Watch This: No Room For Rockstars

I personally adore this movie from my 9 years as the tour accountant on the Warped Tour, and right now I’m yearning for another summer of tour adventures. But I’m really recommending it because it’s a great side by side comparison of artists at different points in their careers at the same moment in time.

Here are some things to consider as you watch the film and reflect on it:

• What is the audience size and demographic as artist is on stage and does it change over the course of the tour?

• What is the artist's attitude about touring in general?  About this tour?

• How does being on a label affect the touring experience?

• What is the artist doing when not on stage?

• What makes road life hard?  or awesome?

• How does the artist connect with their fans?

• How did the artist perspective change over the course of the tour?

• Did you spot Jen in the background? Probably not - it’s a very brief appearance during the scene in the production office when Forever Came Calling is talking to Damon. Which I’m totally ok with - despite my current workshop series, I’m really more of a behind the scenes person LOL.

 Here are some additional research ideas to put this tour in context of the artists' careers.  Some questions to consider:

• Where are they now?

• Did playing the Warped Tour in 2010 help reach their career objectives?

• What were album sales in 2010 vs now?

• How many shows do they play per year in 2010 vs now?

• What do you think their future plans are?