Kind of in general if it's a solo artist with hired musicians the artist has a bus of their own that maybe their tour manager and assistant are on, band and crew have a separate bus/buses, but a lot of times the artist will fly ahead anyway. If it's a long drive, like a few days, they may fly home in between.
Qualifications & Skills In addition to formal education, practical experience in the music industry is highly valuable. Many tour managers start their career by working in various roles within the industry, such as live sound, venue management, or working closely with artists.
As modern concert touring involves complex financial, legal and technical arrangements, the booking agent or artist manager hire a tour manager to organize the logistics, personnel, communications and schedule. Concert tour managers are usually freelancers working on a tour-by-tour basis.
Just like the musicians and crew members they manage, tour managers spend hours riding in cars, buses, and/or planes, work long days that continue well into the night, and sleep in hotels and motels in unfamiliar cities.
Usually work 40 hours per week or more. Schedules are usually established and regular. May work evenings, weekends, and holidays. They sometimes work overtime.
Tour managers are responsible for advancing tours and ensuring everything runs smoothly while bands are on the road. It involves handling logistics like travel, accommodations, finances, and more. It's a challenging but extremely rewarding job.
Under a hotel management contract, the owner of the hotel real estate and business appoints a management company to operate the hotel business on the owner's behalf. Some management companies are also brand owners, in which case the hotel will be operated under the management company's brand.
Physical Work Conditions Work both indoors and outdoors, depending on the type of tour. Often work in indoor environments without heat or air conditioning. Work near other people, but usually have a few feet of space separating them from others. May wear a special uniform so clients can identify them easily.
As tour managers are responsible for holidaymakers throughout their tour, working hours are generally from early morning through until late in the evening, including weekends. You may be on call 24 hours a day, in case of an emergency.