Artists hit the road

Many musicians on tour this summer

Saturday, June 12, 2004 Posted: 7:17 AM EDT (1117 GMT)

Dido

(AP) -- Summer's a big time for tours, and this year artists ranging from Van Halen to John Mayer are on the road.

The Associated Press talked to several artists about their plans -- and how they cope with the long, lazy days away from home.
Dido hangs with friends

When Dido goes out on the road, she likes to surround herself with people she's certain she'll get along with. And for the London-born pop star, that just so happens to be an easy task.

With four tour buses in tow -- and at least a half-dozen people bunking on her bus alone -- the petite singer has just enough people to keep her company, and keep things interesting.

"We're polite for about three days -- if we make it that long," she told The Associated Press. "I wouldn't have anyone on tour I don't get on with."

Dido, whose recent album "Life For Rent" has sold over 1.7 million copies in the United States, will visit more than a dozen U.S. cities this summer. And the singer-songwriter, whose career skyrocketed when rapper Eminem sampled her song "Thank You," for his hit "Stan," is no stranger to being the subject of on-the-road folly.

At a recent show in San Diego, she recalls her most embarrassing on-tour moment when she took a tumble off the stage. "I'm clumsy," she said. "I went back one step too far, and went flying. I just got up and laughed and carried on going."

It's a good thing she always remembers to pack her sense of humor.

Nickelback yuks it up

Nickelback has discovered the perfect pastime for life on the road -- the fine art of playing pranks.

Recently, lead singer Chad Kroeger planned retaliation for a previous prank. It involved the band's bus driver and a lightning storm (which shook the tour bus) and resulted in incriminating photos of the band and crew sitting on top of bags of garbage, protecting themselves from lightning.

"This joke traveled for a good week and a half," Kroeger told The Associated Press during a break before the band's upcoming summer tour.

Kroeger and his antics could put Ashton Kutcher out of a job, but for now, he's content being the frontman for the multiplatinum-selling, Canadian-based rock act. Best known for hits such as "How You Remind Me," they'll be hitting U.S. amphitheaters and pavilions with 3 Doors Down and Puddle of Mudd.

Nickelback is meticulous in the planning of their concerts.

"We have a very scientific approach," Kroeger said of the band's set list. "We like to know what songs have done best on radio, because in different places, different songs have done better. When we get up to Detroit and around there our early stuff was huge, it stayed up at the top of the charts for a long time. So we'll pull out stuff that we haven't played in a while."

Onstage, it's all about the music. But after the show's over, it's back to the pranks -- and the guys know to watch their backs for the night.

"The guys say, 'Don't ever do anything to Chad,"' Kroeger joked. "'And make sure he doesn't know where your toothbrush is."'

Sting and Lennox: Sharing a stage

Sting and Annie Lennox have a lot in common: Grammy wins, world-renowned new wave bands, families, lucrative solo careers.

Yet in the 30-odd years that the veteran musicians have known each other, they have yet to share a stage -- until now.

"People know they are going to get quality," Sting told The Associated Press of his upcoming tour, which he will co-headline with Lennox. Sting is currently organizing his set list, which will include songs from his latest album, "Sacred Love," as well old Police classics. He also confirmed that the pair will perform a song together.

Lennox will concentrate on material from her most recent album, "Bare." But she will dig into the past and perform Eurythmics material.

Of all the things the singers have in common, their lists of "must-have" on-tour supplies are also in harmony -- both are light packers. Lennox, who says she feels like a "witch doctor" when she packs her homeopathic remedies and "odd cures" to ward off illness, also brings along scented candles.

"When I go into a hotel, it's not my room, so I always bring a scented candle or incense so it becomes more personal to me," Lennox told AP.

Lennox's touring partner brings even less -- "my suitcase, toothbrush, my guitars and a chess set."

Does Sting always win?

"That depends on how much the crew and band want to keep their jobs," he said, laughing.

Incubus wings it

Incubus has been working at the rock 'n' roll game for so long, they've decided it's time for something different. But luckily for fans, that change doesn't involve band members or musical direction -- they're simply switching up their already explosive live set.

"We have so many different records and songs to choose from, that we're playing different sets now," singer Brandon Boyd told The Associated Press. "We'll have a couple different set models where eight or ten songs will be different every night. And were improvising more."

Boyd and his bandmates, who released the album "A Crow Left of Murder" earlier this year, are excited about revisiting songs they haven't played in some time.

"We're doing a lot of stuff that we recorded but never put on any records that a lot of hardcore fans know about from the Internet and from talking to each other," Boyd said.

Incubus' revised set lists include old fan favorites like "Crowded Elevator" and songs from their debut album, "S.C.I.E.N.C.E." When they're not writing set lists, Incubus pass the time on the tour bus by watching DVDs and exploring cities on their itinerary.

An avid amateur photographer, Boyd always makes sure to pack his cameras. He often sneaks away from the bus to explore the cities where they are playing. "I'm an avid walker," he said. "I love getting out, and when we have a day off, I'll walk until I can't walk anymore."