How Do You Move Irreplaceable Instruments for a Touring Group?
On this tour, the plan was one vehicle and one foreman for the whole tour. From October 31 to November 4, Ontrack Moving® ran the ground logistics for Hero's Club Yamato, the taiko team of Tokyo's World U Academy: the drums stayed in one locked van, and an Ontrack Moving® foreman followed the group's schedule to every stop.
Hero's Club Yamato is a taiko team of Japanese business owners and executives from Tokyo's World U Academy. The Yamato Project USA ZERO was the team's first tour of the United States, carrying the project's motto, to restore the spirit of Japan, to Silicon Valley and San Francisco: Stanford, UC Berkeley and SF State, then shows in Menlo Park and at a Wine Country winery. The team's own film of the tour is on the World U Academy YouTube channel.
The drums came with the group on an international flight, and there were no replacements for them in the United States.
While the group was still in Japan, its representative in the United States, a travel agency, compared Bay Area movers on their reviews, their reputation and whether they owned their trucks, and chose Ontrack Moving®. We worked through the plan with the agency by phone and email, revising it as each stop and address came in.
The agency gave us two instructions: the driver stays with the group, and the van and the drums are guarded.
| Group | World U Academy (Hero's Club Yamato), Tokyo |
| Tour | Yamato Project USA ZERO |
| Dates | October 31 to November 4 |
| Stops | SFO, a San Francisco rehearsal studio, Stanford, UC Berkeley, SF State, Menlo Park, a Wine Country winery |
| Vehicle | One cargo van, locked, for the whole tour |
| Overnight | Four nights, van parked in a locked yard |
| Working days | 9 to 15 hours |
Can a Bay Area Mover Stay With a Touring Group for the Whole Tour?
Yes. On this tour, the Ontrack Moving® foreman met the group at the hotel each morning, followed the tour bus to the venue, carried the drums to the playing area, and came back at the agreed time after the show to pack them into their cases and load the van.
Day one, October 31, started at SFO arrivals with a sign reading World U Academy. The drum measurements had not come in before the flight, so Ontrack Moving® met the group with both a box truck and a cargo van. The drums went in the van, and the van carried them for the rest of the tour. From the airport the drums went to a rehearsal studio in San Francisco, then into the van for the night.
The next three days covered Stanford, UC Berkeley, SF State, a show in Menlo Park and an afternoon and evening at a Wine Country winery, where a large crowd filmed the team performing in white kimono-style tops and hakama. The van followed the bus to every venue, and the drums stayed in the same van from SFO to the last show.
Where Do a Touring Group's Instruments Stay Overnight Between Bay Area Shows?
On this tour, in the locked van. Each night from October 31 to November 3, Ontrack Moving® parked the van with the drums inside in a locked yard.
Can Movers Pack Instruments and Deliver Them to SFO Cargo for an International Flight?
Yes. On November 4, Ontrack Moving® packed the drums in their carrying cases with bubble wrap and packing materials for airport cargo handling, and delivered them to the SFO cargo area for the group's international departure.
Airline cargo handlers lift and stack what they receive, so the drums were wrapped for that trip, not for the van.
Thank You, Hero's Club Yamato
At the end of the tour, the group gave me a tenugui. They were really good people, and carrying their drums for five days was an honor for our crew. To Hero's Club Yamato and World U Academy: thank you for trusting us with them. We would be glad to see you on the next tour.
This is a real Ontrack Moving® project. Photos by Pablo Giordano at the Wine Country winery show, cropped to the stage.