Nate Dorough is a promoter from Michigan that runs Fusion Shows, puts on Bled Fest, and does work with Phantom Creative Group as well. In his sixth blog for our ongoing Contributor series, Nate goes above and beyond to discuss “club package tours” and what bands are doing right and wrong with them. Nate also lists fantastic pointers that are helpful for both bands and fans to check out. It’s a great read and is certainly relevant, so check it out and enjoy!

For my first POZ contributor blog in far too long, I’d like to take a moment to address the package tours hitting clubs this spring.  “Clubs” are the venues that are 150 to 1200 capacity rooms.  Therefore, I’m not talking to Coldplay or Foo Fighters about their arena tours, and I’m also not talking to Squid The Whale or Jeff Pianki about their DIY tours.  Strategies vary for different room sizes and types of tours.  

I run Fusion Shows in Michigan, an independent concert promoter whose calendar is made up of about 80% of bills fitting this description.  3, 4, 5 band packages playing in 200-500 capacity rooms.  I’ve done about 300 of these shows over the past 4 years, so I guess I’d call myself a bit of an expert on the subject.  

While you (the bands or the agents responsible for these bands) are putting together your 2012 tours, please take a peek at the following ten (OK, thirteen) suggestions that will make your tours sell to the best of their abilities (because that’s what we all want, right?)

SUGGESTIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL PACKAGE TOURS
#10 - KEEP TICKET PRICES LOW!
This one seems obvious, but I don’t think that the casual fan realizes that it’s generally the band’s team (manager, agent, band) that sets the ticket prices for tours.  People are broke, and they have a ton of options these days, especially during the busiest touring seasons (spring, fall).  Keeping ticket prices low will ensure that more people come to the shows and have some extra dough to spend on merchandise.  
#9 - DON’T TOUR WITH TOO MANY BANDS!
These 6 to 8 band packages in the metalcore world need to stop!  If you’re a band playing a package like that, do you really think your 15-20 minute set at 4pm every day is going to allow the opportunity to really connect with fans?  The only thing that these huge packages do is drive prices up and create too much competition for limited merch dollars.  The thought is that each band will bring their crowd, and that with more bands, it’ll add up to higher overall attendance, but the raise in costs and ticket prices usually works to offset that.  Keep tour packages to 3 or 4 bands, maybe 5 at the absolute most in the case of bands that can’t play more than 30-45 minutes.  Which leads me to my next point….
#8 - HAVE A LOCAL BAND OR TWO ON YOUR SHOW!
Let’s face it.  MySpace is dead.  Facebook is becoming decreasingly effective to do, well, anything.  You need someone who is going to yell from the rooftops locally, and as much as a promoter does that, a local band acts as your own personal street team.  Connect with them, offer them tools and materials, and watch as they sell a billion tickets to your show.  You connect with the kids that go to little independent shows, along with the ones that go to the bigger shows.  Yeah, local bands can be pretty terrible sometimes, but offering them a 20-30 minute slot on your show won’t kill you, especially if you treat them right, offer encouragement, and help build them up.  They’ll remember, and they’ll continue to yell your name to their fans long after you’ve left.  Leave a touring support band at home and add a local each night!
#7 - STOP WITH THE FANCLUB PRESALES AND BUNDLES!
This one’s gonna be slightly controversial.  Too many bands are offering their fans a chance to meet them “for just $15.00 more!”  Packages with CDs, T-shirts, and other items are a great idea, but let the promoter handle them!  I know that you want the marketing data and possibly the rebates involved from controlling your ticketing process, but let’s face it, YOUR FANS ARE CONFUSED!  Do you have any idea how many people in Chicago (I’m from Michigan) posted on my Facebook feed that “Promise Ring tickets are sold out”.  They weren’t sold out at all.  The “fanclub presale” was sold out.  General tickets had not gone on sale yet, and a whole fanbase was thinking that they were out of luck.  For far too many bands, even after the fanclub presale has ended, bands have links to their fanclub ticketing sites on their websites and social networks, instead of the actual promoter’s ticket link.  If kids think for a second that a show is sold out, not only will they not buy tickets, they’ll tell their friends.  Bad for business.  
Not to call names, but we had a bad situation with the Ace Enders “Pay What You Want” tour this past spring.  It was a great idea, in theory, but once tickets were turned off on their fanclub website, the website stated that tickets were “sold out”, and as such, almost no one walked up, though very few presale tickets had been purchased.  The show did poorly, far worse than it would have if the ticketing had been executed properly.  They fixed it a few dates later, and I would like to think that sales picked up, but I’m afraid that the execution of these ticket “presales” is gotten wrong more often than right.  There needs to be one online location to buy tickets, and all marketing needs to lead the fans there.    
#6 - PLAY SMALLER ROOMS!
I know, we all think big.  But let’s play rooms that you know you can sell out, or come close.  A packed show is ALWAYS better than a half-empty show.  Far too many bands think with their wallets (or their agent’s/manager’s wallets), and I’ve seen far too many tours that should have been in the 500 cap room looking ugly in the 1000 cap room.  It looks bad, it creates negative buzz for your band, and it will definitely hurt you in the long run.  Besides, most promoters have larger rooms that they can move the show up to if the show does big numbers.  A sellout creates an irreplaceable buzz for the next tour, something that can’t be reproduced by any marketing campaign.  People want most what they can’t have.  
#5 - PACKAGE WITH RELEVANT BANDS
This one’s hard.  First of all, everyone wants to tour.  And the bands with powerful agents, managers, and labels will always get more tours than those with less powerful teams.  But don’t just accept that because your agent also books this band that it’s the best move for you.  It’s easy to become desperate as a band seeking support slots, leaving you to take the tour that is the least of a few evils.  Be choosy.  If you’re good, the right tours will come to you.  If you are headlining, take a meaningful direct support band (get creative, make sure it’s not a band that tours every market every 3 months), a buzzy 2nd or 3rd act on larger packages, and use that first slot to take a chance on a younger, newer act, or take your friends out.  But most importantly, keep your support budgets low.  It happens far too often when Band A headlines, and Band A’s agent gets them to take 2 or 3 more of their bands, offering them crazy support budgets, thus driving ticket prices and show expenses through the roof.  Your agent’s still getting paid.  But you’re putting your show in a silly situation if you overpay for support.  YOU SHOULD BE THE ONE MAKING THAT DECISION, NOT YOUR AGENT!  
#4 - STOP THE CRAZY CATERING BUDGETS!
Speaking of keeping costs low for your show, and therefore, keeping ticket prices low, I can’t look at another $500 catering budget for a 500 capacity room.  We’re really going to give $1.00 per ticket just to feed the bands?  It’s insane to think about it.  10% or more of the gross from a show just going to feed the bands, on top of the guarantees, production and rental costs, advertising costs, etc.  It’s no wonder everyone in this industry is broke!  If you’re planning a tour, plan to give yourself a nice meal each day, and make sure your support bands get a small buyout and some drinks.  These 6 band tour packages with 55 band/crew members can’t all get fed.  Leave the guitar tech at home unless you can really afford them!  Every dollar spent on frivolous stuff like this is money that can’t be either A. made or B. spent on more valuable endeavors like better production or marketing.  
#3 - PROVIDE YOUR FANS WITH THE INFORMATION THEY NEED!
It blows my mind how many bands I book that I have to get in an email war with an agent or manager just to get them to list a link to purchase tickets on their website or social networks.  Like a war.  I become the “annoying promoter” when I ask.  Don’t these bands tour so that they can play in front of people?  That’s the point, right?  Your fans should have an easy place to go to know the full details: who, what, when, where, and how do I buy tickets?  I’d love to build in a clause that reduces a band’s guarantee based on the number of key points left off of a website.  I’m making this a bit dramatic, but you’d be amazed.  
#2 - LEAVE THE TOURING SOUND GUY AT HOME!
I get it.  That one club in Podunk, Wherever has the worst sound guy on the planet.  But in most clubs, at least the ones run by competent venue owners and promoters, there is no way that there’s time enough in the day for a touring sound person (especially for a support band) to get more out of a system than the in-house guy.  If you follow some of the tips above (less bands on a tour, lower catering budgets, and best of all, selling more tickets), you’d have the extra time needed to do a proper soundcheck in a club that’s making a bit more money (and thus better appointed), and making sure your set is perfect.  If you’re Thrice or Motion City Soundtrack or Jimmy Eat World, bring your sound guy.  If you’re supporting a tour playing 300 cap rooms, I promise you can find something better to spend your $100/day on, and your band will sound a lot better, bringing you more fans, who will buy more merch!
Speaking of saving money, take that money you spent on scrims and boxes to stand on, and buy something worth a crap.  A nicer sounding guitar.  Some lights.  Pay a more competent merch seller or tour manager.  
#1 - COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR PROMOTERS!
Being a promoter like us who cares about every show is rare.  I understand that.  These poor bands go play clubs who never hung up a flyer, never posted anything online.  They simply opened their doors (probably an hour late), and expected a sellout.  But being that promoter who does care, if I reach out to you with a suggestion, or with tools to sell tickets, please, help me help you!  

