AThe Advance
Sign inGet set up

Show advancing and crew for live music venues

Every show advanced.
Every shift covered.

The Advance reads your booking calendar and runs the rest: the band advance, the crew rota, the tech advance three days out, and the invoices after. You approve. It chases.

Get set upHow it works

Built by a venue technical manager, for venues.

The Paper Lanterns
Fri 14 Nov · Room 1 · doors 19:00
Ready
  • Tech specReceived · summarised
  • Band advanceSent 12 Oct · read 14:02
  • Set lengthsMissing · chaser due Mon
  • CrewSound ✓ Lighting ✓
  • Crew advanceSends Tue 11 Nov
15:00Audio call19:00Doors21:00Headliner23:00Curfew
Shift replaced automatically
Robin declined Lighting — offered to Jo, who's free that night and asked for this show.

Advancing a show shouldn't live in forty email threads.

Specs in five inboxes

Riders, stage plots and input lists arrive by email, WhatsApp and Drive links, and last tour's spec is never where you need it.

Shifts by group chat

Who's free, who's confirmed, who never replied — and the scramble when someone drops out on the day.

Invoices without context

Which show was it for, what's their rate, and has the tech report actually been done?

One place for the whole advance, from booking to invoice.

Calendar in, shows out

Tag a booking with its room in your calendar and the show appears with your default schedule, crew and venue details. Moves and cancellations are flagged, never changed silently.

A band advance that chases itself

Bands get your advance with a personal link to upload specs, riders and promo, and fill in set lengths, arrival and vehicles. Anything missing is chased from two weeks out.

Specs read for you

Uploaded specs and riders are summarised — inputs, monitor mixes, console, backline and anything that won't fit your room — ready for you to approve.

A rota that fills itself

Engineers set their availability and pick the shows they want. Shifts are spread fairly, favour your regulars, and anyone who declines or doesn't reply is replaced automatically.

Tech advance, three days out

Once the crew is confirmed and the spec is in, every engineer gets the schedule, specs, parking and notes. Read receipts show you who's opened it.

Reports and invoices, matched

Engineers file a tech report after the show. Invoices they email in are matched to the right shift and checked against their rate before you approve them.

Set up in an afternoon.

  1. 01

    Connect your calendar

    Paste your booking calendar's private link and say which tag means which room. Every confirmed show comes across, history included.

  2. 02

    Add your crew

    Invite your engineers. They add skills and availability from their phone — no app, no passwords.

  3. 03

    Approve, don't chase

    The Advance drafts, sends and follows up. Your dashboard shows only what needs you.

For engineers

One login for every venue you work.

  • Set your availability once and every venue sees it, so you're never double-booked.
  • Tell venues which shows you want to work.
  • Confirm or decline a shift straight from the email.
  • Tech reports and invoices in the same place as your shifts.
Engineer sign-in →

For tour managers and promoters

Your advance, on one page.

  • A personal link per show. No account to create, no password.
  • Schedule, parking, venue spec and ticket sales in one place.
  • Upload specs, riders and promo once; see exactly what's still needed.
  • Every venue on The Advance, under the same login.
Artist & promoter sign-in →

Run your next show on The Advance.

We're onboarding venues one at a time. Tell us about yours and we'll get you set up.

Get set uphello@theadvance.co.uk