Technical Rider vs Venue Tech Pack: What Each Document Should Contain

TL;DR — An artist technical rider describes what the show needs and what the touring party carries. A venue tech pack describes the room, installed systems, local inventory, access, limits, and available crew. Neither replaces the other. During the advance, production compares both documents, resolves gaps and substitutions, assigns providers, and records the confirmed show-specific plan. Keep dated source documents and a clear decision log so the crew does not mistake a request for a promise.

Define the two documents

An artist technical rider is the touring production's description of the requirements for a performance. It commonly includes a stage plot, input list, monitor needs, PA and console requirements, backline, power, lighting, video, rigging, communications, staffing, schedule assumptions, and carried equipment.

A venue tech pack—also called venue technical specifications, house specs, or a technical information pack—describes the venue and what it can make available. It may cover stage and room dimensions, installed audio, lighting and video systems, rigging data, power, loading access, backstage areas, local inventory, restrictions, contacts, and house procedures.

The rider asks, “What does this show require?” The tech pack answers, “What does this venue have, allow, and support?” The advance process turns those two views into one confirmed plan.

Compare ownership and purpose

Document names vary. Some venues call their file a “technical rider,” and some productions call their package “tech specs.” Identify the owner and purpose before interpreting the title.

What belongs in the artist technical rider

The rider should describe the real show rather than an aspirational production. Useful sections include:

• production contacts and decision authority;
• stage plot with performers, instruments, risers, monitors, power, and access;
• numbered input list with sources, microphone or DI needs, stands, and notes;
• monitor destinations, wedge or IEM requirements, and talkback;
• PA, FOH and monitor console, stage interface, and processing requirements;
• artist-carried equipment and venue- or supplier-provided equipment;
• backline models, quantities, condition, accessories, and acceptable substitutions;
• lighting, video, playback, timecode, intercom, or recording requirements when applicable;
• stage, rigging, electrical, network, staffing, schedule, and safety requirements;
• essential, preferred, negotiable, and approval-dependent items.

The tech rider template provides a structured starting point. Keep the stage plot and input list consistent with the written requirements.

What belongs in the venue tech pack

A useful tech pack gives visiting teams enough evidence to plan without guessing.

Venue and access

• named technical and production contacts;
• address, room name, audience configuration, and capacity as applicable;
• loading route, door and corridor dimensions, lift limits, dock or street restrictions;
• parking, bus or truck access, curfews, noise limits, and working hours;
• stage access, stairs, ramps, backstage circulation, and relevant accessibility information.

Stage, rigging, and power

• stage dimensions, height, wings, obstructions, floor loading, and available risers;
• current rigging plan, approved points, capacity data, house rules, and required providers;
• electrical service locations, connectors, voltage, phase, capacity, and qualified ownership;
• restrictions affecting haze, flame, confetti, lasers, weather exposure, or other show elements.

Rigging and electrical figures must come from current venue documentation and competent people. A generic article or old event file is not approval.

Audio, lighting, video, and communications

• exact installed and portable inventory with model, count, location, and condition where relevant;
• PA coverage design, fills, delays, subwoofers, amplification, processing, and control boundary;
• consoles, stage boxes, splits, networks, I/O, firmware or software constraints, and house files;
• monitor wedges, IEM support, microphones, DIs, stands, cables, and spares;
• lighting positions, fixtures, consoles, control protocols, house patch, and power;
• projectors, displays, switching, signal formats, resolutions, cable paths, and content handoff;
• production intercom, cueing, show relay, assisted-listening, recording, and streaming facilities;
• included house crew, call minimums, specialist requirements, and supplier relationships.

Use the venue tech pack checklist when maintaining the venue's source document.

Compare the documents field by field

Do not read the rider first and treat the venue pack as a general brochure. Build a gap table.

Record confirmed, supplier action, artist action, venue action, pending, and not applicable rather than relying on colored highlights with no legend.

Separate availability from commitment

An inventory list says an item exists; it does not necessarily promise that the item is included, exclusive to the event, compatible, serviced, or operated by qualified crew. Likewise, a rider request is not automatically confirmed because nobody objected to the PDF.

