Advancing is the process of confirming every detail of a show with the venue and promoter before you arrive: vehicles, parking, production, labor, schedules, merch, VIP, hospitality, contacts, and settlement.

A clean advance means the band rolls up to a venue that's ready for them. A messy one means figuring it out at the loading dock.

A complete, ready-to-send advance organized into clear sections: vehicles, production, labor, schedules, parking, merch, VIP, hospitality, contacts, and settlement.

Each section is written as specific, easy-to-answer questions, so venues can reply quickly and you get complete answers the first time instead of chasing them for weeks.

You get it two ways: a PDF you can download and keep for reference, and a Google Doc you can copy into your own Google Drive.

The Google Doc is the one you'll work from. Make a copy for each tour, fill in your details, and paste it straight into your advance emails.

Fill in the show details at the top, remove any sections that don't apply, and send it to the venue's production manager or promoter rep as one organized email.

When answers come back, you have everything for the day in one place, ready to drop into your day sheet.

Yes. Whether you're advancing a DJ club date, a band in a van, or an arena production with buses and trucks, every show needs the same core details confirmed.

For smaller shows, trim it down to the essentials. For bigger runs, every section is ready to go.

You can, but most first drafts miss something: where the trailer parks, who's handling merch, or how settlement works. Those are exactly the things that cause problems on show day.

This template has every one of those questions already built in, so you start from a finished advance instead of a blank email.

Especially then. Your advance is often the first impression a venue has of you and your artist. Starting from a complete template means you look organized from day one, even before you have years of experience behind you.

Experienced tour managers use it too. It saves time on every show and makes sure nothing gets skipped.

Absolutely. The Google Doc is fully editable, so you can add questions specific to your artist, rename sections, or adjust it to match how your tour runs.

Once it's set up for your tour, every advance after that takes minutes instead of starting from scratch.

Check out my YouTube video, Advancing a Show: Email Etiquette Every Tour Manager Needs. It covers subject lines, who to CC, how to follow up, and when to pick up the phone instead.

The template gives you what to ask. The video shows you how to send it like a pro.