A concert tour for most bands is built around setting up priority shows at venues where they will draw a large audience and expect to have a good pay day. These priority shows are called anchor dates and they are chosen to make most, if not all, of the budget back for the tour. If you are a major star with Live Nation or AEG planning the tour, all the tour dates will be priority or anchor dates. For middle of the road or smaller acts, a concert tour will have both anchor dates and routing gigs. Routing gigs are shows in smaller venues for less pay than the anchor dates. They allow the artist’s concert tour to add shows between their anchor dates as they travel from Anchor Date A to Anchor Date B. For example, if a band is based in Dallas and have anchor dates in Chicago and New York, they will look for venues along that route that fit their style and music genre. The first leg of the tour is easier in the sense that you determine when you leave for your Chicago anchor date. The earlier...
