Every show is different, but the questions you need answered before it are mostly the same. This checklist collects them by party: the venue, the promoter, the artist's team, and the vendors. Copy it into your own advance document and work through it for each show. If you're new to the process, start with how to advance a show, which explains the steps behind this list.
Contacts
Before anything else, collect a name, role, and phone number for:
- Venue production manager or technical contact
- Venue general contact or building manager
- Promoter rep for the night
- Artist's tour manager or day-of contact
- Each vendor's day-of contact
- Your own team, with roles
Put them at the top of your advance sheet. On show day, the right phone number is the first thing anyone needs.
Venue
Schedule
- Load-in time and how early the building opens
- Soundcheck windows for each act
- Doors time
- Set times and changeovers
- Curfew, and what happens if the show runs over
Access and parking
- Loading dock or stage door location
- Truck and van parking, with any time limits
- Restrictions on vehicle size or delivery hours
- Security or registration needed for vehicles and people
Stage
- Stage dimensions and height
- Risers available and their sizes
- Wing space and storage for cases
- Barriers or limits on where gear can go
Power
- Outlets available on stage and where
- Any limits on power for backline, lighting, or video
Production
- What sound, lighting, and video the venue provides
- The venue's audio contact for input lists and stage plots
- House backline: models and condition
- Whether the venue requires its own crew to move equipment
Rules and paperwork
- Insurance certificates required from vendors
- Noise limits
- Labor rules
- Smoke, haze, or pyro restrictions
Hospitality
- Dressing rooms and access
- Wi-Fi details
- Catering arrangements
Promoter
- Confirmed set times and running order
- Support acts and their contacts
- Guest list process and limit
- Ticketing and capacity information
- Merchandise arrangements and any venue merch terms
- Settlement time, place, and who attends; see settlement night
- Any promotional commitments on the day
Artist's team
- Arrival times and travel details for everyone
- Touring party list and credentials needed
- Current technical rider, stage plot, and input list
- What gear they're bringing and what needs renting
- Any changes for this show, such as a different lineup or setlist length
- Hospitality requests confirmed with the venue or promoter
- Day-of contact
Backline vendor
- Confirmed equipment list, including accessories
- Any substitutions, approved by the artist's team
- Delivery date, time window, and loading location
- Setup and strike responsibilities
- Collection date and time
- Deposit and payment terms
- Day-of contact
For the details behind these, see delivery, pickup, and load-in. In Los Angeles, you can find backline rental companies by equipment type.
Other vendors
For staging, lighting, catering, transport, or any other vendor:
- What they're supplying
- Arrival and setup times
- Access and parking
- Day-of contact
- Payment terms
Your own team
- Who meets each delivery
- Who checks the backline against the order
- Who's responsible for the stage during the show
- Who handles settlement
- Who's on site for load-out and collection
Final reconfirmation
Two or three days before the show, reconfirm:
- Schedule, especially load-in and soundcheck
- Every delivery window
- Every day-of contact
- Any changes from the venue, promoter, or artist's team
Then share the final advance sheet, and build the day sheet from it; see day sheets people actually read.
Extra items for festivals and multi-act bills
When several acts share a stage, add:
- Changeover times between each act, and who manages them
- Shared backline: what's provided, and which acts will use it
- Where each act can store cases and stage their gear before their set
- Whether there's a rolling riser or a fixed drum position
- Line-check versus full soundcheck, and when each act gets it
- Artist parking and credentials for each act's vehicles
Shared backline needs particular care. Every act using the house kit or amps should see the exact list in advance. Our festival backline guide explains how to coordinate it.
Extra items for private events and non-traditional venues
Hotels, corporate events, private homes, and outdoor spaces bring their own questions:
- Who is the venue contact, and are they the same person as the event planner?
- Is there a service elevator, a loading entrance, or a delivery time slot?
- Are there floor protection rules for carpets or finished floors?
- Is there power suitable for the band, or is a generator or extra circuit needed?
- Is the performance area covered if the event is outdoors?
- Are there building rules about noise, start times, or vendor insurance?
These venues rarely have a tech pack, so expect to ask more questions; see how to read a venue tech pack for what to ask when there isn't one.
A sample advance email
A short, structured first message gets faster answers. For example:
Subject: Advance – [Artist], [Venue], [Date]
Hi [Name],
I'm advancing [Artist]'s show at [Venue] on [Date].
Attached: technical rider, stage plot, input list.
Could you confirm:
1. Load-in time and loading location
2. Parking for one van
3. Soundcheck window and doors time
4. Curfew
5. Your day-of contact and phone number
Thanks,
[Your name], [role], [phone]
Follow up on whatever's missing, and add every answer to your advance sheet.
When answers don't come back
Not every party replies quickly. If you're waiting:
- Follow up after a few days with only the questions that are still open
- Call if the show is less than a week away
- Ask the promoter to help if the venue is unresponsive
- Note anything unconfirmed on the advance sheet, so nobody treats it as settled
Show day: a quick check against the advance
On the day, use the advance sheet as a checklist one more time:
- On arrival: confirm the load-in location, parking, and the day-of contact
- As deliveries arrive: check each one against the confirmed order, and note anything missing or substituted
- Before soundcheck: confirm the stage layout matches the stage plot and the input list has reached the audio team
- Before doors: reconfirm set times and curfew with the venue
- After the show: confirm load-out times and vendor collection, and attend settlement
Anything that differs from the advance goes in your notes. For repeat venues and vendors, those notes make the next advance faster.
Common gaps this checklist catches
Shows rarely go wrong because of something big. More often it's a detail nobody confirmed:
- The backline vendor arrives before the dock opens
- The house kit is listed but has no cymbals
- The van can't park near the loading entrance
- The curfew is earlier than the band expected
- Nobody knows who's meeting the delivery
Each of these is a single question on the list above. Asking it in advance takes a minute; solving it on the day can take an hour.
How to use this checklist
- Make it yours. Delete what never applies to your shows and add what's missing.
- Keep answers next to questions. A checklist with answers is your advance sheet.
- Note who confirmed what, and when. If something changes, you'll know who to ask.
- Save completed checklists. For repeat venues, last time's answers are a head start.
Frequently asked questions
What should a show advance checklist include?
Contacts, the venue's schedule, access, stage, power, production, rules and hospitality, the promoter's arrangements, the artist's needs, every vendor's delivery and contact details, and your own team's responsibilities.
Who should I advance with?
At minimum the venue, the promoter, the artist's team, and every vendor supplying equipment or services for the show.
How do I keep track of advance answers?
Keep one document with each question and its answer, who confirmed it, and when. That document becomes your advance sheet and the source for the day sheet.