The Logistics of Concert Tours

Here’s a well-researched (and accurate) video from Wendover Productions that details all of the complex logistics associated with large musical tours done in arenas:

The logistics of large arena tours.

I especially like how they show the complete org chart for all of the different tour positions, and discuss how the different travel arrangements work between the different “parties” at work inside of a tour.

The “A party” includes the main artists, their entourage, and management. The “B party” includes other performers like backup musicians and dancers. And the “C party” includes the crew: sound techs, light techs, stage managers, drivers, riggers, etc.

Organizing and coordinating travel times between all of these different positions to minimize teardown and setup time, and maximize the efficiency of travel dates, is a complex dance that works remarkably well considering how complex it all is.

Applications for smaller artists

Though this video details the behind-the-scenes of an arena level tour, there’s many lessons for artists at all levels to be found here.

You might not need to hire some massive crew of riggers and advance teams just yet, but even if you’re touring in a small van you’ll want to know the basics of tour riders, stage plots, and standard best practice items like input lists for your sound engineer. Learning how the big guys get it done with millions of dollars on the line can give you some tried and true best practices for how to optimize your own tours, no matter how big or small they are.