How Do You Afford Following Cross Country?

[Octal]

It seems that to do a tour would require a lot of money--tickets, food, gas, a place to stay (a car should suffice), clean clothing/shower (dancing in a hot room produces a lot of sweat)--but to get such money one would need a job, which wouldn't like you just getting up a taking a few months off during the year. Grilled cheese sandwiches don't make a whole lot, so how do you afford it? Do you "wait" until a rich relative dies and gives you a lot of money? Do you rob banks in between shows? And if you don't tour during the present day, how did you do it back when Jerry was still around?

[Guest bengalsfanatic85]

It seems that to do a tour would require a lot of money--tickets, food, gas, a place to stay (a car should suffice), clean clothing/shower (dancing in a hot room produces a lot of sweat)--but to get such money one would need a job, which wouldn't like you just getting up a taking a few months off during the year. Grilled cheese sandwiches don't make a whole lot, so how do you afford it? Do you "wait" until a rich relative dies and gives you a lot of money? Do you rob banks in between shows? And if you don't tour during the present day, how did you do it back when Jerry was still around?

I've wondered the same thing many a time, but I have never done it myself. Obviously, you need to sell something if your college-aged, or just do a week off for vacation and follow for a handful of dates.

[acududeman]

"Trustafarian" any one??

[gr8fulpair]

Cant speak for these times, but back in the day you could camp in the parking lot (free) and the scene in the lot was much more communal than it is today. Selling and bartering (NOT TO GET RICH, but to make it to the next show ---- hear that you douche bag nitrous mafia gangsters!). Gas was around $1/gal and you had 3,4,5 people in the car. I did a whole east coast stadium tour with about $200. Tix were around $20.

PS: what's all this hu-bub about showers and clean clothes. Why do you think patchouli was invented.......

[bs69]

There are 2 primo times in life for touring: When you are young and unmarried and when you are older and the kids have flown the nest. I live in Ohio so it was always spring and summer tours for me. Most people I know/knew worked their asses off all winter and saved all of their money, mail ordered their tickets, loaded up with supplies and what little cash was left and hit the road. Many a rest stop was used late at night for general hygiene and lots or campgrounds were used for lodging. a lot of times the band would play multiple nights at one location, so if you knew somebody in the area you could crash and grab a shower. Good times while young, but I don't think i would last 3 nights now

[Tinkerbell]

hell, touring was the cheap part, even with jets and marriotts...

the divorce that followed, now that's where you can spend some money........

[chuckvegas]

Don't ask. Don't tell.

[Tinkerbell]

Don't ask. Don't tell.

roger that

[Supplicated Velvet Thunder]

just gotta figure out what you got that the community needs and sell it to em to make it to the next show of course, we are 26, so we have had a few years of going to shows broke, learning what we need to know and what people need from us. when we figured it out, we started a business to offer it. so now we sell crystals and light toys and handmade clothes and glass and although DSO tour is pretty hard to make money on, we make all our money at the beginning of the summer at festivals full of college aged kids that wanna give us all their money we have to make tough decisions like missing mountain jam and going to wakarusa, but in the end we can still make it to the shows we want. on this tour we have been lucky to make great connections with people that live all over the place to stay with, the family TRULY does provide. oh, and when those dirty nitrous kids are out there selling their shit that should never leave their house, we do well saying "buy tie dyes not nitrous" or "buy something that lasts more that 30 seconds" and the cops can't usually tell us to stop selling our stuff if they have already conveniently turned a blind eye to those kids.... so sometimes that scene actually helps us.

but it's hard, on this tour we got our car window broken and in the last week we have heard some really horrible things about friends getting popped, but the lesson there is to ride clean and know the cops ARE going to pull you over because they can't stand to see people having fun

we knew coming into this that we would be broke for the first year or so, and that is surely the truth, but the nights of dancing and singing and religious moments are worth every hassle thrown our way, and every downer that comes up.

and of course, the friendships made are priceless and last a lifetime... good stuff.

we all have something to offer this community, and we try very hard to not spend any money in the "real world", and instead put our money into the REAL real world of festivals, music, friends and love

good luck!

Love,

Mrs D

[GratefulFred]

How do I afford it? It's a simple formula. It's called Living Outside Your Means.

[chuckvegas]

roger that

Affirmative, Queen Steve, approximately. It is a privilege and an honor to serve in this outfit. (You're a bit young looking here to be a bird colonel, but then, some rise.)

Seriously, it is never easy on this side, but God knows it is worth it. And this is why: "of course, the friendships made are priceless and last a lifetime... good stuff."

[Tinkerbell]

"of course, the friendships made are priceless and last a lifetime... good stuff."

i wouldn't have done it any different.......

[Tinkerbell]

"of course, the friendships made are priceless and last a lifetime... good stuff."

i wouldn't have done it any different.......

[subcooler]

Cant speak for these times, but back in the day you could camp in the parking lot (free) and the scene in the lot was much more communal than it is today. Selling and bartering (NOT TO GET RICH, but to make it to the next show ---- hear that you douche bag nitrous mafia gangsters!). Gas was around $1/gal and you had 3,4,5 people in the car. I did a whole east coast stadium tour with about $200. Tix were around $20.

PS: what's all this hu-bub about showers and clean clothes. Why do you think patchouli was invented.......

Gr8fulpair summed up my touring experience rather well...We didn't even realize how good we had it (cheap tix/gas/groceries/etc....)!

Either bring food/drinks to sell from local grocery store or some handmade craft that can catch the other deadheads eye & make it to the next stop on the tour.It never hurt to start off with a few $$$ from working between tours! The thing that needs to be stressed was...With a little help from your friends you could live the HIGH life for much less than 30$ a day & lots of days got by on a 10 spot !

