Is your favourite band playing multiple gigs and you want to go to them all but you aren't sure if it will be worth it??
My advice is to do it because it will definitely be worth it! There is a lot of planning that you need to do to make sure it all runs smoothly but it just adds to the excitement.
I did 6 gigs in 6 days to see Blind Channel and Lost Society in the UK in September 2022 and had the best time. I was seriously tired but it was still amazing!!
Doing this tour was something I had to really think about because I didn't want to get too tired on the tour and end up wanting to go home so I had lots of awesome chats with my tour buddy Roxxi and we came up with an awesome plan so that everyone stayed happy.
So here is the breakdown of the miles I put together for the tour from Google Maps, which is from one city to the next.
Date | From | To | Miles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
11.9.22 | Kent | 150 | | |
12&13.9.22 | 371 | | ||
14.9.22 | 214 | | ||
15.9.22 | 209 | | ||
16.9.22 | 127 | | ||
17.9.22 | 51 | | ||
18.9.22 | Kent | 169 | | |
| | Total | 1291 | |
I know, crazy right?
According to my Google Maps, it tracked 1304 miles when I had it on but I think it was actually a bit more than that in the end due to diversions which is when we turned it off because it was completely useless haha.
The first gig was in Bristol on the 12th so I decided to drive to Bristol the day before and have a really good nights sleep in a hotel. I picked up Roxxi from Bristol train station and then due to the main bridge being cut off for construction, we spent a good half an hour trying to work out the roads in Bristol to find our hotel. Google Maps seemed to think that we could fly as it kept telling us to park and then fly over the river lol.
Seeing as Bristol to Glasgow was themost miles out of the whole tour, we decided that the best thing to do was to hit the road straight after the gig to try and do as many miles as possible before I felt sleepy. I knew that if we had done the trip in one go on the day of the Glasgow gig, I would be too tired and end up seriously moody. Plus, driving at that time of time meant that there was going to be less traffic, in fact, we barely saw any other cars and just a few lorries.
We ended up driving until 4:30am but this was mainly because there were diversions on the motorway that had us going in circles for an hour and then we couldn't find a hotel with any rooms available for another hour. This meant that we only managed to get When we finally did find a hotel at a roadside services, we just got in the room and fell straight to sleep. But this was the only time that we drove after a gig as the rest of the gigs were shorter driving distances.
We had a couple of hours left to drive to Glasgow and didn't need to check into the hostel until 2pm so we took our time on that drive, we even stopped once so I could lay down on the back seat of the car and have a half hour nap. It's so important to make sure you are well rested when driving because nodding off, even for a second, could end up getting you and everyone in the car killed. This is why I'm quite glad we took breaks and I had naps. (Yes, I know this is making me sound old lol)
I loved that it was mainly driving on motorways as I hate driving in towns that I haven't driven in before, it sets off my anxiety so bad thinking I will get lost. Thank goodness for Google Maps.
Something to keep in mind is where you are going to park your car for the gig and overnight. When I was looking at hotels, I was looking for ones really close to the venue and had parking so I only had to park the car once and not worry about having to park somewhere for the gig. We only had one gig where we drove to the gig and that was the Nottingham gig, the hotels with parking near the venue were just too expensive so we decided to stay just outside of the city and drive in for the gig. It just worked out cheaper that way.
For hotels, I mainly use Booking.com as you can compare so many awesome hotels, the venues come up in the search so when you are looking for the nearest hotel, it's not going from the wrong end of the street. There aren't just hotels on there either, there are holidays homes, b&bs and hostels so you get a good selection. They also have the option on some hotels to pay in advance or pay when you check-in. Paying on check-in is usually a bit more expensive so pay in advance where you can. My thoughts on hotels for gigs is basically just a base to get sleep, get ready and eat before moving on so I don't like paying too much, the cheapest I have paid for a hotel is £37 for a double room. It was quite nice as well so felt quite lucky.
We had to be careful with petrol prices, it was when prices were quite high, I think the most I paid was £1.99 a litre when we got caught low and had to top up at a motorway petrol station. I just put £20 worth in the car to get us to the next venue and then topped up somewhere cheap the next day. DO NOT GET CAUGHT OUT! Haha
One top thing you need for driving a lot is a good front passenger buddy. I had Roxxi for most of the journeys, I had my friend Joules for 2 journeys and only 2 journeys to do on my own which were fine because they were during the day and wasn't far but the rest of the time I am glad I had someone with me. They made sure I stayed awake, looked after me opening food and drinks, helped with navigation, was the car DJ and kept me entertained. I think I would of hated all the driving if I had done it all on my own.
I must admit that I was a bit naughty, I eat a lot more fast food than I should have. I am gluten and lactose intolerant which can be a pain sometimes but seeing as Subway now do gluten free bread, I eat more Subways than any other fast food haha. We were mainly getting food for motorway services because we would wake up, get ready and drive to the next city so we didn't really think ahead about where we were going to get food from. If we were hungry after a gig, we would order food off of Just Eat so that was never healthy haha. I did buy fruit to eat but only had half of it, the rest of it died in the car. I was good at drinking lots of water which I think helped me lose 8lbs in that week! The jumping around in a sweaty venue helped as well but the water definitely helped haha.
The most important thing though is to look after each other, make sure everyone is eating properly, drinking plenty of water, resting and having an amazing time every day.
At the time of publishing this article, I am preparing to do another 6 gigs following Blind Channel around the UK but I have 3 gigs, a weeks break and then another 3 so not as intense lol.
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