I stood by, watching as our tour manager’s friendly demeanor turned cold.

"Yea, that's not going to work. There is no way I'm going to pay that."

The look on her face proved that she was serious and ready to stand her ground.

Together we had just checked in a tour party of ten people, along with more than thirty pieces of luggage and equipment at Jakarta, Indonesia’s Soekarno-Hatta airport. With well-worn passports and freshly printed boarding passes now in their possession, the band and crew dispersed to entertain themselves. And the tour manager and I headed to pay the checked luggage fee.

By August 2020, the world began to resemble a zombie apocalypse movie. In the parking lot of every tour bus company, weeds had forced themselves through cracks in the pavement. Without vehicles coming and going, there was nothing to stunt their growth.

In part one of this blog series, I discussed what information a tour’s representatives will exchange with a venue or promoter during the advance process. For part two I’ll discuss what the venue representative will provide to tour and production managers during the advance process.

Advancing plays a vital role in live production. A large amount of information is exchanged during the advance process, requiring clear and efficient communication. To ensure nothing goes unnoticed, attention to detail throughout the process is crucial.

There have been a few rare instances in my career where a single show has been canceled. Of the two that come to mind, one was due to artist illness, the other was caused by nasty winter weather that rendered travel unsafe, and we were unable to make it to the next city.

For those of us who travel extensively, it’s hard to believe that some people don’t like flying. Even when taking the hassle of airports out of the equation, they just prefer to be on solid ground.