Advancing a Show: Stage Plots, Input Lists and Riders

Most of what goes wrong at soundcheck was decided days earlier, by nobody, because nobody talked. The engineer did not know you brought your own drummer's electronic pad. You did not know the venue has four working monitor sends and no spare DI. Somebody discovers at 5pm that the keyboard player needs two channels and the only remaining input is behind the drum riser.

Advancing a show is the conversation that prevents all of that. It costs one email a few days out, it is the single cheapest thing you can do to make your band sound better, and a surprising number of working bands never do it at all. Venue staff notice immediately when you have — an advanced band gets treated like professionals before they have played a note.

What Advancing Actually Means

To advance a show is to contact the venue or the promoter ahead of the date and settle the practical details while there is still time to solve them. Not the fee and not the guest list — the technical and logistical reality of the evening.

You want to establish, at minimum: what time you can load in, what time you soundcheck, what time doors open, what time you go on, how long you play, and what the curfew is. Then the technical side: what PA and console the room has, how many monitor mixes are available, what microphones and stands are in the inventory, whether there is any backline, and how much power is where.

Send it in writing, keep it short, and attach a stage plot and an input list. If nobody replies, that is information too — turn up earlier.

The Stage Plot

A stage plot is a drawing of where everybody stands and what they need near them. It is drawn from the audience's point of view — which sounds trivial and is the single most common thing people get backwards, so label it.

It should show each performer's position, their instrument, and every monitor wedge with a number. It should mark where you need power, because a keyboard player stage left with no outlet within four metres is a problem best discovered before the doors open. If you bring anything unusual — a backing-track rig, an in-ear system, an amp modeller going direct instead of a cabinet, a second kick pedal — it goes on the plot.

Keep it to one page. It is a working document that gets printed and taped to a console, not a portfolio piece. A clear hand-drawn plot beats a beautiful one that omits the DI position.

The Input List

The input list is the stage plot expressed as channels, in order, and it is the document the engineer will actually work from. One line per input, numbered, and for each one: what it is, how it is captured, and what it needs.

A typical line reads 4 — Snare top, SM57, short boom. The three things that matter are the source, the microphone or DI, and the stand. Add a notes column for anything the engineer cannot guess: phantom power required, this channel is stereo, this one is a click that must never reach the front of house, this vocal is also the person doing all the talking between songs.

Order the list the way engineers expect it — drums first, then bass, then guitars and keys, then vocals last. It is a convention rather than a rule, but a list that follows it can be patched without being read twice.

Count the total. If your input list has twenty lines and the venue has a sixteen-channel desk, you have just found the most important fact of the evening, and you have found it with days left to decide what to combine.

Riders: Technical and Hospitality

A technical rider is the standing version of everything above: what your band needs to perform. Stage plot, input list, monitor requirements, anything you cannot supply yourself. For most working bands it is one document that rarely changes and gets sent with every advance.

A hospitality rider covers everything else — water, food, parking, a room to put your cases in. Keep it proportionate to the show. A rider that reads like an arena contract for a Tuesday support slot is the fastest way to get quietly ignored on both documents.

The useful mindset for both: a rider is a description, not a demand. Everything on it should be something you genuinely need, because the moment it contains items you do not care about, the venue learns to skim the whole thing — including the line about phantom power.

What to Ask, and Why Each Answer Matters

How many monitor mixes are there, and who controls them? Determines whether the whole band shares one mix or each member gets their own, which changes what you can ask for during soundcheck.

Wedges or in-ears? Changes stage volume, changes how much the drums bleed into the vocal mic, and changes how much reverb the room adds.

What is in the mic inventory? Tells you what to bring. Most venues have vocal mics and something for a kick drum; fewer have five DI boxes or a decent condenser for an acoustic.

Is there any backline? A house drum kit or bass cab changes your load-in from an hour to fifteen minutes. Ask what is shared between bands on a multi-band bill, and confirm it with the other bands rather than assuming.

Is the console digital, and can it record? If yes, ask — a multitrack of your own show is free and most engineers will happily hit record.

What time is the changeover? On a shared bill, this is the number that decides whether you get a soundcheck at all or a two-minute line check.

What This Means for You

• Send the advance three to seven days out. Sooner gets forgotten, later is too late to solve anything.
• Attach the stage plot and input list every time, even to venues you have played. Staff turn over, and the engineer reading it tonight may never have met you.
• Draw the plot from the audience's perspective and write that on it. It is the most-reversed detail in live music.
• Number your inputs and count the total before you send it. Finding out you need more channels than the desk has is a Tuesday problem, not a showday problem.
• Flag anything the engineer cannot guess by looking. Phantom power, stereo pairs, click tracks, backing rigs, silent guitar rigs going direct.
• Ask what is shared on a multi-band bill, then confirm with the other bands. "There's a house kit" and "the headliner is sharing their kit" are very different evenings.
• Keep the hospitality rider proportionate. An unrealistic one teaches the venue to skim the technical one too.
• Bring your own DIs and a spare of anything you cannot play without. The advance tells you what is probably there; a spare tells you what is definitely there.