Why Band in Tour Had to Exist

Band in Tour didn’t start with a business plan, or with the desire to create yet another music platform. It started with a question that had been buzzing around in my head for a long time.

Why is it still so difficult for an independent band, a venue or a promoter to find each other and put a gig together? And while we’re at it, what’s happening tonight? Is anyone playing around here?

My name is Marco, though online most people know me as Dogod Basthard. I'm more of a guy who plays gigs than what you'd call a proper musician. I’ve played my share of gigs, with bands I’m still in and others that are now part of the past. I’ve been around long enough to know that these problems aren’t just in the heads of the people dealing with them.

Band in Tour was born out of that experience. I’m not just the guy who had the idea and built the platform. I’m also the first person who would have wanted to use something like this: both to find opportunities to play and to figure out where to go to hear some good music, preferably independent and underground.

Because in the end, the problem is the same on both sides: connecting people who have something to play, people who have a stage to fill, and people who feel like getting out of the house to listen to something good.

"The problem is always the same: connecting the people who have something to play with the people who have a stage to fill."

The Problem I Couldn't Ignore

We all know how things work on social media. The algorithms create little bubbles where we mostly see what we already follow, what we already know, what we’ve already been exposed to. It’s not necessarily anyone’s fault. Page admins do their best, bands post their gigs, venues promote their events. But too often, those posts reach the same people over and over again.

And if you’re not already following that band, that venue or that promoter, there’s a good chance you’ll never see what’s happening. There’s a lot of music out there, a lot of people putting time and effort into organizing gigs, and a lot of small scenes doing their thing. Yet so much of it remains invisible unless you’re already part of the circle.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard something like: “Fuck, you were playing here? I had no idea!”

That’s the kind of thing that got me thinking. Not because we need another place to post flyers, but because we need a way to actually find things.

A place where you can look for a gig without having to follow a hundred different pages. Where a band can find a venue, a venue can find a band, and someone who simply wants to go out and listen to live music can see what’s happening nearby.

You can start by browsing the event list or switch to the map to see what’s happening around you. If you prefer a more editorial way of exploring, there’s also Discover, where events, local scenes and music-related content come together.

That was the idea. Not to replace everything that already exists, but to offer a different way of connecting the dots.

"We don’t need another place to post flyers. We need a way to actually find things."

The First Version

The first version of Band in Tour went online about two years ago. At the time, the focus was mainly on Italy. The idea was there, and I still believed in it, but the platform itself had plenty of limitations. Some things weren’t as intuitive as they should have been, some features were missing or not quite right, and using it wasn’t always as straightforward as I had imagined.

The risk was ending up with exactly what I didn’t want to build: yet another portal that exists, gets a few visits, and then gets lost in the noise.

Still, those two years weren’t wasted. I learned a lot, both from working on the platform and from thinking about what it should actually do. I had a much clearer picture of what was missing, what worked, what didn’t, and what I wanted Band in Tour to become.

If you want to get a better idea of the project, the FAQ explains what Band in Tour is, who it’s for and what you can do with it. There’s also a How it works page that walks you through the main features.

Starting Again

A few months ago, I made a decision: start again from scratch.

It wasn’t exactly an easy call. Throwing away two years of work isn’t something you do lightly, especially when the project is yours and you’ve put a lot of time into it. But sometimes you have to stop patching things up and admit that the foundations need to be rebuilt.

This time, I had a clearer idea of where I wanted to go. I also had a basic understanding of programming, and with the help of AI tools I could approach the whole thing differently. I could build more, experiment more, and get much closer to the platform I’d had in mind from the beginning.

So I started over. Not because the original idea was wrong, but because I finally had a better way to bring it to life.

The result is the Band in Tour you see today. It’s still a young creature, and there’s plenty to refine, adjust and improve. I’m well aware of that. But there’s already a lot more to it than might be obvious at first glance.

If you’re curious about what’s actually there, take a look at How it works. It gives you an overview of the tools and how they fit together.

"Sometimes you have to stop patching things up and admit that the foundations need to be rebuilt."

What It's All About

The idea behind Band in Tour is pretty simple: make it easier for the independent music scene to find itself.

If you’re in a band looking for gigs, you can explore the public directory of artists and bands. If you run a venue and have an empty date to fill, you can browse clubs and venues. If you’re a promoter, you can explore the promoters and crews directory.

These public pages are a good place to start, even if you don’t have an account.

But there’s more to it than browsing profiles. Once you register, you can use the platform’s search tools to look for people and projects that fit what you have in mind. And with Scout Mode, you can make the process more direct, narrowing things down and finding potential matches without endless scrolling.

Find out how the search tools and Scout Mode work.

And if you’re just someone who wants to go to a gig, you can see what’s happening around you without having to know in advance which bands or venues to follow. Start with the event list and map, or head over to Discover for another way to explore live music and local scenes.

You can also explore profiles, check out past and upcoming events, find links to music and videos, and get in touch with the people behind the projects. The point is to give you enough information to find the right connection, rather than leaving you with a name and a flyer and expecting you to do all the work yourself.

Here’s an example of an artist profile. It’s a demo, but it gives you an idea of how a profile can bring together information about a project and links to its music and other online spaces.

And the search works both ways. It’s not just bands looking for venues. Venues can look for bands, too. A promoter might come across an artist they didn’t know, or a venue might find someone who fits a date that would otherwise stay empty. Maybe a band is looking for one last stop to complete a tour. Maybe someone is trying to find a gig for next month and doesn’t know where to start.

These things happen all the time. Band in Tour is meant to make those connections a little easier to find.

And you don’t even need an account just to browse public events. You can come in, have a look around and see what’s going on. The map, event list, event details and public local-scene pages are available to everyone.

If you want to know exactly what’s available without registering and what an account adds, the FAQ lays it out.

"This is not about numbers for the sake of numbers. It’s about real connections that might turn into real gigs."

I’m not saying Band in Tour will magically solve every problem in the independent music scene. It won’t. There are no magic buttons, and building a platform is only part of the job. It needs people to use it, information to grow, and time to become what it can be.

But I believe in the idea. I believe there’s room for a tool that doesn’t focus only on artists who are already known, and that gives smaller bands, independent venues, promoters and music lovers a better chance of finding each other.

Because that’s what this is really about. Not numbers for the sake of numbers, not another place to shout into the void, but real connections that might turn into real gigs, new collaborations, or simply a night out listening to a band you’d never have found otherwise.

I made this for myself, as someone who goes to gigs.

I made it for myself, as a musicante.

And I made it for all of you who are some combination of the two, for all of us, and for the connections between us.

This is the platform I always wished I had.

So I built it.

And I think you’re going to like it.

The journey has only just begun.