Advancing - part 1
How to get the ball rolling
One of the most important things to do if you want to have fun on show day is advance the show with the venue, your teammates and the promotor. Advancing is also one of the most time-consuming aspects of a show so getting it right and streamlined will make your live a whole lot easier.
One can probably write aw whole book on advancing (an maybe I will) but first let’s look at the basics shall we!
Advancing, quiet literally, involves everything you do in advance or before a show so that the day of show runs smoothly. To do so someone representing the band, in most cases the tourmanager (TM), communicates with the promotor or the venue where the show will be happening.
If you want to have a smooth performance, a focust crew and a happy band, advancing is key and clear, efficient communication is your weapon of choice
I’ll dig in deeper on tour advancing in a later article, for now let’s focus on a one off show that just got confirmed by your booker or manager. What do you do now?
Start-off questions
As soon as a new show comes in find the answers two these two questions:
What are we doing there?
Check with your booker or management what’s expected from the band, will this be a full show, festival spot, a support for a bigger act, a solo appearance?
Find what there is to know about the venue if you don’t know it, who played there or is playing there, what’s the room like, where is it located,… the more you know about where you’re going the easier it will be to prepare!
Can we do the show?
First thing to know if you, meaning your band and crew are able to do the show. Your management or promotor should check that with you guys before they sell but we all know that that’s not always happening and availability of crew members is often taken for grated. So, as soon as the date comes in check if everybody and everything involved is available for that date.
This is also the moment to check if all the things you rent (backline, monitors, light package,…) is available and book it before someone als snatches it away from you.
Doing this now will give you time to look for alternatives; a replacement if one of your crew would have a prior booking on the date.
Advance e-mail
Ok, you’re good to go! You’ve got you crew, gear and transport booked and you know a few things about where you’ll land. It’s time to start communicating!
A strange thing, communication, we often think we’re clear, consistent and thorough in our communication with others yet it always seems as if nobody is fully up-to-speed on the subject. So, knowing that, let me tell you; there’s no such thing as communicating to much, you just need to get your timing right and be consistent so you can complete the process with as little correspondence as possible.
In comes the Advance email!
The advance email contains all the information about your show including:
sound, light, backline and hospitality riders,
parking requirements
day-of-show timing
local crew requests
merch info
number of people travelling
In return you’ll ask the promotor or venue for:
Venue riders
Main contact person on Day of show
Parking instructions and permits
Load-in and sound-check schedule and instructions
Doors opening, set time and duration, curfew
Catering/dinner arrangements or buyout options
Number of guests allowed
Merch table provision and contract agreement details
Here’s an example mail from one of my previous productions:
If you get this right you’ll answer most of the promotor’s questions before they are asked which makes there live a whole lot easier and the whole information exchange process a lot simpler. Before you know it you’ve collected all the confirmations you need, all bases are covered. Good job!
Tips & tricks
I start initial communication (sending the advance email) with the promotor or venue 1 month in advance and plan a couple of check-in’s with them and the crew over the weeks that follow.
Pro tip: keep in mind that production staff in most of the venues are very busy people, they are not sitting around waiting for you to send them an email so they have something to do. That’s why you start early, you create some space for them to pick up your show when they have the time for it. Make sure to tell them you know that but ask if you can get a confirmation that they received your mail and when they would start the advance from their side.
4 days before the show would be a good time to check-in one last time with your contact at the venue to see if everything get’s done the way that was agreed and if there are any last minute things you need to know, get a update on ticket sales and send the final version of the travel party.
As in so many things in this business, consistency is your key to success!
Use a checklist to make sure I cover everything during the advance including updating the team about all things that may concern them like, technical info, available light features, FOH position, merch deals, all that kinda stuff.
Final thoughts
Hope this introduction to advancing helps you prepare for a show even if you don’t yet have a TM that can help you out.
As you will be playing multiple shows and venues it’s smart to install an advancing routine and use the same approach each time, next time I’ll tell how you can create such a routine and stay on top of things when shows follow each other fast.
I have created an advancing checklist for you to use and it’s your’s for free! The checklist is part of my Tourmanagers Toolbox that includes a bunch of useful templates any band or tourmanager can use.
