# What do artists do on tour on days off? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2020, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028 "2020-01-06T13:21:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/1 "2020-01-06T13:21:05Z")
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 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/2 "2020-01-06T13:35:10Z")
Laundry? ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/3 "2020-01-06T14:22:01Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Laundry? well it killed Buddy Holly ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/4 "2020-01-06T14:52:34Z")
What do you think? Hookers & blow ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/5 "2020-01-06T15:15:33Z")
I’ve always assumed they spent it rehearsing for the next day’s show. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/6 "2020-01-06T15:38:48Z")
Catching up on their sleep? Especially for the older folks who are still touring. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/7 "2020-01-06T16:04:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/8 "2020-01-06T16:04:47Z")
I’d want to see the sights in whatever new city I found myself, including museums and historic sites, but that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/9 "2020-01-06T16:12:08Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/10 "2020-01-06T21:54:47Z")
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). ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/11 "2020-01-06T22:05:32Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > 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.) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/12 "2020-01-06T22:09:27Z")
Springsteen came to town to visit his daughter who was a student at Duke and he stopped by a local guitar store. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/13 "2020-01-06T22:11:34Z")
I have it on good authority they’re pretty bored; passing the time in their hotel rooms and wandering around backstage. > [@](#): > > But the band’s on the bus > And they’re ready to go > We’ve got to drive all night and do a show in Chicago > Or Detroit, I don’t know > We do so many shows in a row > And these towns all look the same > We just pass the time in the hotel rooms > And wander 'round backstage > Till those lights come up and we hear that crowd > And we remember why we came > Now we got country and western on the bus > R ‘n’ B, we got disco and eight tracks and cassettes in stereo > We got rural scenes and magazines > We got truckers on C.B. > And we got Richard Pryor on the video > We got time to think of the ones we love > As the miles roll away > But the only time that seems too short > Is the time that we get to play ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/14 "2020-01-10T18:35:13Z")
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](https://www.instagram.com/bigdamnband). 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. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/15 "2020-01-10T18:42:07Z")
Hang out in the hotel room. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/16 "2020-01-10T18:44:33Z")
Deleted duplicate. That’s what I get for posting from a moving train. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/17 "2020-01-10T19:01:20Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I’ve always assumed they spent it rehearsing for the next day’s show. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/18 "2020-01-10T19:25:24Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/19 "2020-01-10T20:20:02Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028/20 "2020-01-10T23:39:18Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > 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. He probably wanted to get some sleep before he traveled. mmm [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-artists-do-on-tour-on-days-off/846028.md?page=2)