Tour 2000

Justhipper's tour tips

Following a tour is expensive and tiring and being in a strange city trying to find digs and a venue can be frustrating; but with all our loads of experience, we've compiled these tips to help James fans stalk their favorite band from city to city on a limited budget with the least possible number of hassles.

1). Make sure at least one member of your party has a car. Public transport is expensive and unreliable. It's even better if more than one person in your party has a driver's license and somebody has a company credit card to which they can charge all the petrol. If not, the more people you travel with, the better, so you can split the costs.
2) Always carry a sleeping bag in case you end up in a hostel or on somebody's floor, or, even worse, sleeping in the car in the middle of December.
3) Create a fanzine. If you don't mind making an ass of yourself standing outside the gig shouting as people pour out, fanzines are an excellent way to earn enough money to pay for your booze. But, beware, never sell Issue #1, start your fanzine out at Issue #7 or #8 so people will think it's a well established and liked publication. And don't be afraid to be pushy when selling it, the more you sell, the more pints you can drink!
4) PIZZA HUT - they do a brilliant all-you-can-eat lunch buffet from 12-2pm during the week for only £4.99, and if you get there early you can fill up enough on pizza and salad that you only need the one meal a day. If you're really clever, you can even sneak in ziploc bags in which to put food and take it away with you.
4) Don't go to Bristol - even if the band do. It's a horrible place with poor signposting. The youth hostel is impossible to find, the traffic flow is senseless, and the tourist information bureau, with signs posted all over the city proclaiming its' existence, doesn't. In fact, if someone can send us a photo of an actual tourist information center in Bristol, we'll send you a prize.
5) If you get lost, look for a bookstore. Waterstone's is particularly good. Why? Well, bookstores tend to have sections of travel books in which you can find maps, information about local sites - including hostels and B&B's. Also, the people that work in bookstores are generally a veritable wealth of information on where things are in the city in which they live.
6) Make friends with the touts. We all know that it's ridiculous to think that anyone would pay £20 a ticket for 10 nights running. So, don't pre-book your tickets. Instead, chat with the touts, talk football, offer to buy them beers. They're generally quite friendly guys, and, if they like you, they will cut you a deal, especially if they know you will give them business every night of the tour. But be tough, don't pay over face value if you don't have to - especially if the gig isn't sold out. And remember, you don't need to be down front EVERY night, the longer you wait to go inside, the cheaper the price of the tickets.
7) Make friends with the fans! If you can manage to meet people on your travels (preferably at least one in every city) then, if you're lucky, you can have a place to crash the next time, plus, the locals will know which pubs and clubs are the best for after-gig drinking.
8) If you go to Sheffield, make sure Tim Allen makes you breakfast.
9) Alternative pubs are quieter. If you're spending hours in strange city and it's too cold or rainy to sightsee, find a quiet, out of the way pub, preferably with a specialized clientele. Drinking in Yates' gets old after about 5 minutes.
10) Mobile phones - purchase them, use them. It's the best way to not lose members of your party, or to enable everyone to go off and do what they want during the day. It also means you don't have to keep feeding change into the call box while you're frantically phoning every B&B in the phone book looking for somewhere affordable with vacancies.
11) Relax. When one is driving up and down the country following a tour, things happen, often bad things. Gigs sell out, get cancelled, you get lost, cars break down, you can't find accommodation. Don't fret it, it's all part of the ride.

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