The site visit is where the show is won.
Most of the problems I've seen on show day were already in the building weeks before. Nobody looked for them.
A venue sells itself with renders and photos of a full room. The site visit is the one moment you get to see it empty, with the lights on and the venue manager beside you. It's the moment to say yes, or to say not yet. Saying yes in a hurry is how a good idea turns into a long night of workarounds.
These are the things I check before I agree to anything, roughly in the order I walk the building.
START AT THE LOADING BAY
I never start at the front door. I start where the trucks arrive, because that's where the show actually comes in.
Can a full-size truck reach the dock, or does everything get pushed by hand across a car park? What are the real load-in and load-out hours, and do they match a production schedule or only a cleaning rota? Then I measure the doors. A stage deck or an LED frame that doesn't fit through the door is a redesign, not a delay. If the room is upstairs, I want the goods lift's size and weight limit in writing, not from memory.
THE NUMBERS NOBODY PUTS IN THE BROCHURE
Power is the first one. I ask for the real available power, not the theoretical figure, and I ask to see the distribution board. Where it sits decides how many metres of cable run across the room, and through which doors.
Then I look up. Are there rigging points, what load do they take, and who certified them? What is the usable ceiling height once you account for beams, ducts and sprinklers? A room that is eight metres high on paper can be five metres where the stage needs to go.
Last, daylight. Big windows look great in photos and ruin a light show. If the event starts before dark, I need to know whether the room can be fully blacked out, and who pays for it.
SOUND, NEIGHBORS AND SIGNAL
In electronic music, sound is the product. So I ask the question venues least like to answer: is there a limiter, what is it set to, and who has complained before? Neighbours have ended more parties than any fire officer. I'd rather know the decibel limit now than meet it at 1 a.m.
I also check where the front of house can go. The FOH position decides what the engineer actually hears, and it takes space away from the crowd. Then I stand in the middle of the room and check my phone. Venue wifi and mobile coverage sound like details until ticket scanning, card payments and the crew radios all depend on them.
BACKSTAGE IS WHERE THE NIGHT IS HELD TOGETHER
The audience never sees backstage, but the artists and crew live there for twelve hours. I look at the dressing rooms and at how far they are from the stage. I look for a lockable space for flight cases and a corner the technical team can use as an office.
Then the unglamorous list. Where are the toilets, and are there enough for the crowd you're selling to? Where does catering come in, and does it cross the public path? Where do the artist cars, the vans and the transfers park, and how do they get out at 6 a.m.? Every one of these has a workaround. Workarounds cost money, people and patience.
WALK IT LIKE THE CROWD
Before I leave, I walk the building as a guest would. In through the main entrance, past the queue, to the bar, to the toilets, to the dancefloor and back out. Where do people bunch up? Where will they get lost? Where does the signage need to go so that nobody has to ask?
Then I walk it again as if something has gone wrong. Where are the emergency exits, are they clear, and do they lead somewhere safe for that many people? Crowd flow isn't a detail of the design. It is the design.
MEET THE PERSON WHO WILL PICK UP THE PHONE
The most important thing in the building is a person: the venue manager who will be there on the day. I want their name and their number, and I want to know if they'll still be on shift at 4 a.m.
I also ask what is included. Tables, chairs, barriers, staging, bar fittings: every item the venue provides is one less thing to hire, truck in and return. And everything we agree goes into an email the same day. A site visit that lives only in memory didn't happen.
Measure before you promise
A good site visit won't prevent everything. Something will still break, someone will still be late. But it moves most of the surprises from show day to a Tuesday afternoon, when there is still time to fix them. That's where a show is won or lost: long before load-in, with a tape measure and the right questions.
THE LIST I TAKE WITH ME
1. Loading access: can a truck reach the dock?
2. Load-in and load-out hours
3. Door heights and widths on the load path
4. Goods lift size and weight limit
5. Real available power
6. Location of the distribution board
7. Rigging points and their load
8. Usable ceiling height under the obstacles
9. Daylight and blackout
10. Sound limiter, decibel limit and neighbours
11. Venue wifi
12. Mobile coverage inside the room
13. Front of house position
14. Dressing rooms and backstage
15. Storage and a technical office
16. Toilets and hospitality
17. Catering access
18. Parking and transfers
19. Signage points
20. Public flows: entry, bars, toilets, exit
21. Emergency exits
22. Distance from backstage to stage
23. What the venue's own staff will cover
24. Furniture and equipment included
25. The venue manager on the day, by name