My Upcoming Adventure

Since the Madonna tour is postponed til at least next year, they have another one starting for Pink black or black pink...some color combo anyways! My wife googled it and found it's a k-pop band.

This one's a short one, Aug 6th-28th. She was gonna ride with me for a bit in there but we have to postpone that til September.

I'm excited! Bill M., any chance you're in or assisting on this one?

Good deal!!

Since the Madonna tour is postponed til at least next year, they have another one starting for Pink black or black pink...some color combo anyways! My wife googled it and found it's a k-pop band.

This one's a short one, Aug 6th-28th. She was gonna ride with me for a bit in there but we have to postpone that til September.

I'm excited! Bill M., any chance you're in or assisting on this one?

Negative, Sandman.

Currently, I'm supporting our mission in a different capacity.

Happy to hear you got something. I know you've been looking forward to it.

Have fun. Talk sometime soon.

Bill

I'm excited! Bill M., any chance you're in or assisting on this one?

Currently, I'm supporting our mission in a different capacity.

Have fun doing whatever you've taken on!

Just wanted to share an update on how the tour is going.

I started by getting loaded in Lititz, PA, at a place bands practice at pre-tour. My company has a drop yard nearby where I got my trailer. From there, I went to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. We couldn't arrive until 0230 so I spent some time at a Petro beforehand. Getting unloaded was a blindside back but not too tight and I don't do anything but follow the instructions from the lead driver over the CB. We had several days to kill from unloading until reloading. There was a mall within walking distance we went to quite a bit and went into NYC one day. The venue had catering breakfast lunch and dinner and two driver showers. Dinner was fantastic every night.

The next portion was a two-day team phase as they wanted us in Vegas asap. Us company drivers picked up our team drivers from a hotel near Scranton then high-tailed it out west. The owner-ops went solo, BT, the entire way! I couldn't believe that was the plan but what do I know. They had power-only teams pull those trailers. We dropped our drivers at a hotel here and we're at Allegiant Stadium until Friday I believe.

So far it's been more play than work but I know that's not always the case. Some tours are go go go. The hard work so far is being in the trailer quickly doing straps and load bars so the loaders can do their job, and they really move. I'm not that used to straps yet so it's a bit of a challenge, but everyone on tour is very helpful and very nice, they are fun to work with and to hang out with.

I wasn't aware of this part of the industry but it's definitely on my radar for the future now.

Bobtailed all the way to Las Vegas?

I can barely stand to bobtail across the parking lot to pick up an empty trailer! Way to bumpy and light for me. No way I could have done that! Have fun out there!

Just wanted to share an update on how the tour is going.

I started by getting loaded in Lititz, PA, at a place bands practice at pre-tour. My company has a drop yard nearby where I got my trailer. From there, I went to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. We couldn't arrive until 0230 so I spent some time at a Petro beforehand. Getting unloaded was a blindside back but not too tight and I don't do anything but follow the instructions from the lead driver over the CB. We had several days to kill from unloading until reloading. There was a mall within walking distance we went to quite a bit and went into NYC one day. The venue had catering breakfast lunch and dinner and two driver showers. Dinner was fantastic every night.

The next portion was a two-day team phase as they wanted us in Vegas asap. Us company drivers picked up our team drivers from a hotel near Scranton then high-tailed it out west. The owner-ops went solo, BT, the entire way! I couldn't believe that was the plan but what do I know. They had power-only teams pull those trailers. We dropped our drivers at a hotel here and we're at Allegiant Stadium until Friday I believe.

So far it's been more play than work but I know that's not always the case. Some tours are go go go. The hard work so far is being in the trailer quickly doing straps and load bars so the loaders can do their job, and they really move. I'm not that used to straps yet so it's a bit of a challenge, but everyone on tour is very helpful and very nice, they are fun to work with and to hang out with.

I wasn't aware of this part of the industry but it's definitely on my radar for the future now.

Tour is complete, and I really enjoyed being a part of it. A big plus was there was a lot of downtime, as we'd be parked at the same venue for several days. So that led to exploring the cities we were in and getting to know some of the other drivers pretty well. A downside was on the day we got reloaded after a show, we had to be up and ready to go by 10pm. 1 day this was made 5pm then 9pm. Being one of the last to get loaded, which was about 4am I believe made for a very long day.

I had an incident going from SF to L.A. when my load shifted and pierced the nose of the trailer. I didn't even know it happened until I arrived and did my post-trip. I notified my company and the lead driver right away. There was minor damage to the part of the set that shifted but the LEDs were intact which is what they were really concerned about. As driver is responsible for load securement, my company said they are treating it same as a traffic accident. Unless something changed because I thought I would've had some followup by now. Just as the entire tour was, it was a valuable learning experience.

I was already on the fence about doing Madonna but I don't know if they'll offer it now. One big concern is needing to drive in the heart of winter through the northeast, northwest, and Canada, in conditions I might not be prepared to handle. And racking up another incident. I will keep pondering on it in case it is my choice to make.

All in all, I'm really glad I did it and will consider doing touring full-time in the future.

Hi Sandman,

Glad to hear you you learned from and aside from the incident you enjoyed the experience. When did the incident happen?

Tour is complete, and I really enjoyed being a part of it. A big plus was there was a lot of downtime, as we'd be parked at the same venue for several days. So that led to exploring the cities we were in and getting to know some of the other drivers pretty well. A downside was on the day we got reloaded after a show, we had to be up and ready to go by 10pm. 1 day this was made 5pm then 9pm. Being one of the last to get loaded, which was about 4am I believe made for a very long day.

I had an incident going from SF to L.A. when my load shifted and pierced the nose of the trailer. I didn't even know it happened until I arrived and did my post-trip. I notified my company and the lead driver right away. There was minor damage to the part of the set that shifted but the LEDs were intact which is what they were really concerned about. As driver is responsible for load securement, my company said they are treating it same as a traffic accident. Unless something changed because I thought I would've had some followup by now. Just as the entire tour was, it was a valuable learning experience.

I was already on the fence about doing Madonna but I don't know if they'll offer it now. One big concern is needing to drive in the heart of winter through the northeast, northwest, and Canada, in conditions I might not be prepared to handle. And racking up another incident. I will keep pondering on it in case it is my choice to make.

All in all, I'm really glad I did it and will consider doing touring full-time in the future.

Hi Bill. It was in the last full week off August, going between San Francisco and Los Angeles. It must've been on the final stretch after I got the truck and trailer washed.

Well, I'm back at it. I am starting a tour for Don Omar next week. Yeah, never heard of him either. I got half a trailer of equipment in Shelbyville, TN, then came down to Miami to get the rest of it, arrived at 0830. Figured I'd be on the road by the afternoon. Nope, sat around all day. Around 1600 we added three whole boxes. By 1700 we unloaded half of the half I brought! Then filled it to the back. Just to learn I need to go down the block to get half of that taken off for some reason tomorrow because they're closed for the day. Weird start but oh well. I have most of next week to get to/near Reading, PA, for the first show. So I'm planning on doing whatever shenanigans tomorrow morning brings, then shutting down very early to put myself on nights for the drive up there.

Unrelated, my company unexpectedly put me in a different truck Monday. It's a Freightliner and I've been in a Volvo, yes white 😁, since day one. So I'll be getting used to a different home on wheels while learning/relearning the tour life. In a bit of small-worldness, it's Zen Joker's former rig. He's been extremely helpful not only teaching me things about FLs in general but also this specific one's quirks. Thanks for the hand-me-down buddy! 😁