How to Write a Band Rider

If you already know what a band rider is and you’re ready to write yours, you’re in the right place. This guide walks you through every section, in the order it should appear, with notes on what venues and sound engineers actually need from each part.

New to riders and not sure what one is? Start with our complete guide to band riders first, then come back here when you’re ready to build yours. If you already know what to write but want a quick reference for what to include, the band rider checklist is the faster read.

Before you start: two documents, not one

Most bands try to write one rider. You’ll have a much better result if you write two, or at least split yours into two clearly labelled sections.

• The tech rider goes to the venue’s sound engineer and production team. It covers your stage setup, input list, monitoring, and backline requirements.
• The hospitality rider goes to the venue manager or promoter. It covers food, drink, dressing room, parking, and logistics.

These two audiences want different things. A sound engineer doesn’t need to know your dietary requirements. A venue manager doesn’t need to know your channel count. Keeping them separate means each document is immediately useful to the right person.

How to write your tech rider

Your tech rider is the document that determines how your soundcheck goes. Get it right and the crew can set up before you arrive. Get it wrong, or send an outdated version and you’ll spend the first 20 minutes of soundcheck explaining your setup verbally. That time comes out of your soundcheck, not anyone else’s.
Work through the sections in this order.

1.Stage plot
A stage plot is a visual diagram showing where each band member stands, what instrument they play, and where key equipment sits on stage. It should be simple enough that a sound engineer who has never seen your band can glance at it and understand your setup.

For a detailed breakdown of what goes in one and how to draw it, see our stage plot guide for bands. This article focuses on how the stage plot fits into your overall rider.

Include: band member positions, instruments, amp positions, monitoring positions, wedge count, and any key gear the crew needs to see at a glance, keyboard risers, drum riser, instrument changes during the set.

2. Input list
Your input list tells the sound engineer exactly what needs to be plugged in, and in what order. This is the document they’ll have on the desk during your soundcheck. It needs to be accurate, current, and in channel order.

For each channel include: channel number, input source (e.g. kick drum, lead vocal), microphone or DI type if you have a preference, whether it’s provided by you or the venue, and any specific notes (e.g. ‘needs a pad’, ‘runs through a tuner first’).

If your lineup changes, a different bassist, a session keys player, update your input list before you send it. Sending an input list that describes a band you’re no longer playing as creates problems for the engineer that become problems for you.

3. Monitor requirements
List the number of monitor mixes you need and what each mix should contain. A typical grassroots setup might be: all vocals in every wedge, bass and kick in the drummer’s mix, guitar in the keys player’s mix. Keep it simple. Asking for six different monitor mixes at a pub venue with a four-channel monitor desk doesn’t help anyone.

If you use in-ear monitors, note this. If you bring your own monitoring, note that too, it affects how the engineer plans their setup.

4. Backline
List any backline you need the venue to provide, if you’re not bringing your own. If you’re self-contained, say so explicitly. ‘Band is fully self-contained’ is one of the most useful things you can put in a rider at grassroots level.

If you need specific gear, a particular amp, a specific drum kit configuration, a piano, list it. Be realistic about what a grassroots venue can provide.

5. Changeover requirements
Tell the venue how long you need to soundcheck and how long you need for changeover. Be accurate. If you say 20 minutes and you actually need 40, you’ll be the band that held up the doors. Slightly over-estimating is better than under-estimating.

How to write your hospitality rider

The hospitality rider is simpler to write but often more embarrassing to send if it’s either too long or completely absent. Most grassroots bands undersell themselves here and ask for nothing, which means they get nothing, spend their own money on dinner, and arrive tired.
Keep it realistic and proportionate to the gig. A hospitality rider for a pub show is not the same as one for a festival slot. Adjust accordingly.

Food and drink
List what you need and any dietary requirements. Water should always be on the list, it’s the one thing every venue can provide and the one thing that actually affects your performance. Tea and coffee are reasonable for evening shows. A meal request is reasonable if you’re travelling to the gig.

If the venue doesn’t provide food, ask for a recommendation for somewhere nearby. It’s not demanding, it’s practical.

Dressing room / green room
If one’s available, request it. Include how many people are in your party. If you have specific requirements, a private space to warm up, somewhere to store gear, note them. Don’t over-specify for venues that clearly won’t have it.

Parking and load-in
Note your vehicle size if it’s relevant, and ask about load-in arrangements. For bands travelling with significant gear, knowing where the load-in entrance is and whether there’s parking nearby saves real time on show day.

Guest list
State your guest list allowance if you have one. Keep it simple: number of names, whether they include plus-ones, and how they should be recorded at the door.

Who to send it to, and when

Send your rider to the production contact, not the booking inbox. The person who confirms your booking is usually not the person who will actually set up your stage. Ask, when you confirm the gig, who to send your tech requirements to.

Timing matters more than most bands realise. A rider received a week before the show gives the venue time to source anything they’re missing, flag problems, and brief their crew. A rider received on the morning of the show is barely useful. A rider received at load-in is too late.

Send it at least one week before. Follow up if you haven’t had a confirmation within a couple of days. Keep it short: ‘just checking you received our tech requirements for the gig on [date], happy to answer any questions.’

One thing most bands get wrong

They send the same rider to every venue without updating it.

Your rider needs to reflect your current setup, current lineup, current input list, current backline. A rider describing a bassist who left six months ago, or a setup you changed last month, is more misleading than no rider at all. The engineer prepares based on what you’ve sent. If what arrives doesn’t match, it creates friction for everyone on show day.

Build the habit: every time something changes in your band setup, update your rider. If you’re using a platform like Stage Portal, you update it once and every future send goes out with the current version automatically.

Build Your Rider the Easy Way

If you want a system that lets you update your rider once and have it automatically available to every venue you’re booked with, Stage Portal’s rider builder does exactly that.