On Tour With: The Arkanes // part I




Hey guys!

As some of you may remember, I went on tour with The Arkanes.
This was my first time as a tour photographer and me oh my, I absolutely loved it.

Being able to work whilst traveling feels like living the dream to me.

In some of the upcoming posts I'll tell you more about how I got to go on tour with The Arkanes.
Today I'd like to focus on showing you what a day on tour usually looks like.
But before I do that, please let me introduce the band to you.

The Arkanes are a rock band from Liverpool, UK.
Formed in 2007 the band has gone through two lineup changes and now consists of:
Chris Pate (lead vocals, guitar)
Dylan Cassin (lead guitar, backing vocals)
Jake Hallam (bass, backing vocals)
Andy Long (drums)

So far they've released an EP called "Don't Act Like You Know Me" and their debut album "W.A.R".
This tour was their sixth tour in less than a year but it was their first co-headline tour. 
 They are currently working on their next album which sounds pretty promising.

Now, let's go through a day on tour together, shall we?
Note: not all pictures below are from one day, they were taken during my week of traveling with the band. In this post they are used to represent what a day on tour usually looks like.


10am: breakfast at the hotel 
In danger of sounding like an absolute girl - I really enjoyed having breakfast with the gang. Everyone was still a bit sleepy, we discussed the plans for the day and the whole atmosphere was just very peaceful.
 Plus, the hotels had some really nice stuff to offer!


11am: car journey to destination
Our lovely little van probably wasn't lovely and little but the car journeys were really enjoyable. Most of the times we were asleep though. When we were awake we either had interesting conversations, listened to bloody great music or had sing-alongs to "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls.


1pm: sight seeing
When you're traveling through beautiful cities, you need to check them out! Having two days off in Berlin was just amazing. Nonetheless we all had a lot of fun at the beach in the North.
 
 


3pm: check in at the hotel
Probably the most boring yet a very lovely part of the day. Knowing you'll have a nice shower and comfy bed waiting for you after a long is such a nice feeling.

 

4.30pm: load in + setting up the stage
Another part of the day I absolutely enjoyed! To me it was so much fun to set up the merchandise stand whilst the band prepared everything on stage.


5.15pm: soundcheck
 The first few notes of the evening fill the room, the instruments get tuned, the sound improves minute by minute and it all starts to shape into a great night of rock and roll. 


6.00pm: interviews
You've probably already figured it out - the evening is when the band works the most; setting up, doing press work and of course, performing on stage.

 

7.00pm: writing setlists + dinner
More band stuff mixed with food, things could be worse.

 

7.30pm: backstage shenanigans
A few more minutes to chill out, to do hilarious impressions (you'll see a lot of that in the upcoming videos) and to get ready for stage.


8pm: support act
At this point I'd like to showcase all support acts we've had on this tour.
Boner // in Oldenburg
Iron Glove // in Burgrieden
Putzmeister // in Olten
All of you were absolutely lovely and it was a pleasure to meet you. And of course seeing you perform was bloody nice as well!


9pm: stage time
Yeah, definitely the best part of the day. It's no secret I love seeing The Arkanes perform. They are four of the most talented lads I know and their stage performance is just amazing. It's obvious they have fun on stage and the combination of a brilliant rhythm section paired with fantastic guitar work and energetic vocals just works perfectly and is a pure pleasure to watch. 


Dylan Cassin (guitar, backing vocals)

Andy Long (drums)

Jake Hallam (bass, backing vocals)
 

Chris Pate (lead vocals, guitar)


10.30pm: merch time + band meets fans
I was very happy to run the merch desk together with our fantastic Mr Brophy. Selling the shirts, bags and CDs was a lot of fun. But it was even nicer to see the fans meet the band. 
To all of the wonderful fans who came over and had a little chat with me, thank you - it was so nice to meet all of you!


0.00am: load in
You probably guessed it. What goes in the venue eventually has to make its way back into the van again. For some reason I absolutely loved helping out and putting the instruments back into their cases. (Especially my job as a drum tech was so fonney) (Sorry, I had to use this inside joke!)


0.45am: after show celebrations // hotel time
This is the part where one part of the band goes out to party hard and the other one goes back to the hotel room to have a chilled night.
Even though this picture tells you different, I had some very chilled nights.



And that's pretty much it.

Of course every gig day was a bit different and especially the times change pretty much every day, but I think this post gave you a rough idea of what it looks like to be on tour.

Like I said early, there are a lot more posts about tour coming up. I hope you're as excited about that as I am. 





The Arkanes online: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Soundcloud


Thank you for reading!




More of The Arkanes on house in the sand: Video Interview | Album Review | Gig Impressions



Credits // Text & Photography: Vanessa Jertschewske

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