The Day-of-Show Schedule: Load-In to Load-Out

The run of show is the master schedule for show day. It coordinates crews, artists, venue staff, security, and box office around a single clock. A good one is built backward from the curfew and includes buffers where things commonly slip. This article walks through a sample schedule for a three-act concert and explains the reasoning behind each block.

Build backward from curfew

Curfew is the time by which music must stop, set by the venue, local noise ordinance, or labor agreement. Running over can trigger fines, overtime for union crews, and violations. Start the schedule at curfew and work backward:

1. Headliner set length plus encore.
2. Changeover from support to headliner.
3. Support set(s) and changeovers.
4. Doors, typically 60 to 90 minutes before the first act for a club or theater show.
5. Soundchecks, in reverse order of performance.
6. Production setup and line check.
7. Load-in.

The times you confirmed during the advance feed directly into this structure; see Advancing a Show.

Sample run of show: three-act concert, 11:00 PM curfew

Assumptions: a 2,000-capacity theater, headliner carrying a lighting floor package and using house PA, two support acts using house backline, union stagehand call.

• 9:00 AM Venue opens to production. House production manager, rigger, and house crew on site.
• 10:00 AM Headliner trucks arrive; stagehand call (load-in crew). Rigging: motors hung and points set.
• 10:30 AM Load-in begins: lighting, then audio, then backline and set pieces.
• 12:30 PM Crew lunch (meal break timing per labor agreement).
• 1:30 PM Lighting focus, PA system tuning, monitor world setup.
• 2:00 PM Catering available for touring crew; dressing rooms open.
• 3:00 PM Headliner line check (techs confirm every input).
• 4:00 PM Headliner soundcheck.
• 5:00 PM Headliner gear struck to its show position or covered; direct support loads in.
• 5:15 PM Direct support soundcheck.
• 5:45 PM Opener soundcheck (often a quick line check only).
• 6:00 PM Dinner for artists and crew. Security, box office, and bar staff call.
• 6:30 PM All-staff briefing: head of security, medical, venue, box office. Final walk-through of exits and barricade.
• 6:50 PM House check: stage cleared, exits clear, house lights and walk-in music ready.
• 7:00 PM Doors.
• 8:00 PM Opener, 30 minutes.
• 8:30 PM Changeover, 20 minutes.
• 8:50 PM Direct support, 40 minutes.
• 9:30 PM Changeover, 30 minutes.
• 10:00 PM Headliner, 75 minutes including encore… which exceeds curfew. Adjust: headliner at 9:45 PM requires a 15-minute changeover, or trim the opener.

The last entry is deliberate. When you build forward from load-in, the times look fine until the end. When you build backward, the problem is obvious early. A corrected version:

• 7:00 PM Doors.
• 7:45 PM Opener, 30 minutes.
• 8:15 PM Changeover, 20 minutes.
• 8:35 PM Direct support, 40 minutes.
• 9:15 PM Changeover, 30 minutes.
• 9:45 PM Headliner, 75 minutes including encore.
• 11:00 PM Curfew. House lights up, walk-out music.
• 11:00 PM Load-out stagehand call; settlement concludes in production office.
• 1:00 AM Trucks loaded; venue walk-through for damage; venue clear.

Changeovers

A changeover is the time between acts when one band's gear is cleared and the next is set. Changeover length depends on how much gear moves. Techniques to keep them short:

• Rolling risers: support drum kits are set on rolling risers in the wings and rolled into place.
• Shared backline: where approved, acts share amplifiers and drum shells, changing only snares, cymbals, and pedals.
• Pre-patched inputs: support inputs are patched to spare console channels and saved as scenes.
• Downstage set: openers play in front of the headliner's covered gear.

Assign a stage manager to call changeover progress on the production channel at fixed intervals.

Departments and their clocks

Each department runs its own timeline inside the master schedule:

• Box office: will-call open time, guest list cut-off, and the time ticket counts are reported to the promoter.
• Security: call time, briefing, posting, queue management start, doors, and show-end egress plan. See Concert Security Planning.
• Bars and concessions: setup, open with doors, last call (often 30 to 45 minutes before curfew), and close.
• Merch: setup during soundcheck, open with doors, count-in and count-out with the artist's seller.
• Medical: on post before doors, until the venue is clear.

The production office

The production office is the operational hub for the day. It should have the printed day sheet, run of show, advance sheet, contact sheet, permits, COIs, Wi-Fi, a printer, radios and chargers, and a sign-out sheet for radios and credentials. Settlement typically happens here during the headliner's set.

Show calls and timekeeping

The stage manager calls each cue: "Five minutes to opener," "House to half," "Go house lights," and so on. Record actual times against scheduled ones in a show report. Note why anything slipped, because that log will inform the next show and the debrief; see Post-Show Settlement and Debrief.

Rule: every slip gets absorbed before the headliner, never after. Protect the headliner's set and the curfew.

Buffers and contingencies

A schedule without slack fails at the first late truck. Build explicit buffers at the points where delays are most common:

• After load-in: trucks run late, docks are shared, and rigging takes longer than planned. Keep 30 minutes unassigned before line check.
• Before doors: soundchecks routinely run long. Decide in advance which soundcheck gets cut to a line check if time runs short; usually the opener's.
• Doors hold: if the stage is not clear at doors time, the event controller can hold doors briefly. Plan for queue management, weather cover, and an announcement to the line if that happens.
• Changeovers: schedule them at realistic lengths based on the gear actually moving, not the minimum the bands quote.

Weather and late-arrival scenarios

For outdoor shows, add explicit decision points to the run of show: times when the production manager checks the forecast and decides whether to proceed, delay, or move the audience to shelter. If an act's travel is delayed, decide in advance whether the running order can be swapped. These contingencies belong in the emergency action plan as well; see Medical, Weather, and Emergency Action Plans.

Load-out

Load-out is when fatigue causes injuries. Keep house lights up, clear the audience before cases roll, keep exits and the dock lit, and ensure rigging comes down only under rigger supervision. Schedule load-out in the same detail as load-in, in reverse order, with the stagehand count confirmed during the advance. Do a final walk-through with the venue rep to document any damage before the trucks leave.

Putting it into practice

Build your next run of show from curfew backward, add explicit changeover times, and keep a show report of actual versus scheduled times. Compare curfews and load-in access across Avenue Mine venues, and find stagehand, production, and security providers among our vendors.