Stage plots and tech riders?

[Lava]

I have a stage plot on file when needed. I don’t send it unless asked for. They’re usually requested for our festival gigs.
No tech rider, just plot

 

[Pocket Dave]

When I was in a corporate event band playing hotels and convention centers, tech riders were a must. They'd show breaker amps required, and simple things that became necessity after doing this enough times; maximum stage distance from a back wall before an electrician and portable backboard & breaker box was required (10"); By what time the electrical service needed to be turned up and ready at the stage; Minimum stage and drum riser dimensions, etc.

Re stage plots, I've played larger multiple-band events & festivals where they were required.

 

[getBAK]

I have a stage plot in my EPK to start . They aren't hard to make, and they eliminate the 'doh' moments at venues.

I literally made ours in Powerpoint

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[pfschim]

Yeah... my problem is, I never really bumped up against either one of these in my admittedly old experience.
My experience was usually meeting the FOH guy and saying, hey I'm the bassist in the opening act and...what?...I can just plug into the headliners gear..really? ?cool..thanks
I know some people on here are givin much more considerations about their stage set up then that, but it was just rare that I had that much advance opportunity to "plot" the stage to my liking.
Until you were a pretty successful act..."riders" were a pipe dream.

like I said, for most festival gigs I have done in the past 10-15 years or so, a stage plot is almost always required from the production company that's running the event.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

Here's one I made with PowerPoint. I sent it to all gigs where there would be FOH, directly to the sound company when possible (which is why I included the venue and date). PM me with your email and I can email you the PowerPoint file if you want.

View attachment 5189060

One thing I like to add are the player's names at each position on the plot. For example "Bass - Barry", "Lead Vox - Sue"... It makes it easy for the crew, better than "Hey! Bass player!"

I also carry copies with me that I can hand to the local crew, especially at fairs and festivals. Lots of stuff sent to sound companies often doesn't make it to the site.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

When I was in a corporate event band playing hotels and convention centers, tech riders were a must. They'd show breaker amps required, and simple things that became necessity after doing this enough times; maximum stage distance from a back wall before an electrician and portable backboard & breaker box was required (10"); By what time the electrical service needed to be turned up and ready at the stage; Minimum stage and drum riser dimensions, etc.

Especially in union houses...

 

[BatBasstard]

We've only needed to come up with a stage plot one time. It was for a local multi-band festival. I provided one, which is pretty simple based on our configuration of 3 pc with guitar/bass/drums and 3 vocal mics.

We were 2nd on the bill and the first performer was a solo acoustic who had his own wireless headset mic and wireless guitar setup. We were told we had 10 mins to be ready when he was done. And there we stood waiting for the sound crew to set up vocal mics. Our 1 hr of allotted playing time was cut down to about 40 mins after all the messing around. The stage plot appeared to have never been looked at.

Declined the offer to play it again.

20mins to set up three vocal mics at a festival (where you are going to leave the vocal mic’s set up if not on stage then in the wings all day)?? That’s literally unbelievable.
Either you’re not giving us the full picture or the tech’s were so far beyond incompetent, I’m amazed they even found their way to the gig.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

20mins to set up three vocal mics at a festival (where you are going to leave the vocal mic’s set up if not on stage then in the wings all day)?? That’s literally unbelievable.
Either you’re not giving us the full picture or the tech’s were so far beyond incompetent, I’m amazed they even found their way to the gig.

Not sure why I'd leave it out any part of the picture. We received via email a basic stage plot that showed a drum kit in the middle and which side of the stage a bass amp and guitar amp would be. All we had to do is indicate where voc mics were needed, and if we planned to bring our own amps, which we weren't. Our lead singer uses a cajon and she can carry her riser (4 small plastic stools and a plywood base) in and be set up a couple minutes. I had marked on the diagram she would do that directly in front of the onstage kit, and the bass mic could be moved from the bass drum to her cajon. All we needed to know once we walked on stage was where the lead from my bass wireless and guitarist's pedalboard had to go, DI box or into the amps, etc.

We stood there while they set up stands, ran cables and set the mics up. It was silly. We were told to "hold tight, you're the first group on the bill after that solo guy." One of the organizers is a high school friend of our guitarist and he came on stage to ask us what was going on, why weren't we ready, then he tried to get them to hurry things along. Same sound company they've used for this festival for years from what I was told. It was a mess and we just chose not to go back.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

At the venues (read: dive bars) we frequent, this doesn't come up very often.

In the last eight years, I think we used our stage plot twice? Both for big outdoor shows when there was plenty of room anyway...

 

[badinage]

IME working with a Sound Provider/Event Contractor for 17 years, they are aways welcomed and always assumed to be inaccurate simply because they're almost always outdated. But hey, "pretty close" is a good start.

 

[Kevorargh]

The folk trio had a stage plot/tech rider, but I have never used one for a bar.

 

[el murdoque]

It is a simple document that takes minutes to set up.
When a venue asks for it, you can provide it and come across as professionals.

 

[Stylee Mousse]

My band does. Simple stage plot. Problem is certain Sound Companies don't do us right sound wise.

bring your own guy/gal. If they are skilled and personable they will have No problem navigating the system providers. It’s well worth the share of the payday to not worry and sound great. I did festival and big club shows for a few regional acts and it was never a problem to run a new system.

I liked getting stage plots/input lists at the club I mixed at and I’d do a “festival” setup for bills I didn’t get info for. That and look up the bands online so I’d have an idea what to expect.