Following A Tour? This Is The Fan Tour Bus You Need to Rent
Photo courtesy of Tomorrow and Tonight
Following a tour - for some people - sounds like a far-fetched idea. Why would you want to see the same artist perform the same show on the same tour? As entrepreneur Abby Cawthon explains, “The girls who get it, get it, and the girls who don’t, don’t.”
It’s one thing to see your favorite artist in person, but it’s a completely surreal, once-in-a-lifetime experience to follow a tour. Multiple nights in new cities seeing your favorite artist perform? Many people would argue money, transportation, and safety are a few things that might conflict with this hopeful fan-based idea, but thankfully, Cawthon’s brilliantly thought-out rented bus plan is about to make cross-country touring accessible to fans.
Meet Tomorrow and Tonight, the fan bus tour experience bridging the gap between simplified travel and fans that want to see live music. If you’re trying to follow a tour, the most convenient way would be to just travel as artists and crew travel – cross-country, by bus! Abby Cawthon, founder of Tomorrow and Tonight is bringing this concept to life. Everything from fan safety to airport drop-offs to provided breakfast has been accounted for. You’ll be able to rent a bus with your fandom friends to follow your favorite artist or band on the road, making priceless memories that will last you a lifetime.
Founded in 2020, Tomorrow and Tonight is excited to head out on the road for the first time ever this year following Twenty One Pilots on THE ICY TOUR across the country. The first of its kind, this tour bus experience is proud to connect fans through transportation services to live music. Cawthon, who is currently in the process of launching her company full-scale and studying Entrepreneurship at the University of North Texas, is more than excited to bring Tomorrow and Tonight on the road.
Though THE ICY TOUR will be Tomorrow and Tonight’s first tour operation, Cawthon can’t wait to expand the experience to artists and fandoms across all genres as long as there’s a demand for it. Inspired by her desire to follow her favorite pop-punk bands on tour, Cawthon was also concerned with the safety measures and financial struggles that come with following a tour. In creating Tomorrow and Tonight, Cawthon has created space for fandom to thrive in a safe way, without compromising the thrill of needing more than one night of live entertainment.
In Amplify Her Voice’s first feature highlighting a female-founded music business, Abby Cawthon gets into detail about Tomorrow and Tonight, the strict safety precautions they have in place to protect fans, and how traveling together from venue to venue will help enhance the concert experience.
Tell us all about Tomorrow and Tonight, and how did you come up with this idea?
Tomorrow and Tonight is a company that allows you to rent busses to follow your favorite artists on the road. It’s a tour bus for fans! We’re hoping to not only let fans live the experience of being on the road with their favorite artists but also connect with other fans and build their community.
Photo courtesy of Tomorrow and Tonight
I was looking into following Sad Summer Fest, a pop-punk tour put on by The Maine, because I love The Maine and when it was announced, I decided that I wanted to follow the tour. At the time, that was my dream lineup. I was eighteen then and I just started looking into renting a van or going with friends, but I had a friend in Florida, and she would have to fly out, and there were so many complications. Then COVID happened, and the tour was postponed and the more it got postponed, the more ideas I got. As time went on, my idea expanded into me thinking, “I must not be the only one who wants to do this.” Then we just connected with people on social media, and essentially, me wanting to follow a tour turned into, “There’s no way I’m not the only one.” So I needed to make this a thing that was accessible for everyone, and I wanted to find a way to make it bigger than just me driving a van. So Tomorrow and Tonight happened because I wanted to follow a tour, and I didn’t want to do it by myself. I wanted to include a big group of people and make it fun and available for them.
Tha't’s so awesome. What can you tell us about the actual bus? Is it like a camper? Can you rent it with your friends or other fans?
Essentially, it’s just the same premium bus that bands would be renting for their own tours. It’s like an RV. The reason it’s a little bit pricier - because I find people saying, “Oh my gosh, $300 is a lot of money,” and I definitely don’t disagree. It can be pricey, but we provide security, it comes with bunks and kitchens so we can provide food, etc…
Wait! That sounds way cheaper than it would be if you booked a flight to every single city on a tour and got a hotel to stay in every single night, wouldn’t it?
