Ask BandBrain for real places nearby: late-night food, coffee, a 24-hour pharmacy, urgent care, a guitar store, a laundromat, a gym. You get two to four options with the address, whether they're open now (and when they close or open, in local time), the rating, price, the phone number, walk or drive time, and a Google Maps link.
- Late at night, BandBrain leads with what's actually open, not a list of closed places.
- In a show city, it also checks your band's own files first (day sheets, advance notes, past notes like "we loved X last time in Denver") and mentions those.
- Group meals: ask "dinner for 10 near the venue, someone's vegan" and it favors places good for groups, says which take reservations, and notes vegetarian options.
Near the venue or hotel (no setup)
BandBrain already knows today's venue and hotel from your day sheet, so on a show day you can just ask:
- "where can we eat near the venue after soundcheck?"
- "coffee near the hotel"
- "closest guitar store to the venue, I broke a string"
- "food open after midnight near the hotel"
It tells you which one it searched near. You can also name anywhere: "pharmacy near 6161 Delmar Blvd".
Near you: text your location pin
On a day off, at a truck stop, or anywhere that isn't the venue, send BandBrain your location in the same text thread:
- iPhone: open Apple Maps, tap the blue dot (that's you), tap Share, then Messages, and send it to BandBrain.
- Google Maps (iPhone or Android): open Google Maps, tap the blue dot, tap Share your location or Share, and send it to BandBrain. Either app works.
The location button inside the Messages app only works in iMessage (blue) threads, and BandBrain is a regular text (green) thread, so share from the Maps app instead. If you've already set up "Share My Location" with a contact, that won't reach BandBrain either.
Then ask "coffee near me" or "nearest urgent care". If you ask first, BandBrain asks for your pin and answers as soon as it arrives.
Along the drive
Ask for stops on the way to the next city:
- "food and gas on the way to Denver"
- "somewhere to eat around the halfway point tomorrow"
- "coffee about an hour into the drive"
BandBrain uses today's and tomorrow's addresses from the day sheet, searches along the actual route, and gives stops in drive order with how far into the drive each one is, the extra time the stop adds, and roughly what time you'd get there.
Privacy
- Your pin is used only to answer your own "near me" questions. Nobody can ask BandBrain where you are, and it can't tell anyone.
- It's a one-time pin, not tracking. BandBrain only knows where you were when you sent it.
- After 4 hours it's deleted. Send a new one any time.
- Pins work by text message only, not in dashboard chat.
Good to know
- Opening hours come from Google and can be wrong, especially late at night. Call ahead for anything that matters.
- For how far it is between two places, see Distances + drive times.