Touring in Gylias

The practice of touring in Gylias has developed unique traits, in line with the broader separation of Gylias' music industry from the Tyranian norm. Gylian tours are notable for their short lengths, leisurely pace, and circular paths.

History

Gylias' cultural industries emerged with unique economic practices in the context of the Free Territories and the Golden Revolution, with Audrey Epstein playing a key role in crystallising and promoting them. The geography and size of Gylias, coupled with small and concentrated population, shaped musicians' approach to logistics.

Infrastructure developed nationwide through massive public works projects during the National Obligation period and subsequent economic boom. The strong policy focus on public transportation had an unexpected beneficial effect. Rail and air travel became the standard means of transport over long distances, as GNRTS and Gyliair provided comfortable, punctual, and reliable journeys.

The Shelley family's construction, hospitality, and promotion businesses played a key role in building up Gylias' cultural infrastructure.

Gylian touring practices in their modern form were established by The Beaties, through synthesising existing practices and originating others. They were known for serving as their own road crew, carrying their equipment with them on trains and buses to venues. Their film A Hard Day's Night (1964) was groundbreaking in its humorous study of the habits and frustrations of touring, a quality that the series The Monkees (1966–1968) deliberately imitated.

Beatiemania had a galvanising effect on Gylian popular music, and helped launch the Groovy Gylias scene and the Gylian Invasion abroad.

The model pioneered by the Beaties became standard for Gylian acts: personally handling transportation of equipment, travelling by train and especially high-speed rail, relying on spin quotas to achieve exposure. The cooperative and non-competitive ethos of the music industry helped create prevailing camaraderie and solidarity among musicians. Musicians attended each others' shows, helped each other set up and pack equipment, and travelled together when their directions matched.

The logistics of travelling across Gylias, even with high-speed rail, made short tours the norm. It became common for acts to play 2–3 shows in a week, leaving plenty of free time for leisure, giving tours a touristic, "vacation" feel. Many musicians concentrated recording work in the winter and spring, so as to release albums and tour mainly in the summer.

Although the model was well-suited to Gylias, it was hard to transfer outside of it. Many bands had bad experiences during the Gylian Invasion attempting to apply their usual touring model in countries with poorer public transportation or more profit-focused venues. This caused the music industry to focus primarily on the domestic market.

Increasingly elaborate production and use of the recording studio as an instrument during the "psychedelic revolution" affected touring. Some acts adapted their methods to better reproduce their studio work, while others accepted the divergence between their studio and live sound. Notable live albums of the latter type were The Monkees' Live 1967 (1967), which sacrificed the professionalism of their studio recordings for a garage rock sound, and The Watts' Live in Arxas (1970), which showcased the band's aggressive power pop interplay.

Significant developments in staging took place in the 1980s and 1990s. Tours by Asuka and the Mighty Invincibles, Core, and Stella Star set new standards for concert spectacle and theatrics. Core's Zoo TV and Popmart tours featured extensive use of video screens and lighting, while Stella Star's concerts evolved into lavish productions with choreography, props and special effects, hitting a peak during their "speed lounge" era. These live extravaganzas remained on short schedules overall.

The growth of the internet in Gylias and creation of the publinet allowed for greater accessibility and planning for tours. Notable developments included the growth of online ticketing, the issuing of official soundboard recordings and filmed shows on a direct-to-fan model, headphone concerts (pioneered by The Flamingirls), and "internet tours", broadcast live on radio or Proton.

Itineraries

Generally, Gylian tours are short-to-medium length. The common maximum number of shows is 40–50. Particularly successful acts may schedule multiple legs, encompassing both domestic and foreign shows, and these are separated by long breaks. Few tours last longer than 1–2 years in total.

The reliance on GNRTS for transportation creates a tendency towards circular itineraries. Commonly, an act will begin a tour in their home town, and then play in both large and small cities following high-speed rail connections. These will produce a "boomerang tour" — a circuit across Gylias, ending back in their home town. Another possibility is to end a tour leg in a Gyliair hub city, so as to catch flights to commence a tour leg abroad.

Major cities such as Mişeyáke, Velouria, Argyrokastron, and Maveás also provide greater media opportunities, particularly for appearances on GNBS and large ATV markets. Many acts break up regular concerts with more intimate gigs on radio and television, where experimenting with set lists and showcasing offbeat covers is common.

The use of rail to transport both personnel and cargo has had a significant impact on Gylian touring. The comfort of rail travel is credited by many musicians with alleviating the challenges of touring, particularly the risk of loneliness and depression.

