Guides › How to advance a show
How to advance a show
Updated October 7, 2026 · 3 min read
Advancing a show means confirming every detail with the venue and promoter before you arrive. A good advance is the difference between a calm load-in and a day of surprises: no parking for the van, a curfew nobody mentioned, a merch fee you didn’t expect. Here is how to do it.
Free templates for this guide
Download and edit these for your own tour. No sign-up, no email required.
Advance sheet template
Every question to answer before show day: contacts, schedule, production, power, hospitality, parking, settlement and guest list policy.
Tech rider template
Stage, power, PA and FOH, monitors, backline, lighting, video and crew needs, with references to your input list and stage plot.
Hospitality rider template
Dressing room, drinks, food, meal buyout, towels, bus stock and dietary needs, with example quantities to adjust.
See the complete free resource library for budgets, riders, checklists and more.
When to start
Start two to three weeks before the show for club tours, earlier for festivals, international dates and anything with special production. Send the first email early, then follow up a week out and confirm the final details a few days before.
Step 1: Find the right contacts
You usually need two people: the promoter or talent buyer (deal, ticketing, hospitality, guest list, settlement) and the production manager or venue production contact (load-in, stage, power, sound, lighting). Ask the agent or promoter for both. Note the day-of-show (DOS) contact too.
Step 2: Send your documents
Your first advance email should include your current tech rider, stage plot, input list and hospitality rider, plus the touring party size and vehicle details. Ask the venue to send their tech pack (stage dimensions, house gear, power, load-in instructions). See the tech rider and stage plot guides.
Step 3: Confirm the schedule
Agree on venue access, load-in, soundcheck (yours and the openers’), doors, set times, curfew and load-out. Ask whether curfew is hard (with fines) or soft. These times become your day sheet.
Step 4: Confirm production
- Stage size, risers, and where the load-in door is (dock, stairs, street).
- Power on stage and for the bus, if needed.
- House PA and console, monitor setup, and what backline the venue provides.
- Lighting and any video.
- Union rules or required stagehands.
- Whether the input list and stage plot work in the room.
Step 5: Confirm logistics
Parking (and permits), the nearest hotel, showers, laundry, Wi-Fi, dressing rooms, and security for the bus or van overnight if you’re parked there.
Step 6: Hospitality and guest list
Confirm what part of the hospitality rider the venue will provide, whether dinner is catered or a buyout (and how much), your guest list allowance, the deadline, and who receives it.
Step 7: Merch
Who sells (your seller or the venue’s), the merch fee for soft and hard goods, where the table goes, card reader Wi-Fi, and when count-in and count-out happen.
Step 8: Settlement
Confirm the deal, any deposit paid, the settlement time and place, who settles, and how you’ll be paid. See how to settle a show.
Step 9: Record and share
Write everything into your advance sheet, mark what is confirmed, and share the result with the band and crew. Update the day sheet with the final times.
Advance email example
Advance mistakes
- Starting too late, so venues can’t accommodate requests.
- Sending outdated riders and plots.
- Not confirming the merch fee or settlement method.
- Not sharing the confirmed advance with the band and crew.
How TRMNGR helps
The TRMNGR Advance page in Production Office lists every show day with its city and venue, the contacts you tagged with the Advance type for that day (tap to call or email), an Advanced checkbox to mark the show done, and a shortcut to that day’s notes. Contacts can carry multiple types (Promoter, Venue, Production, Buyer, Advance, Local, DOS, Other or your own). The confirmed times go into the Day Sheet in Day View, and the tech rider can be attached to the day as a file or URL.