For every critical item, confirm:

1. exact equipment or an explicitly approved substitute;
2. quantity, accessories, and current condition;
3. provider and cost owner;
4. delivery, setup, operating, and strike responsibility;
5. compatibility with the rest of the system;
6. decision owner and confirmation date;
7. contingency if the item becomes unavailable.

If the rider forms part of a contract, the relevant parties should handle its legal status through the governing agreement and appropriate professional advice. A filename or signature block alone does not establish the same effect in every jurisdiction or deal.

Manage versions without losing the source of truth

Both documents age. Venue inventory changes, a stage is reconfigured, touring personnel change, and show files evolve. Put a revision date, owner, and contact on each source document.

During advance:

• preserve the original rider and venue pack as references;
• create a show-specific gap and decision log;
• link each decision to the affected stage plot, input list, schedule, or supplier order;
• update the current working rider when a confirmed change affects the touring plan;
• state which document or revision supersedes an older one;
• distribute one final show-day package and name its owner;
• retain history so the team can inspect why a substitution or layout changed.

Do not repeatedly email renamed attachments such as final-v7-new.pdf. A PDF is useful for a fixed handoff, while a controlled source document makes revisions and history easier to inspect.

Run the advance in a practical order

1. Exchange the current artist rider and current room-specific venue tech pack.
2. Confirm contacts, event scope, audience layout, access, schedule, and decision deadlines.
3. Compare stage, audio, monitors, backline, lighting, video, power, rigging, communications, and staffing.
4. Mark every mismatch, missing fact, assumption, and approval requirement.
5. Resolve essentials first; then evaluate preferred items and acceptable substitutions.
6. Assign actions, providers, cost owners, due dates, and contingency paths.
7. Update dependent documents so the stage plot, input list, schedule, and orders agree.
8. Issue a dated confirmation summary and verify critical changes again before load-in.

The show advance checklist covers the wider event workflow. For a travelling package, keep venue-specific confirmations separate from the reusable tour master so one room's exception does not become every room's requirement.

Avoid common document failures

• Old inventory: a discontinued or reassigned item remains listed as available.
• Ambiguous ownership: both sides assume the other supplies a console, riser, cable, or operator.
• Unapproved substitution: a model is changed without checking required I/O, control, accessories, or workflow.
• Mismatched diagrams: the stage plot and input list show different lineups or channel counts.
• Missing room identity: a multi-room venue sends dimensions or inventory for the wrong space.
• No status language: requests, options, and confirmations look identical.
• Silent version replacement: a new attachment circulates without a change summary or owner.
• Unsafe inference: rigging or electrical capacity is copied from an old show instead of current approved information.

FAQ

What is the difference between a technical rider and a venue tech pack?

The artist technical rider describes the show's requirements and carried equipment. The venue tech pack describes the building, installed systems, local inventory, access, policies, and limits. The advance compares them and records a confirmed plan.

Who creates a venue tech pack?

Usually the venue's technical manager, production manager, or department leads maintain it. Qualified specialists should own safety-critical rigging, structural, electrical, and system data.

What should a venue tech pack include?

Include contacts, access, room and stage dimensions, rigging and power information, audio, lighting, video, communications, local inventory, staffing, restrictions, schedules, and revision details relevant to the room.

Does a venue tech pack replace an artist rider?

No. The tech pack says what the venue can support; it does not define the artist's exact show. The rider says what the show needs; it does not prove what the venue will provide.

How do you compare a rider with venue specifications?

Use a field-by-field gap table. For each requirement, record venue evidence, status, approved substitution, provider, cost owner, action, deadline, contingency, and the person who confirmed it.

Turn two documents into one confirmed show plan

Create the stage plot and technical rider in Techrider.live, invite the artist and venue leads to edit the same rider, and save each confirmed change. Keep the venue pack as evidence about the room, the rider as evidence about the show, and the advance log as evidence of what both sides actually agreed to deliver.