Before we get started, I’ve got a freebie. If you’re interested in planning a tour and don’t know where to start, download our free Tour Planning Checklist. It will give you a list of items you need to do to get your tour off to a great start.
Click here to download the free Tour Planning Checklist.Booking gigs for a tour is no easy task. It takes time, a lot of research, e-mails and phone calls. My number 1 go to resource for booking gigs is Indie on the Move. But what happens when you exhaust all the venues on their list? What do you do when you run out of venues to contact and you still have open dates on your music tour that you need to fill? The first thing is to not panic. There are several other routes you can take that will help you fill empty tour dates.
Follow-up.
It’s not over until it’s over. I’ve booked a last-minute gig with a venue that I reached out to 3 months back and was able to fill an empty date about a week or two right before the tour. Remember to follow up with everyone. If you haven’t heard back from a venue, follow-up until you get a response. It doesn’t cost you anything. Just remember to always be polite. You never know what can happen. Some venues only answer booking e-mails once a month or once every 3 months. Even if they come back with a no, it’s still an answer. That way you can cross them off your list and move on.
Go outside the city.
If you run out of venues in a target city, move 30 minutes to an hour outside of that city. Venues in these areas tend to be more open minded because they don’t get as many inquiries as venues that are in the city. Keep in mind that if you go this route, you may have a hard time drawing people since the venue is further away. Use google maps and run a search and see what pops up.
Possible searches you can run are:
-Live music Venues
-Coffee Shops
-Restaurants with live music
-Listening Room
-Live Music
Reroute to a different city or another part of the state.
Sometimes a city is just not a good fit for whatever reason. I’m a firm believer that wherever you end up performing, it is for a reason. You perform where you were supposed to perform. So, if you’re not having any luck with a certain city, then maybe that city is just not the right place for you. I’ve come across some cities where most of the venues cater to local music. These cities have a huge local music scene and there’s just not a lot of opportunities for out of town acts unless they are connected with a local band. There are lots of reasons why you may not find a good gig in a city. It’s more than likely not because anything you’re doing. Just move on to another city. There are plenty of towns to pick from. Look at your route and pick a different city that is also along the route or not too far out of the way.
Consider unlikely places.
There are plenty of places you can perform and they don’t all have to be traditional venues. Think outside the box. Think about your music and what environments your music would mix well with. For example, an old-world ethnic band would pair up well with a local folk dancing group. Maybe they have a night they typically meet and you could be a featured act for the evening.
Try calling upscale apartment homes. They typically host monthly events for their residents and they might be open to hiring entertainment. It’s quick and easy money too! You don’t have to promote, they do all the promoting and they pay you whether people show up or not. You could also try calling college radio stations and pitch an in-studio interview or show. If you haven’t already, now is the time to seek out other artists. You can do a search on Indie on the Move for artists in a particular city and a list of local artists/bands will pop up. You can reach out to them and try offering a show trade or just look on their calendar and see where they are playing. A lot of times you will find new venues that may not have showed up in your initial research with this method. Try to stick with acts who are comparable to yours. That way the venues they play in will be open to your music also. Another idea is to take the show online. You could host a google hangout or virtual event where you play a few songs and open the floor for people to ask questions and chat if you wanted to. Give listeners an opportunity to tip and don’t forget to showcase your merchandise!
Additionally, if your music fits, you might want to reach out to art galleries. They might happen to have an opening reception scheduled for the time you will be coming through. If they have a good enough crowd you might be able to walk away with $200 just in tips. However, if they can pay you, even better.
Other unlikely places can include:
-Retirement Homes and Hospitals
-After school facilities like the Boys & Girls Club
-Country Clubs, Yacht Clubs, Rotary Clubs
-Ski Resorts
-Airports
-Shopping Malls
-Farmers Markets
Take to Social Media.
Go back to your fans and ask for help. Make several posts on social media and send them an e-mail. Let them know what you have booked so far and what dates you still need to fill. Pitch House Concerts, back yard parties, or pop-up shows at their work during lunch. Any show is better than no show at this point.
Solicit in person.
I’ve never done this myself, but an artist I know does. If he wasn’t able to book a show, he’ll just show up anyway and go door to door to various bars and restaurants asking if they’d like live entertainment for that evening. By the end of the day he typically ends up with a gig. It’s a gutsy move, but it could pay off. If you didn’t have a show booked that evening, what have you got to lose?
And finally, the best thing you can do to prevent a last minute scram when it comes to booking gigs for your tour is to plan ahead. I put this paragraph at the end because I figured if you came across this article, you are more than likely running out of resources for booking your tour. So this last paragraph might not be any real time help if you’re in that situation. But for the future, start booking earlier. Book 3-4 months in advance but even earlier if you can. Start thinking of contacts you already have and plant the seeds as early as 6 months in advance. Start talking to potential venues and house concert hosts that you already know and ask them to pencil you in for a certain date. Then when you start actually booking around the 3 month mark, you already have half your tour booked. You’ll just be sending confirmation e-mails at this point. This should be your first plan of action. Then go to Indie on the Move to fill the remaining empty tour dates. If you still have dates to fill, pick and choose from the list of ideas I pointed out in this article.
Good luck on your tour!
What do you think? Do you have any other ideas? What are some ways you have filled empty tour dates?
Liked this article? Check out the Tour Series:
How to Book a Tour
A Sample Tour Budgeting Spreadsheet (Free Download)
A Tour Planning Checklist
5 Benefits to Being an Independent Touring Artist
How to Break Even or Turn a Profit on Your Tour
