FEATURE:
No One Lasts Forever
The Intensity of Touring and Expectations Placed on Artists
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ONE of the most exhausting things…
PHOTO CREDIT: Laura Stanley/Pexels
about being an artist is the touring schedule. I look at artists now and wonder how they can keep going. For major artists, they are often playing around the world and there are dozens of dates a year. Not only is it draining performing the dates themselves. There is also the traveling and the acclimatation. You may say that this is their job, but imagine yourself having to do this. You look at someone like Taylor Swift and how much she has toured. Also, the length of sets. Many artists keep their sets to under an hour, but there is now a tendency for major artists to do these very lengthy sets. Oasis are going to be touring next year. It is great bringing fans together around the world. As I have written before, there is this mental health toll on touring. I do worry about solo artists especially, as they are performing on their own. They have their crew and musicians, but it must also be solitary. There is a lot of pressure on them. They are very much under the spotlight, and that expectation must be quite daunting. What does annoy me is when fans criticise artists who cancel dates or do shorter tours because it is mentally and physically exhausting. Charli xcx posted a message to fans after announcing a limited run of tour dates. Some fans angry that there were very few dates and it is such a short tour. As Billboard posted to Instagram, she has explained her reasons:
“Charli xcx has responded after fans expressed their frustration with the limited number of dates on the upcoming UK and European leg of her Music, Fashion, Film tour.
"I am really sorry if you feel disappointed, but I have to honor my truth as an artist: touring is really emotionally and physically hard for me,” she candidly shared in a note to fans. "I am not looking for sympathy and I have a huge amount of respect for artists who can handle it at an intense, lengthy and high-octane level, but I am just not one of those human beings and I never have been."
The singer will head out on a six-show run across Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester, London, Amsterdam and Paris in 2027”.
Charli xcx is definitely not in the minority. There are a score of artists who do shorter tours or would like to do them. I feel that artists are caught between pleasing fans and fulfilling demand. Ensuring that thy can go far and wide and see as many people as they can. Charli xcx is sticking to the U.K. and Europe, but even then, it is going to be quite a gruelling trek. Going between cities and putting on these incredible shows. That honesty is also important and refreshing. We all know that there are physical demands put on artists. Performing sets is tiring and can take its toll. This idea that touring is glamorous, and seeing thousands of fans must be such a thrill for artists. It is for a while, but travelling and the slog of touring can have a really damaging impact. As NME report, the new The Pay It Forward Fund is being backed by some musical heavyweights:
“Radiohead‘s Philip Selway, Live Nation and more have backed a new mental health touring scheme.
Entitled the Pay It Forward Fund set up by the Music Industry Therapy Collective (MITC), the scheme aims to make specialist mental health support accessible for artists and crew on small and mid-scale tours.
With touring professionals at “an elevated risk of stress, anxiety and burnout, as well as clinical depression and suicidality”, a press release states “that a growing number of larger tours now provide welfare or pastoral support as part of the production”.
It added: “On smaller tours, those pressures can be compounded by tighter budgets, leaner teams and more challenging work and travel conditions. However, these teams rarely have the budget to offer people the same resources or opportunities to talk, reflect and reset.”
The new scheme offers confidential conversations with qualified mental health practitioners who understand the realities of music and touring available online around the clock in several languages.
Tour Check-Ins can also be used by any member of the touring team to decompress after a difficult day, think through a decision, talk about work or relationships, deal with tension in the team, reflect upon coping habits, or plan what comes next.
Also included is a 90 minute occupational health consultation with MITC’s Touring Welfare Officer Sascha Heeney (who supported Dua Lipa’s ‘Radical Optimism’ tour team), healthy touring workshops, resources to support performance, communication and collaboration, and access to MITC’s audiobook ‘Touring and Mental Health: The Music Industry Manual’.
Contributors to the fund include the likes of Selway, Live Nation, AEG International and Live Free 999 – the charity foundation set up by Carmela Wallace, mother of the late musician Juice WRLD. The rapper, real name Jarad Anthony Higgins, passed away in 2019 after an overdose.
“Over the years, I’ve found that the reality of touring can sometimes feel at odds with the dream of it. Yes, it can undoubtedly be full of excitement, wonder, camaraderie and tantalising rewards, but it can also be an unstable and overwhelming environment to live and work in,” Selway said.
“It’s one that can heighten a sense of emotional and geographical displacement, leading to exhaustion, isolation and self-destructive behaviours. On Radiohead’s European tour last autumn, we had a support network in place, offering confidential access to the
therapists of MITC. Even though we’re a cohesive, well-resourced and very experienced touring party, we knew that you can still never completely guard against the trip hazards of touring.”
He added: “Knowing that this support was there was hugely reassuring. I also know that the pressures and demands of touring can be more keenly felt by acts and set-ups which have fewer resources, so I’m delighted to be able to invest in Pay It Forward to ensure that this essential support can be offered more widely.”
Tamsin Embleton, founder of MITC, said that the Pay It Forward Fund is “about making specialist support accessible to tours working within tight budgets”.
She added: “It’s also about moving beyond the idea that support should only be sought when crisis hits. We want to help forward-thinking teams develop the skills to manage pressure, recognise when something is beginning to take a toll, and intervene effectively before things start to snowball”.
I am not sure whether we are at a point when this kind of scheme is normal and overdue. Do fans and those outside of the industry understand the realities for touring artists? I do feel that others will follow Charli xcx in announcing shorter tours. At a time when major artists are performing residencies and multiple dates around the world, you do wonder how they keep going. Maybe it is a personality type or a particular kind of person who can do that and not let it affect them. However, there is an assumption that artists have this endless energy and, because they have toured for years, they should be able to keep that momentum. Expectation that, the more popular they get, the more dates they should perform. Year after year, being on the road, promoting your music and recording really does do damage. Artists are just like us and they are not necessarily more equipped to take on the huge mental and physical demands of touring. Many artists have cancelled gigs and tours because they need to rest. There is that risk of fan backlash. If they miss some dates, then they might lose trust. Fans might not want to see them and there is that financial loss. Still part of the expected artist cycle, that need to get music out regularly and tour it. You can empathise with Charli xcx and fellow artists who will choose to do a smaller run of dates because that is all they can do. Pushing beyond that can have some really damaging and long-lasting consequences. Most fans are quite understanding and patient, though some are disappointed. I do feel there needs to be more wider understanding and appreciation from fans. Of course, they are desperate to see these artists perform, though it is not possible in a lot of cases to see everyone. Doing dozens of dates and touring around the world. Putting their mental and physical health first is paramount. The impact of touring and how it can affect artists is being brought up more and more. The Pay It Forward Fund and that awareness and campaign is so timely and vital. Ensuring artists are not put at risk and are safe is…
THE most important thing.