The run of show: a template for the night itself

A run of show is the difference between an event where four people know what is happening and an event where everyone does. It takes about thirty minutes to write and it removes almost all of the frantic phone calls between 6pm and midnight. It is the single highest-return piece of admin in this business.

The rules that make it work

• Every line has a time, an action and a name. "Sound check" is a wish. "19:30 sound check, Ana with the house engineer" is a plan.
• Times are realistic, with slack. Load-in and soundcheck almost always slip. Build in fifteen to thirty minutes of buffer before doors.
• One document, shared with everyone. Artists, door team, bar manager, engineer, photographer, venue contact.
• It fits on a phone. Nobody is reading a PDF at 23:45.

The template

Header

Event name, date, venue with full address, capacity, doors, curfew, sound curfew. Then a contacts block: promoter, venue duty manager, sound engineer, door lead, security lead, and the artists, all with phone numbers.

Afternoon: build

• 15:00 Venue access. [name] on site. Collect keys, meet duty manager.
• 15:30 Load-in begins, and [name] meets the gear at the back door. Check the lift is on.
• 16:00 Room set: decor, signage, door table, cash float counted, ticket scanner phone charged and tested.
• 17:00 Line check runs with the house engineer, who confirms limiter and monitor levels.
• 18:00 Artist arrivals begin. [name] meets, shows green room, sorts drinks.

Evening: soundcheck and doors

• 18:30 Soundcheck, headliner first if they arrive first, otherwise in reverse set order.
• 19:30 Door briefing. Guest list printed and on a phone, scanner tested on a real ticket, wristbands out, entry policy and refusal policy agreed.
• 19:50 Final walk: toilets stocked, exits clear, bar ready, music on.
• 20:00 Doors. [name] on scanner, [name] on list and payments.

The night

• 20:30 Opening set.
• 22:00 Changeover happens, and [name] handles the booth.
• 22:15 Headcount is checked against target, and you decide on late comps if the room is thin.
• 23:00 The headliner starts, with the photographer briefed on the first three tracks only.
• 01:00 Last entry closes. Announce it at the door and post it.
• 01:30 Last orders per venue policy.

Close

• 02:00 The music goes off. This is the sound curfew and it is not negotiable.
• 02:15 The room clears, run by [name] with security, calm and slow.
• 02:30 You settle with the venue on the door count, bar figure, any deductions, agreed and written down.
• 02:45 Pay artists. Cash counted in front of them or transfer confirmed on the spot.
• 03:00 Load-out and lock-up happen, and lost property is collected. Photos of the room as left.

The four things to add at the bottom

• If something goes wrong. Who is the calm sober person in charge. Where the first aid kit is, which hospital is nearest, and what the venue's incident procedure says.
• Money. What the float is, who holds it, where cash is kept, who counts and when.
• The guest list. Names, plus-ones, who approved each one. Printed and on a phone.
• Set times, published. Once they exist, put them on the event page. It reduces door questions and helps people plan their night.

What the document is actually for

A run of show is not a schedule for you. You already know what happens, because you planned it. It exists for the eleven other people who will make decisions tonight without being able to find you, and the measure of a good one is whether a sound engineer you have never worked with can read it once and know when to be where.

That is also why the times matter more than the detail. Somebody deciding whether to take a break at 21:40 needs to know that doors are at 20:00 and the headliner is at 23:00. They do not need your reasoning.

Send it the day before

Not the morning of. People need time to read it and ask the questions that reveal what you forgot. The questions you get back are the real value of writing it.

Keep the version that actually happened

After the night, spend five minutes noting where reality diverged. Soundcheck ran forty minutes late, the door queue peaked at 23:15, the changeover needed two people. Next time that document starts accurate instead of optimistic, and after three events it is close to a machine.