Yes! So I did a price comparison sheet where it compared renting a van versus booking a flight, and our price came up cheaper than doing both of those things. We didn’t come up cheaper than using your own car, but when you factor in oil change and things like that, the price difference was only a $20.00 to $40.000 difference so it wasn’t that big of an amount. It balances out.
With renting a tour bus, let’s say with other fans, I guess it would bring about this comfort level like traveling in groups. It’s a lot safer especially if the fandom you’re in is predominantly made up of young women which is mostly a lot of fandoms these days – Was fan safety something that was part of your mission when you came up with this?
Photo courtesy of Tomorrow and Tonight
100%. I knew when I wanted to follow this tour, I couldn’t do it alone. Good for the women who do feel comfortable and powerful enough to travel on their own, but I am not one of them. I am 5 feet tall and not very powerful, so yes, safety was definitely a huge thing. We actually will be conducting two layers of background checks. So anyone that comes on board has gone through several layers of background checks, social media scrubs, just like you would for a job. Guest safety is such a concern because that was the number one thing when I thought about this I said, “I would love to do this, but I need to make sure it’s safe,” because I wouldn’t want anything to happen to me or to anyone else. At the same time, we also have to kind of trust the fandom and the community. For example, there are die-hard fans who are traveling purely for the love of live music and I think it would be hard - I’m not saying it’s not possible - but I just think that someone with that criminal mentality really wouldn’t pay $300 to commit a crime. That’s why we’re doing the background checks though.
We’re also ensuring that there will be an employee on board at all times who knows CPR, de-escalation, diversity and inclusion, and goes through a personal self-defense class paid for by us just to make sure that in case there is ever a conflict, it can be handled safely.
For me, even just going to a local show, I’m still worried about getting in an Uber by myself and walking from the venue to the parking lot alone. For women, it can still be scary, so does the bus go directly from venue to venue?
Yes, and we actually also do an airport drop-off at the end of the night. So we’ll leave each venue between 1 or 2 am, so if you’re someone who isn’t going to all dates, but only going to some, we’ll drop you off at the closest airport before you go or if you’re staying at a hotel along the route. We wanted to make sure we did airport drop-offs so no one had to take an Uber or anything like that because it’s sort of still included with your last day staying with us and that way, we can make sure you get to your next spot safely.
I read that you’re studying entrepreneurship in college, and I’m guessing that creating Tomorrow and Tonight stemmed from that and also by your experience as a fan?
Yes, “Tomorrow and Tonight” is actually the name of a KISS song. I’ve loved them for as long as I could talk. I always went to their tours with my dad. They keep saying every tour is their last tour, but I know they’re going to keep touring. I’m also a huge Fall Out Boy fan, also Green Day, and Weezer. A lot of pop-punk and heavy metal.
I love that you say that because the pop-punk scene, when you’re a female fan in the audience, is actually a really vulnerable place, and it’s one of the most infamous genres for harassment and teens being taken advantage of … so I think it’s so cool to know you’re a pop-punk stan, but bringing forward this mission of yours to amplify safety.
Yeah, I definitely take that into account. After the recent All Time Low allegations came to light, I told my team, “From now on, whatever tour takes place – if someone is not on our list, they’re not coming on to the bus.” I don’t care if they’re in the band or not. If they’re not on the list, they don’t get on. Initially, it sounds cool, like band members wanting to be on the bus and chill with fans, but after those stories came to light, I said, “No, we need to prioritize safety.”
For people who aren’t fangirls or stans, they often don’t understand the idea of following a tour. They’d ask “Why would you pay money to see the same show you just saw by the same artist on the same tour?” What would you say to people who don’t see the value in following a tour?
There’s this really stupid meme that says, “You might listen to the same music as me, but I listen to it in a far more deeper and more intellectual way than you ever will.” I would literally just send them that picture. I think it’s just live music! For stans, they know that the girls that get it, get it. There is no better feeling than seeing your favorite artist and having that “Oh my god, they’re real?” moment, but also feeling that energy. I’ve seen KISS ten times, and every time, I had fun because it doesn’t get replicated. You can’t replicate that feeling and that joy. Every show is a different experience. Even if it’s the same setlist or it’s the same tour, it’s a different experience every night and the people around you are different every night too. It’s just an unmatched feeling.