The source of truth for every show
Every show advanced.
Every shift covered.
Show advancing and crew rota software for UK venues.
Set times changed on Tuesday. On Friday the person on shift already knows. The office, the engineers and the band all work from the same show, and The Advance runs the advance, the rota and the invoices from it. You approve. It chases.
Runs alongside the calendar and ticketing you already use, so there's nothing to migrate. Crew and band data is handled under UK GDPR and never sold. Download all of it from Settings at any time, and if you leave, I delete it.
Built by Dom, Technical Manager at The Live Rooms in Chester, where every show has run on The Advance since October 2026.
At The Live Rooms since October: 11 shows on The Advance, 22 crew shifts booked through it, and half the crew have already invoiced through it. The rest are tracked until their invoice lands, so nobody gets forgotten.
- Tech specReceived · summarised
- Band advanceSent 12 Oct · read 14:02
- Set lengthsMissing · chaser due Mon
- CrewSound ✓ Lighting ✓
- Show advanceSends Tue 11 Nov
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 show, one version
If it's in The Advance, it's true.
Every show has one record. Change a load-in time once and the band portal, the crew's advance and the rota all say the same thing. No “which version of the spec is this?”, no schedule in three places, no checking the group chat to see who's actually on.
The office
Sees what's confirmed, what's missing and what needs a decision — nothing else.
Engineers
Get the schedule, spec and parking from the same record the office edits, with the latest always on top.
Bands & promoters
Read and update the advance on one page that never goes out of date.
Your other systems
Website listings, ticketing and screens can read show data straight from The Advance through its API.
From the booking in your calendar to the engineer's 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
Switch it on and AI (Anthropic's Claude) reads each spec and rider: inputs, monitor mixes, console, backline, and anything that could be a problem in your room, e.g. “Flagged: haze requested”. Nothing reaches your crew until you've checked it and pressed 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.
- 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.
- 02
Add your crew
Invite your engineers. They add skills and availability from their phone — no app, no passwords.
- 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.
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.
Looking for venue management software?
The Advance does the show side: advancing the band, the crew rota, the tech advance and engineers' invoices. It sits alongside whatever booking and ticketing you already use.
It doesn't do ticketing, settlement or room hire. If you need those, keep the system you have and run your shows on The Advance.
Who's behind it
Built at The Live Rooms, Chester.
I'm Dom, Technical Manager at The Live Rooms in Chester. I built The Advance to replace the email threads, spreadsheets and group chats our shows used to run on. Since October 2026 every show at The Live Rooms has been advanced, crewed and invoiced on it.
I'm building it with The Advance Tribe: 10 founding venues who use it every week and help decide what gets built next. I set each one up personally. It's free while we iron things out, then about £10 a month for founding venues (about £20 for everyone else).
The Advance is a product by DOMISSOUND.Co.
If you run a room and this sounds like your week, tell me about it. I'll reply within 6 hours, and we'll have a catch-up booked within two days to get your calendar and crew set up.