Touring with a band looks like a fantastic lifestyle, is it

A. Yes. And no. From the outside, seeing a band on stage and imagining them travelling the world doing what they love for loads of money must be the greatest life in the world. In some ways it is, but in many ways it's not, and the reality replaces the novelty very very quickly.

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Q. What are the good bits

A. Travel is the lifeblood of most musicians. Even bands and artists who rarely trouble the charts can make their living by touring and playing concerts - some bands play over three hundred shows in a year, and for them it's what they do, and they probably wouldn't be happy doing anything else. They, more than most, have learned the downside to touring, and how to deal with it.

Q. What is the downside to touring with a band

A. Being on tour is a bit like a coach holiday with a nightshift on the end of it. It doesn't matter if you are a member of U2 jetting around the arenas of the world, or you are the lead singer with Johnny Fag And The Chesty Coughs flogging up the M1 in a hired transit van sitting on your guitar cases in the back, the simple fact is - travel is exhausting!

Think about your last holiday - maybe you enjoyed a two or three-hour flight to your destination of choice, then an hour in a coach, then you could unpack, and flop out by the pool and wonder what to have for dinner. Imagine if, after the same journey, and unpacking, you had to go and sound check in an empty concert hall for a couple of hours, then go back to your hotel for diner, then change and go and play a ninety minute concert, then go back to the hotel and do press interviews for a couple of hours, then be up at six a.m. packed and ready to endure another nine hours in a coach, before doing it all again, and that's your routine, with odd days off, for the next three months! You find out what the word 'tired' really means.

Q. Are there any other pressures

A. Plenty. Being in a band is like being married, and unless your wife is in the band (unlikely) or travelling with you (not recommended) then it's a celibate relationship. Never the less, you are with your band mates for up to eighteen hours in any twenty-four, and even the closest of friendships can feel the strain when you're cooped up in a van or bus being similarly bored and sleepless, alternately wired and hyper from the show, or shattered by the endless regime of never sleeping in the same bed, or even the same town, two nights in a row.

Q. There must be some good bits

A. Of course, and they must outweigh the band bits, or else bands simply wouldn't carry on. Those who survive the punishment of touring are those who learn to roll with the punches, and enjoy the good bits. Of course staying up until five a.m., with adoring fans hanging on your every word, as you get steadily smashed on the record company's expense account is all very well, but it catches up with you. Seasoned road campaigners like heavy metal band iron Maiden, who tour for up to two years at a time, with only occasional breaks, have learned to eat properly, sleep well, and exercise, a combination that allows their bodies to endure the punishment of their travel commitments, as well as their incendiary energy-blitzing live shows.

Touring is about pacing yourself, and learning large amounts of patience, With fans. with hotel staff, with crew, and especially with other band members. That fourteen-hour coach trip when the air-conditioning broke down was unbearable enough, but it wasn't helped by the fact that the drummer and the bass player were glaring in stony silence, both threatening to leave the tour at the next stop.

Q. The travel must be great though

A. It depends. If you are able to get a few hours and get out of the hotel and actually see some of the towns and cities you visit, then fine, but quite often your time is allotted to press interviews, album signings, meeting competition winners backstage, and any number of distractions which mean your time is simply not your own. Bands who tour often ensure they get at least some time off, odd days here or there, to simply relax, wind down, and recharge.

Q. So what’s the best thing about touring in a band

A. The show. That's what its all for. Those ninety minutes on stage make the other twenty-two and a half hours of the day worthwhile. Charlie Watts was once asked what it was like playing with he Rolling Stones for twenty-five years "It hasn't been twenty-five years playing," deadpanned the drummer in the greatest rock and roll band in the world, "It's been five years of playing, and twenty years of hangin' around!" which really sums up the reality of touring from one who has done so at the luxury end of the spectrum for most of his long career.

Q. And the worst bit

A. Probably a combination of loneliness, disorientation and exhaustion. Think about the sheer grind of packing and unpacking every single day. Of never staying in one place, always having your day mapped out for you, not seeing friends and family for months, and always, always being tired. Those who manage to make a career as touring musicians are those who love the life, and learn to cope with the pitfalls and problems it brings. It's definitely a life for the young and single.

Q. But it's a good life

A.If music is your lifeblood, touring will be in your veins. Problems, pressures, exhaustion, all melt away when those lights go down, and the roar comes up. What was it Bon Jovi said about sleepingwhen you're dead They must have written that song on tour somewhere!

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Andy Hughes