Living on the East coast made it easy to catch lots of shows within a few hundred miles of home!

That was then & this is now....My how the times have changed !

Peace,

Rob

[Pugdog]

These are all really great stories...

It costs me about a grand to go anywhere of substance this day in age

You guys are fortunate.

[chuckvegas]

Have done it any different back in the '70s? Nope! Parents Esso/Exxon card helped a lot, as did McDonald's "change from your dollar" prices. Four to a Holiday Inn room worked out OK too. It still does.

A grand a show nowadays? Not quite, but a trip of substance isn't cheap, for sure. Sitting in BWI now after a redeye can be grounds for contemplating the wisdom of it all, but clarity will come once the music starts.

[Pugdog]

Not for just one show...but for about a week of musical voyaging in relative comfort.

The 4 to a room philosophy has stood the test of time...for sure!

[gr8fulpair]

I remember my brother and I at RFK in DC buying two cases of PBR and two bags of ice with our last $20 in an attempt to sell those ice cold beers to people for $1ea. and convert $20 into $48. The conversion ended up being more like $20 - $31 due our being two of our best customers..... hey, it's hot as shit in DC in July!!!

[Octal]

Another question: To all of you who continue to follow (are there any?) how much does it cost to do a decent number of shows?

[jfolks]

great thread.

i've never done an entire tour..that shit would be sooooooo expensive (especially considering dso's tour schedule isn't necessarily a logical driving route.. lots of criss-crossing on the east coast sometimes). longest run ive ever done was 2 weeks on tour. if you were to do an entire DSO tour, you would have to be "rich" from own your income earned before tour or your parents. there just isnt a big enough lot scene to support yourself on DSO tour by selling merch or food. string cheese or phish, now thats a different story..

also, there are 2 drastically different ways of doing tours. one side gets mariotts every night and eats $10-20 meals breakfast, lunch, and dinner. the other crashes at friends houses/camps/8 people in a hotel room, and prepares their own meals on the road.. the former would be $100 a day easily, the latter could be done for as little as $10 on some days and up to $30-50 on others throughout the tour.

also, if your flying out to meet some friends on tour, it gets really expensive.

i'd say flying out for a 4 show run would run about $500-600 (if your splitting hotels or crashing for free at a friend's), and driving out would be $200-350 (depending on proximity and # of people splitting gas/hotels). so you do the math for a whole tour

my advice would be:

*do runs, like 4-7 shows in a row. an entire dso tour would require too much previously earned $.

*do shows/runs in regions where you have friends living..couch surfing for free is clutch (and heads always return the favor to their hosts!)

*buy your beers in liquor stores, and dont buy alcohol in venues..or you'll lose your tour $ fast

*drive, dont fly, and get as many people as possible in the car to split gas

*avoid eating out. stock up on groceries before you leave, and refill as needed. if you do eat out, fast-food dollar menus only. yes, they suck. but you are full as hell for 2 bucks.

[Dr. Vapor]

My advice is the only go to shows where there is a Four Season or Ritz Carlton, save up and pamper yourself and drink good beer I like Duvel and awesome Tequila, I recently discoverd Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia ...thats some smooth shit.....just my two cents...Dr. V

[New York Steve]

My advice is the only go to shows where there is a Four Season or Ritz Carlton, save up and pamper yourself and drink good beer I like Duvel and awesome Tequila, I recently discoverd Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia ...thats some smooth shit.....just my two cents...Dr. V

Ritz is the way to go, we own it....

[Tom Banjo]

If you really want to be there, you find a way to go. Everyone has different strategies, but if the music is that important to you at the time. You drive your car til its out of gas and hitch hike the rest away. Its all a matter of what your willing to do to get there.

[ducats]

just gotta figure out what you got that the community needs and sell it to em to make it to the next show of course, we are 26, so we have had a few years of going to shows broke, learning what we need to know and what people need from us. when we figured it out, we started a business to offer it. so now we sell crystals and light toys and handmade clothes and glass and although DSO tour is pretty hard to make money on, we make all our money at the beginning of the summer at festivals full of college aged kids that wanna give us all their money we have to make tough decisions like missing mountain jam and going to wakarusa, but in the end we can still make it to the shows we want. on this tour we have been lucky to make great connections with people that live all over the place to stay with, the family TRULY does provide. oh, and when those dirty nitrous kids are out there selling their shit that should never leave their house, we do well saying "buy tie dyes not nitrous" or "buy something that lasts more that 30 seconds" and the cops can't usually tell us to stop selling our stuff if they have already conveniently turned a blind eye to those kids.... so sometimes that scene actually helps us.

but it's hard, on this tour we got our car window broken and in the last week we have heard some really horrible things about friends getting popped, but the lesson there is to ride clean and know the cops ARE going to pull you over because they can't stand to see people having fun

we knew coming into this that we would be broke for the first year or so, and that is surely the truth, but the nights of dancing and singing and religious moments are worth every hassle thrown our way, and every downer that comes up.

and of course, the friendships made are priceless and last a lifetime... good stuff.

we all have something to offer this community, and we try very hard to not spend any money in the "real world", and instead put our money into the REAL real world of festivals, music, friends and love

good luck!

Love,

Mrs D

I'm 14 miles from Mexacali (10/2 I believe) in a one bedroom, with a recliner, 2 seat + 3 seat couches in the L/R. You and Mr. Egg are welcome Monday night. I'll leave for work 6 hrs or so after you get here, giving you all Tuesday to use the restroom + kitchen before heading to PA. Just let me know.

Whoops - make that Sept 20.

[Guest crazy digits]

...gotta make it somehow....