We have a cool Facebook application (that’s less effective now with recent FB changes) that posts a formatted “ad” for free on Facebook fan pages (with ticket link) and spreads virally very quickly.  Anthony Raneri from Bayside FB messaged me (directly, amazing) one day, asking how he could help promote their upcoming show last winter.  I showed him how to use our FB app, and we sold ten tickets.  In five minutes.  Just like that.  The show sold out, because bands like Bayside are personally connected to the people on the front lines.  

Again, I get that there’s a lot of promoters out there that aren’t interested in getting creative or doing any work at all.  But those of us that are, don’t stand in the way!  Join in the fight!  Take the time to think creatively, and please, spend some individualized time on each show on the tour.  Marketing in Lansing, Michigan is far different than it is in Los Angeles, California!  Give us the tools to be successful, and we will be, together!  

HONORABLE MENTION
These suggestions didn’t make the list above, but are just as important!
- DON’T NAME YOUR TOUR.  
Trust me, no one’s bought tickets because you named your tour.  Ever.  Stop it.  Unless it’s a sponsored tour that already has a name (AP Tour, Bamboozle Roadshow, etc), there’s no reason to name it the “Termina-tour”.  That’s just stupid, and it’s already been done 8 times.  I’ve hosted 3 of them, I know.  
- CONTROL YOUR INFO STREAM
AltPress, AbsolutePunk, and similar news sites want nothing more than to be the first ones to post information about your tour.  Often, they’ll post dates that they pull from a website, a blog, a tweet, or elsewhere, which doesn’t provide any information.  Work with your publicist and management to reach out to all of the applicable news sites, let them know something’s coming, and tell them that you want to provide them with the most accurate information FIRST.  Then send them data-rich content, with ticket links, proper dates and venues, and some “exclusive” media.  They’ll take good care of you, and make sure your story gets far more attention.  
- CROSS YOUR T’S AND DOT YOUR I’S
It blows my mind how many dates aren’t listed correctly on a band’s site because it was confirmed later or moved from another venue.  It’s like pulling teeth to chase down a band and get them to update their pages sometimes.  That attention to detail will cause every show to do their best, and not just the ones that were announced with the first press release!

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This entire blog makes me feel like I’m talking a bit too much shit, but having done this for eight years, and seeing a thousand bands flame out because their touring sound guy made them sound like garbage night after night (not to mention stressed everyone the fuck out), or because they took their agent’s suggestion to take this band out because they are “the next big thing”, I just wish that all bands utilized some of the common sense I’ve listed above.  I’d love to hear some thoughts on what you think about these tips, and see if you have any of your own!