The Band Trip: A Tour Director’s Perspective By Courtney Brandt

So, I’ve held a broad range of jobs during my time in the working world. However, one of my favorite positions and the one I miss the most, was when I travelled with bands and choral groups as a tour director. I was the person who met your group at the airport, hotel or theme park ready to be the local guide to show you everything the place had to offer. I was the representative of the company who helped put your tour together. Although most tour directors usually wish to work with adult groups (more tips and usually a higher salary), after some time in the tourism and travel industry, I found myself preferring to work with student groups – specifically those who were in the performance arts. As a former musician who traveled in high school almost every year from 7th – 12th grade, I knew exactly what I was getting into and what these trips were about. Against other tour directors, I knew the difference between a trumpet case and a saxophone. I knew how to line up a band in concert order. And, as a former oboist who helped tune the band, I could predict who was flat and who was sharp.

Although there was a genuine lack of sleep and long hours, I honestly enjoyed working with these groups and being adopted in to a school for a few days at a time. Furthermore, I’ll let you in on another secret. I’ve been a tour director on some high end luxury trips, but there is one thing that separates kids travelling from adults. One thing that makes me always accept a school group, no matter when or where the tour goes…
Lack of complaints.

For young adults, and those who travel with them, the joy is in the trip itself. A broken down bus, a delayed flight, these events are all part of the adventure – life lessons in patience and a fact of travelling with a hundred of your classmates. Students are nothing, if not resilient, and very creative with their time. From my many tours, the basic thought process is, ‘if I’m at Disney/a water park/the airport/a hotel with the rest of my friends, what is there to complain about?’ On my other trips, I usually found myself wishing more people subscribed to this attitude towards travel.

It’s also fun to see students learn to manage and budget their time. For some, the band trip is the first time they’ve travelled without their family. On their own, they have to be responsible for themselves.

Another thing that’s awesome about travelling with student groups? The sheer energy they radiate. It’s better than the strongest Starbucks or five cans of Red Bull. I wish I could bottle it and use it in my everyday life.

Anyway, I digress.
The role of the tour director is an intimidating, but ultimately rewarding one. To me, the first hour with the group is the chance to cement and solidify an intense and mutual relationship that would only last a few days. As was usually the case, I would greet groups in the chaos of LAX. Unsure how the flight was, or how early they had woken up to arrive in SoCal, the first meeting with a band director was usually a mixture of me, in my mid-twenties, trying to appear mature and in control – attempting to imply I was an indispensible resource for their group. Surrounded by band parents, hyper kids, and hoping all the equipment arrived, it was sometimes an uphill battle. In the back of my head, I knew I had to time the arrival of the buses to the right terminal and get everyone loaded before the cops started giving us a hard time. I also had to hope I got drivers that would be easy to work with. Meanwhile, the students in the group, instantly recognizing me as not one of their own, were usually curious and wary as to what I was doing there.

With all luggage, instruments, and people (hopefully) accounted for, I would take my space in the front of the bus, get on the mic and welcome everyone to the tour. From there, no matter the age of my students, once we were en route, I would take the time to introduce myself to each person on the bus, asking what grade they were in, what instrument they played, and which one they thought I played. (For the record, they had me correctly pegged as a woodwind, although missed oboe, and my marching instrument, bass drum). Once the introductions were complete, the rest of the tour was usually a blur of getting everyone in their correct hotel room, ensuring the group made it to festival performances, rehearsals, and Magic Music Days on time, joining in inevitable (and often sleep deprived) inside jokes, and dealing with lost items. Suddenly, and often too soon, it would feel, the trip would come to an end, and I would be wishing my new friends a safe journey home.

If you do not enter the world of music education and are not a parent, opportunities to be involved with young musicians is limited. I think that’s one of the main reasons I enjoyed my job so much. I’ve also experienced some events and places I wouldn’t have experienced without my ‘job:’ Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, Wicked at the Pantages, dinners at Medieval Times, countless viewings of Fantasmic, and, my personal favorite, front row seats to performances by some of the most talented band, orchestra, and choral students in the country.

Have you taken a trip recently with your band? Where is your favorite destination? Courtney Brandt is the author of the young adult marching band series including the books, The Line, A Fine Line, and Keeping in Line. She is a graduate of the International Tour Management Institute.