise person.

When they formed their band, they promised each other that they would never be the sort of people who only saw green rooms, airports and truckstops. They see plenty of those, but they love nature and at every opportunity they fish. They’ve been to 37 countries and fished in 35 of them. If they band is coming to your neck of the woods and you know the good local places, let them know and you can hang out with the band fishing.

Their Instagram is filled with photos of the band playing music, meeting people and fishing.

They have a Podcast called* Hard Time and Weirdness* that is mostly stories from the road, and they have a friend named Captain Vinnie who charters deep sea fishing boats, and he told some of the most amazing stories I have ever heard, including an encounter with the captain of the Pilar, the boat that Hemmingway used and a 482 pound marlin.

Hang out in the hotel room.

Deleted duplicate. That’s what I get for posting from a moving train.

I know a guy (pianist) who indeed spends hours and hours practicing. Gotta be perfect.

ETA and once I heard someone (different pianist) verbally apologize at the end of his recital for making “two mistakes”, which of course nobody who had not memorized the piece would notice.

I thought it was cool when I found out that Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie does trail runs in down time to train for ultramarathons. I had no idea until he hooked up with some runners from a local group to ‘guide’ him on a run when they were in town a few years ago.

Not quite what the OP asked but I knew a guy who was a professional wrestler and spent a lot of time on the road. He said a lot of wrestlers play board games. It’s an easy way to kill time at hotels.

He probably wanted to get some sleep before he traveled.
mmm