Field notes › Building a reliable advance routine

Building a reliable advance routine

Field notes · October 7, 2026 · 3 min read

Advancing one show is easy. Advancing thirty while you're on the road, without missing anything, takes a routine. The goal is simple: by the time you arrive, every question has an answer and the answers are on the day sheet.

Work in a weekly rhythm

Pick a set time each week, such as a quiet morning on an off day or the first hour after you wake up, to work the advance. Each session:

Send first emails for shows that are now two to three weeks out.
Follow up on anything sent last week without a reply.
Move confirmed answers into the day sheet.
Mark shows that are fully advanced.

Short sessions on a schedule beat a panic the night before.

One template email

Write one advance email you reuse, with your schedule requests, production needs, hospitality, guest list, merch and settlement questions, and attach the tech rider, stage plot and input list. Ask the venue to reply inline. The how to advance a show guide has an example email, and the free advance sheet lists every question.

Track status, not just dates

For each show, track: first email sent, reply received, production confirmed, hospitality confirmed, guest list cutoff, merch terms, settlement contact, and fully advanced. A row per show with those columns makes it obvious what's next.

In TRMNGR, Production Office → Advance lists every show day with its advance contacts and an Advanced checkbox, so you can see at a glance what's still open.

Find the right person

The booker who confirmed the show usually isn't the person who answers production questions. Ask for the production manager or advance contact, and save them as a contact for that day. In TRMNGR, tag them with the Advance contact type so they appear on the Advance page.

Follow up on a schedule

If there's no reply after a few days, follow up. If there's still nothing a week before the show, call. Venues are busy; the polite, persistent tour manager gets answers.

Turn answers into the day sheet immediately

The advance is only useful if it ends up where people look. As soon as a time is confirmed, put it in the day sheet. As soon as a parking note comes in, put it in the day's notes. Don't leave answers buried in email threads.

Re-confirm the week of the show

Times move. A quick "confirming everything below for Friday" email two or three days out catches changes to doors, set times and curfew.

Keep it repeatable

At the end of each run, update your template with whatever you wished you'd asked. The routine gets better every tour. For the rest of the TM job, see the tour manager checklist.

Advance Day sheet Curfew