Run of show
Three nights, already timed.
Most run-of-show documents carry the band as one row that says band plays, and the detail gets filled in during the week of the event, by email, at speed. Here is that detail already worked out for the three shapes a night usually takes. Take them, change the times, delete what does not apply.
How to read these
The cue column is the one worth arguing about before the day. Every moment in an evening belongs to somebody, and the failures are almost always ownership failures rather than timing failures: two people assuming the other one was going to nod at the band, or nobody knowing who decides the speeches are running long.
Agree the cue column at sound check with the person holding the master document. Our bandleader takes their cues from that one person and from nobody else in the room, which is the only version of this that survives a night with four hundred guests and a bar.
A corporate gala
Four hundred guests, a seven-piece with a DJ, an 11:30pm curfew. The shape most awards dinners and fundraisers take.
| Time | What happens | The band | Who cues it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3:30pm | Load-in and setup | Vehicles at the dock | Venue |
| 5:00pm | Sound check complete | Cue column agreed with you | Bandleader |
| 6:00pm | Doors, cocktails | Trio, 68 dBA | Venue opens |
| 7:00pm | Call to dinner | Plays guests in, then down | You |
| 7:15pm | Dinner service | Trio, 68 dBA | Standing |
| 8:00pm | Remarks from leadership | Silent. Announcement mic live | You, two minutes out |
| 8:20pm | Awards | Silent. Walk-on stings if wanted | You |
| 8:40pm | Video package | PA handed to AV | AV lead |
| 8:50pm | Auction | Silent | Auctioneer |
| 9:15pm | Changeover | DJ covers the room | Bandleader |
| 9:30pm | Dancing, first set | Seven-piece, 90 dBA | You |
| 10:30pm | Break | DJ, continuous | Standing |
| 10:45pm | Dancing, second set | Seven-piece, peak | Bandleader |
| 11:30pm | Last song, curfew | Shaped to finish, not cut | Bandleader |
Look twice at two of those rows. 7:00pm is the only reliable way to move four hundred people from a bar into a seated room, and a band doing it takes about a third of the time an announcement does. 9:15pm is the changeover: a seven-piece cannot get from a dinner setup to a dance setup silently, and the DJ covering that gap is the difference between a transition and a lull.
A wedding, ceremony through late night
A hundred and eighty guests, one venue, a duo for the ceremony and a quintet for the floor. Booked as one contract, so the cocktail hour bills at the hourly rate only.
| Time | What happens | The band | Who cues it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2:00pm | Load-in, both setups | Ceremony and reception at once | Venue |
| 4:00pm | Sound check complete | Before any guest is on site | Bandleader |
| 4:30pm | Guests arrive | Duo, prelude, 65 dBA | Standing |
| 5:00pm | Processional | Duo. Your song, learned | Planner or officiant |
| 5:25pm | Recessional | Duo, up and loud | Officiant |
| 5:30pm | Cocktails | Trio, 68 dBA | Standing |
| 6:30pm | Guests seated, entrances | Band up for the walk-in | Planner |
| 6:45pm | First dance | Quintet. Learned, arranged to length | Planner |
| 6:50pm | Dinner service | Trio, 68 dBA | Standing |
| 7:45pm | Toasts | Silent. Announcement mic live | Planner |
| 8:15pm | Parent dances | Quintet | Planner |
| 8:30pm | Dancing, first set | Quintet, 90 dBA | Bandleader |
| 9:30pm | Break | DJ, continuous | Standing |
| 9:45pm | Dancing, second set | Quintet, peak | Bandleader |
| 10:45pm | Last song | Quintet | Bandleader |
| 11:00pm | Late night | DJ alone | Standing |
The row people move most often is 6:45pm. A first dance immediately after the entrances, before anyone has picked up a fork, keeps the whole room watching. Held back until after dinner it competes with coffee, and half the guests are outside.
A company holiday party
Two hundred staff, a quintet, a hotel ballroom, done by eleven. Shorter, looser, and the one where the program is smallest and the dance floor matters most.
| Time | What happens | The band | Who cues it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4:30pm | Load-in and setup | Before the room is dressed if possible | Venue |
| 6:00pm | Sound check complete | Room handed back to you | Bandleader |
| 6:30pm | Doors, drinks | Duo, 68 dBA | Venue opens |
| 7:15pm | Dinner or stations open | Duo, 68 dBA | Standing |
| 8:00pm | Remarks and service awards | Silent. Announcement mic live | You, two minutes out |
| 8:30pm | Full band up, first set | Quintet, 88 dBA | You |
| 9:30pm | Break | DJ, continuous | Standing |
| 9:45pm | Second set | Quintet, peak | Bandleader |
| 10:45pm | Last song | Quintet | Bandleader |
| 11:00pm | Room clears, strike | Nothing moves before this | Standing |
The failure mode specific to this night is 8:00pm. Remarks at a holiday party start late, run long, and land on a room that has been drinking since half past six. Put a hard finish on them in the document, give it to whoever is speaking in advance, and put the band back up on time regardless. The room forgives a short speech. It does not come back from a long one.
If the program wants a louder chapter, live-band karaoke adds $1,500 and works best here, in the second set, once the room is warm enough that people will actually get up.
Send us your version.
Whatever state it is in. We will fill in the band’s rows and send it back, whether or not you have booked us.
Also for planners: what we need from your venue and the full question list.