45 Venue Advance Questions That Prevent Show-Day Surprises

The best venue advance questions are boring on purpose. They catch the details that cause expensive, stressful, very preventable problems later.

Use this list as a starting point. Adjust it for your tour, your production size, and the kinds of rooms you play.

Contacts

1. Who is the venue production contact for this show?
2. Who is the promoter representative on site?
3. Who can be reached after hours?
4. Who handles hospitality?
5. Who handles settlement?
6. Who is responsible for local crew?
7. Who unlocks the load-in area?

If one person answers all of these, confirm whether they will physically be on site.

Access and Parking

8. What is the exact load-in address?
9. Is the load-in entrance different from the public entrance?
10. What time can trucks, buses, and vans arrive?
11. Is bus parking available for the full day?
12. Is shore power available?
13. Are parking permits needed?
14. Is overnight parking allowed?
15. Is there a height, weight, or turning restriction near the dock?
16. Who controls the parking area?

Parking answers should be practical, not theoretical. "Usually fine" is not a parking plan.

Stage and Production

17. What are the stage dimensions?
18. What is the trim height?
19. Are risers available?
20. Is there a barricade?
21. What PA is installed?
22. What FOH and monitor consoles are available?
23. Is RF coordination required?
24. What lighting console and house rig are available?
25. Are haze, pyro, or confetti allowed?
26. What power is available for touring production?
27. Are house plots, input lists, and patch sheets current?
28. Is there a freight elevator or difficult path from dock to stage?

Ask for current files, not old venue packages. Many venues have a beautiful PDF that no longer matches the room.

Labor and Timing

29. How many local crew are provided?
30. What departments do they cover?
31. What are the minimum call lengths?
32. Are meal penalties or overtime rules relevant?
33. What is the earliest possible load-in?
34. Is soundcheck restricted by another event?
35. What is the hard curfew?
36. What happens if curfew is exceeded?

Labor and curfew questions should be confirmed in writing. These are the details that become settlement conversations.

Hospitality

37. Where are dressing rooms located?
38. Is there a separate production office?
39. Are showers available?
40. Is laundry available?
41. What meals are provided, and when?
42. Are dietary restrictions confirmed?
43. Is WiFi available backstage?
44. Is a runner available, and for how long?

Hospitality details affect time. If the runner leaves before dinner is sorted, the tour manager is now the runner.

Settlement and Merch

45. Who handles settlement and merch percentages?

That one question deserves its own section because it triggers several follow-ups:

• What documents are needed?
• What payment method is used?
• When will settlement happen?
• Who counts merch?
• Are taxes or facility fees deducted?
• Is there a merch seller fee?

Do not wait until doors to find the settlement person.

Turn Questions Into a Repeatable System

The point is not to ask 45 questions every time by hand. The point is to build a repeatable advance process where the right questions appear automatically, answers are attached to the event, and missing details are visible before show day.

The better your advance system, the fewer things your crew has to solve in the dock.

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tour-flow keeps venue advance details structured and connected to each event, so the information your crew needs is available before the first case leaves the truck.