How to Advance a Show: The Checklist Bands Forget

Advancing a show means confirming every detail with the venue and promoter before show day. You check times, access, contacts, gear, food, guest list and money, so that nothing on the night comes as a surprise.

This guide covers when to start, what to ask, and how to keep it all in one place. We will use a made-up four-piece called The Night Shift as the example.

Why advancing matters

A show has a lot of moving parts. The venue has its own plans, the promoter has theirs, and your band has its own needs. If nobody checks, small gaps turn into big problems on the day.

Common ones include:

• Turning up to a locked loading dock
• Finding out the drum kit you asked for is not there
• Nobody knowing who gets paid, or how
• Your guests not being on the door

Advancing catches these early, when they are easy to fix.

When to start

Start well before the show. You want enough time for replies, follow-ups and any changes. Some promoters like to advance weeks out. Others prefer a shorter lead time. Ask the promoter when they like to do it, and fit in with them.

Then check in again close to the day. Things change. A set time moves, a new support band is added, or the load in door is different from last time.

Who should do it

Pick one person from your team to advance every show. That might be your tour manager, your manager or one member of the band. One voice keeps things clear. If three band members email the venue with three different answers, the venue will not know which one is right.

The advancing checklist

Here is what The Night Shift checks for every show. Not every item applies to every gig, but it is worth going through the full list each time.

Times

• Load in time
• Soundcheck time and length
• Doors time
• Set times for every act, including yours
• Changeover length between acts
• Curfew
• Load out time

Venue access and parking

• The venue's full address, and the load in address if it is different
• Where to park the van, and for how long
• Whether you need a parking permit or pass
• Stairs, lifts or long pushes to the stage
• Where the green room is, and when it is open

Contacts

• The promoter's name and phone number
• The venue's production or stage manager
• The sound engineer's name, if they have one on
• Who to call if you are running late
• Who will settle with you at the end of the night

Production

• Send your tech rider, stage plot and input list
• Confirm what backline is supplied and what you bring
• Confirm whether there is a separate monitor engineer, or if monitors are mixed from front of house
• Check if you are on in-ears and what the venue can supply
• Ask about wireless and frequency plans if you use wireless gear
• Check stage size, power and any shared gear with other bands

Hospitality

• Send your hospitality rider
• Check whether there is food, a meal buyout or nothing
• Check drinks: rider, drink tickets or both
• Mention dietary needs and allergies
• Mention any under-18 band members

Guest list

• How many spots you get on the guest list
• When the venue needs the names
• How guests should give their names at the door

Money and settlement

• The agreed fee or deal, as written in your agreement
• When and how you will be paid
• Who you settle with on the night
• Whether you can sell merch, and whether the venue takes a cut

Stay and travel

• Where you are staying, and check-in times
• Parking at the hotel for the van
• Travel time to the next show

Write one clear email

You do not need a long, fancy email. You need one that is easy to reply to. Put all your questions in one message, grouped under short headings like the checklist above.

Some tips:

• Put the show date, venue and band name in the subject line.
• Attach your riders, stage plot and input list as PDFs.
• Ask direct questions. "What time is load in?" is better than "Let us know the times."
• Keep it polite and short. The person reading it is advancing lots of shows.

If you have not written to this promoter before, how to email a promoter covers the basics of tone and layout.

Confirm everything in writing

Phone calls are great for quick questions. But always follow up in writing. A short email that says "Just confirming what we talked about" and lists the answers is enough.

This does two things. It gives everyone the same record, and it catches mistakes. If you wrote down the wrong load in time, the venue can correct it before the day.

Keep all the answers in one place. A shared note or folder works. So does a day sheet, which is where most of this information ends up anyway.

Re-confirm close to the day

A day or two before the show, send a short check-in. Something like:

"Hi, just re-confirming for Saturday. Load in 4 pm at the side door, soundcheck after the headliner, doors 8 pm, our set 9 pm. Please let us know if anything has changed."

That example uses The Night Shift's times, not a rule. The point is to list the key times and ask if anything has moved. It takes a minute to write and can save a lot of stress.

Turn it into a day sheet

Once you have advanced the show, put the answers on a day sheet. That is the one page the band and crew read on the day. It should have times in order, the address, parking, contacts and hotel details.

The day sheet builder lets you fill this in once per show and share it with your team. RoadCase keeps the layout the same for every date, so everyone knows where to look.

Advancing is not exciting work. But the bands who do it well are the ones venues are happy to book again.