From Lighting Programmer to Tour Manager.. Questions !

[McCready00]

Hello all,

I have been on the road for over 12 years now, and always been happy of the choice I've made.

I worked mostly as a GrandMA ( lighting ) programmer for creations, touring shows and festivals.

Over the year we just had, someone told me I should become a Tour Manager.. that I may have some good skills fo it.

It stayed in my head for few weeks and I recently decided I may give it a try later next year if things come back to normal.

My question are:

1. What should I know about it.
2. What is the real challenges while following a band as a Tour Manager ?
3. If I had 2-3 university courses that would help me, which ones would you choose ? Finance ? HR ?

Thanks

 

[MRW Lights]

Well... that's a pretty big pivot, even if it's technically the same field. Have you been a department head before? I don't mean that in any derogatory sense, but there's quite a leap between a programmer and a Tour Manager. The job is much less about execution and significantly more about politics and communication. All this being said I'm not even a tour manager, but I can share plenty of examples about working with good ones and not so good ones.

1. Find a mentor. Reach out to a manager that you know and respect. AND that you feel like has a mutual respect for you. Identify that you're looking to shift tracks and discover what your goals need to be and where you want them to take you.
2. As a tour manager you're not following you're leading.
3. You could take some courses, maybe business/finance management. Few and far between there are some entertainment management courses out there, but it's a job about experience. Books can't teach that. Some courses in emotional intelligence might go a long way.

The boiler plate... A good manager is a great leader. Don't reinvent the wheel. Listen, Ask, Learn.

 

[Footer]

What size halls? What size band? Have you ever settled a show? Can you read a contract? Can you pour drinks? Can you tell people to fark off? Have you ever done merch? Are you advancing production as well?

If you were to take any class anything in accounting and contract law is good. Good TM's make it look easy. Bad TM's make my day an utter hell. The politics thing is very very real. You need to become best freinds with the person who hired you... and your day only goes well if there day goes well. If you have been on the road for 12 years what size shows?

Being a TM to my eyes is a pretty miserable job. Your are on all day and the if the band has a bad day you have a bad day. You basically spend the entire day trying to make up for whomever dropped a ball somewhere... be it the booking agent, the venue, the promoter, or anything else in between. Pay can be good if you get paid a percentage.

If you haven't figured out what that job is after 12 years of touring its probably not for you. You have to be the kind of person that can tell someone with a straight face "yup, I can do that" while having no idea how you are going to pull it off and get it pulled off before they figure out your full of crap.