Hammond Music

Posts Tagged ‘Touring’

A van is a lot more important than people first think when they are starting out. It can show them a really cheap way of travelling around to the various places that bands need to travel to but also allows them to take all of the equipment with them too. One of the big questions to ask is what is the best van to have for a band?

The Panel Van

This van has to be the cheapest option for bands that are literally just starting out. This is a good first choice for bands as it has 3 seats and room in the back. One of the best things about these vans is that they have no windows inside of them which means no one can see what you are keeping.

People Carrier

Although this one is not technically a van it provided enough space for 9 people and can be good for the smaller groups. The main problem with this is that there isnt much space within it to keep all of the equipment so you may have to hire another van.

Minibus

This one is really good for the people in the larger bands as they can carry up to seventeen people within them. However once again they are limited when it comes to luggage space.

Splitter Van

These are often the best solution for many bands as they can seat up to 11 people and keep all of the equipment onboard. There are some drawbacks to this van and that is that it tends to be a bit more expensive, however the travel costs will be a lot lower.

Tour Bus

This is the eventual goal for most bands as these vans provide everything from room to keep equipment right the way up to bunks for sleeping in.

Of course many bands will struggle to start with due to fact that vans can be very expensive to buy. This is where van lease can come into it to help you out. Many people are now into this as it allows them to get cheap vehicle contracts. This doesn’t have to be used for vans but also can be implemented into pick up truck leasing.

If you are at a gig of a small, unknown band then take a look around the back as nine times out of ten you will see a small van that they use to hold all of their equipment. How important is the van to the group?

Dogs were thrown out in the early days of touring as the van became the best friend to many groups simply because they are cheap and easy to run. Many famous bands have a lot of money to spend on gigantic tour buses or they have the sponsorship by a company to actually have the bus during the tour. A lot of the smaller groups are not able to gain access to the big tour buses because sponsors are only interested in making a return from their investment.

What happens is the group get together and chip in money towards buying a van so they can use it for transportation use. Once again is can be very difficult to buy a van outright even if there are three or more people paying for it so more often than not bands will look into van lease because it works out cheaper.

The band then have any damages or accidents covered too so they do not have to take out any extra things they do not need like the band that took out pick up truck leasing just to cover them if the worst case scenario happened.

Although cheap van leasing is likely to be the best option for your band, it is also possible to get a van to run on vegetable oil which of course will save the band on fuel costs. You will need to take at least a trailer full of the oil with you as there are no refuel stations as yet where you can load up on the stuff.