What Is a Day Sheet? (And Why Your Tour Needs One)

A day sheet is a one-page plan for a single show day. It tells your band and crew where to be, when to be there and who to call, all in one place.

On tour, the days blur together. A good day sheet means nobody has to scroll back through emails to find the load in time. This guide covers what to put on it, who gets it and when to send it. We will use a made-up four-piece called The Night Shift as the example.

Why you need one

Without a day sheet, the details live in someone's inbox. The band asks the same questions over and over. What time is soundcheck? Where do we park? What is the hotel called?

A day sheet answers all of that before anyone asks. It also means that if the person who organised the show gets sick or loses their phone, the rest of the team can still get through the day.

Even for a single hometown show, a short day sheet helps. For a tour, it is essential.

What goes on a day sheet

Keep it to one page if you can. Put the most-used information at the top.

The basics

• The date and day of the week
• The city
• The venue name
• The venue's full address, and the load in address if it is different

Times, in order

List every time for the day, from first to last. Put them in the order they happen, not the order you found out about them.

Example day sheet · Sat · The Night Shift

1. 4pmLoad in
2. 5pmSoundcheck
3. 7:30pmDoors
4. 9:45pmOur set · 50 min
5. 11:30pmCurfew
6. 12:15amLoad out

A typical list includes:

• Leave hotel or home
• Load in
• Soundcheck
• Dinner
• Doors
• Support acts, with their set times
• Changeover before your set
• Your set
• Curfew
• Load out

Only list times you have confirmed with the venue or promoter. If something is not locked in yet, write "TBC" next to it, so nobody treats it as final.

Contacts

Add names and phone numbers for:

• The promoter
• The venue's production or stage manager
• The sound engineer, if they have one on
• Your own tour manager or band contact
• The hotel

Phone numbers matter more than emails on the day. Nobody checks email while they are pushing a flight case up a ramp.

Parking and load in notes

This is the part people skip, and then regret. Write down:

• Where the van can park, and for how long
• Which door to load in through
• Stairs, lifts or long pushes
• Any permits or passes you need

A line like "Side lane off the main street, buzz the stage door" can save half an hour of driving in circles.

Hotel

• The hotel name and address
• Check-in time
• Parking for the van
• The name the booking is under

Travel to the next show

• The next city and venue
• Rough drive time or flight details
• When you need to leave

This helps the band plan how late they can stay after the show.

Other useful notes

Depending on the show, you might also add:

• Hospitality details, like meals or a meal buyout (see the hospitality rider guide)
• How many spots you have on the guest list, and when names are due
• Whether any players are on in-ears and the venue is supplying the systems
• Merch notes, like who is running the stand

An example

Here is a short version of The Night Shift's day sheet for one show. The times are examples, not a rule.

Under the table, they list contacts, parking, hotel and the drive to the next city.

Who gets the day sheet

The day sheet is for the touring party: the band and the crew who travel with you. That might be your sound engineer, tour manager, merch seller or driver.

It usually does not go to the promoter or the venue. They have their own schedules. Your day sheet may also have private details on it, like hotel bookings and personal phone numbers.

If the venue needs your times, send them the parts they need when you advance the show instead.

Keep money off it

Do not put fees, deals or settlement details on the day sheet. It gets passed around, left on green room tables and forwarded to people who do not need to know.

Keep money details in a separate note for the person who settles the show. That way the day sheet can be shared freely without worry.

When to send it

Build the day sheet once you have advanced the show and have confirmed answers. Send it to the band and crew a few days before the show, so everyone can plan their day.

For a tour, many tour managers send the full set of day sheets before the run starts. They then send each day's sheet again the night before, or on the morning of the show.

Updating it

Plans change. A set time moves, the hotel changes, or the load in door is different.

When something changes:

• Update the day sheet straight away
• Mark what changed, so people notice
• Send the new version to everyone, not just the person it affects
• Delete or clearly mark old versions

A shared link is easier than a PDF for this, because everyone always sees the latest version.

The day sheet builder lays out all these sections for you and lets you share one link with the band and crew. RoadCase keeps the same layout for every date on a tour, so people always know where to look.

Keep it simple

A day sheet does not need to be pretty. It needs to be clear, correct and easy to read on a phone in a dark loading dock. If your band can get through the day without asking you a single question, your day sheet is doing its job.