Touring Breakdowns of A Different Kind

(From Gigwise) Whether you're playing to sold out 5,000 person rooms or to a tiny crowd of 50 every night (if you're luck) one thing ties all acts together, the dreaded tour burnout. In a recent interview in The Star with Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan, he revealed that he suffered a massive breakdown after last year's tour with Oasis,

“I had a fucking mental breakdown after coming back home. I was scratching at the walls. I didn’t know what to do.

“I was like a caged lion. It was horrible. All that partying and touring took a massive toll on my mind.”


A few months back rock veteran and superstar David Bowie announced to New York magazine that he was taking the year off.

I’m taking a year off—no touring, no albums. I go for a walk every morning, and I watch a ton of movies. One day, I watched three Woody Allen movies in a row. I like going out to the Angelika: If the first one’s only okay, I’ll sneak into one after the other.

Though performers these days aren't the ticking timebombs of yesteryear (save dear Pete Doherty, no artist should underestimate the value of pacing one's self. Of course once you're done pacing you better get up and put out more kick ass stuff. No excuses!