Many famous Gylian acts have been photographed carrying their own equipment and props to a venue with a minimal road crew, images that reinforce a sense of connection with fans. Rasa Ḑeşéy's commentaries about musicians acknowledge this aspect. Maki Nomura comments in The Band of 20th Century:

"It's a good thing, because you're in it together with your roadies, right in the middle of it. It's healthier — even if you can't carry an amp or load something, there's still things you can do yourself. Otherwise you'd be in a bubble and not realise just how much work goes into giving a great show."

The Dandys similarly impressed audiences during their tours in Delkora for their commitment to handling their own equipment and soundchecks, their stylish clothing providing a striking contrast with the prosaic and at times tedious preparations.

Scheduling of concerts depends on acts, with managers helping realise concert bookings and other formalities. Playing 2 shows at the same venue in the same day, although somewhat common in the past, is nowadays virtually unheard of. Schedules of one show followed by 1–2 days off are common; some acts may favour playing back-to-back concerts on weekends, leaving a lighter schedule for the rest of the week.

Concert residencies are rare, and generally shunned due to the perceived monotony and loss of travelling opportunities.

Concerts

Loudness is generally avoided in the Gylian music scene, reflecting the lesser importance placed on the "pop"–"rock" distinction. Venues hand out free earplugs to audiences, and generally enforce their wearing to avoid legal liability for hearing damage. Acts similarly perform with earplugs and in-ear monitors.

Soundchecks take into account loudness. The standard volume limit in Gylian venues is 90 dB, based on Inspectorate of Work Safety regulations. Shoegazing bands gained fame for their ability to simulate the effects of noise-induced sensory deprivation while following noise regulations.

Concerts and tours with multiple groups generally avoid distinguishing opening act and headliner in favour of crediting the performers equally. Several tours are famed for the quality of their co-headliners (such as the Shoegazerama festival of 1992, or the Stella Star and Stereolab tour of 1999), or for the light-hearted competition between groups seeking to playfully "upstage" each other (such as The Watts and The Jimi Hendrix Experience).

Notably, encores are avoided. This practice originated with the Beaties, who were inspired by Elvis Presley's policy of not playing encores. At the end of a show, the house lights are turned on and the act is shown leaving the stage and the venue. Some venues enforce this as official policy; The Pump's rules read "When you're done, you're done."

Concert venues are owned by municipal governments, a consortium of nationwide distributors within the National Cooperative Confederation, or organised as non-profits by volunteers. These pay for venues' upkeep, allowing performers to take the money from ticket sales. In general, concert tickets are cheap, and performers usually either break even or make modest profits. Commonly, performers agree to pay pre-arranged fees to contribute to the cost of promotion and organisation.

Many acts sell and freely distribute copies of their releases at concerts, while others have a wider range of merchandise.

Spectacle

The level of theatrics at Gylian concerts varies by venue. Small- and medium-sized venues do not feature them due to limited capacity and space. More spectacular stage design and performances are possible in larger venues (such as stadiums and arenas) or outdoor concerts.

Common elements that groups have used or experimented with include video screens, visual effects, elaborate lighting, choreography, and other stunts.

Different methods are employed to reproduce studio recordings live. It is common for acts to hire regional or municipal orchestras to provide string and horn sections, and sometimes backing vocalists to reproduce ensemble singing. Advances in sampling technology also allow musicians to trigger pre-recorded and sequenced parts using samplers, pedals, and MIDI controllers, thus avoiding use of backing tracks.

Taping

Concert taping and trading is a common fan practice, dating back to the 1960s–1970s. It has long been accepted at shows and even encouraged by some acts. Large concerts and festivals customarily have a special section reserved for tapers.

Tapes are traded for free based on an honour system; bootlegging for profit is frowned upon.

Starting in the 1980s–1990s, many bands began to release soundboard recordings through fan clubs and fanzines, and later through Proton, in order to provide higher sound quality. The practice has grown to include video footage of concerts, filmed by road crew or fans, and assembled into crowdsourced concert films.

Groupies

Groupies are a part of the Gylian music and touring scene. Due to Gylian society's progressive attitudes towards gender and regulation of sex work, groupies as fans seeking brief sexual encounters are comparatively less frequent as a phenomenon. Instead, groupies commonly travel with musicians for extensive periods of time, providing companionship and helping with transportation and social events, as well as sex, fulfilling a role akin to hétaïres and merchants. Accordingly, Gylian groupies commonly wear distinctive and elegant clothing to distinguish themselves.

Several achieved a legendary status in Gylian popular culture, such as the Lynettes.