How to Read A Stage Plot

How to read a stage plot is something one learns from almost their first day on the job in the industry. A stage plot is a day-to-day occurrence for anyone who works within music venues. These documents often depict bands and performers of various types on the stage and what they will need to make the show happen on that stage. For some bands, it is as simple as a basic drum kit set up, a D.I. (direct input) box for their keyboard, another D.I. for the guitar play, and enough microphones to cover anyone doing vocals. When you start getting into the major leagues however, stage plots can often require more. The opposite can sometimes be said for performers just starting out in the industry.

As those who are just starting out performing live or touring and getting a thrill of life on the road, a stage plot sometimes hasn’t even crossed their mind. It’s one of those think ahead details that not many people outside of the industry really think about. More frequently than we would like to admit, we often get emailed a stage plot that looks something along the lines of this:

This is still a relatively well labelled stage plot but there are also so many things missing. The band has clearly given everyone’s name which can help with identifying people when they arrive for the set up and rehearsal. The filled in black boxes are nine out of ten times going to be the band’s monitors. The keyboard play and acoustic guitar play both need D.I. boxes, which means direct input boxes. The acoustic guitar player, lead guitar player, and bass guitar player all have blue dots in front of them, which by their stage plot indicates all three of them will need vocal microphones. For the majority of bands, this means your standard SM58. The bass and guitar amps are further back towards the drummer with the guitar amp having an instrument microphone in front of it. Again, for the majority of bands, this will mean your standard SM57 or SL57. The drums are listed as a five piece kit and they will likely be asked to be on a raised stage or have a rug underneath their kit if it’s an outdoor stage. Be prepared for both if possible. The last thing you might hear from the band is something being grumbled about how this isn’t their most up to date stage plot.

The stage plot for All American Rejects back in 2012 for their United Kingdom and European tour looked like this:

For anyone who has recently seen the band they know their set up doesn’t look anything remotely similar to that now. As the stage plot clearly shows however, everything is labelled as it should be. The dimensions with the black lines typically indicate legs (curtains hiding parts of the stage from the audience). Their drum kit is clearly on a raised separate piece of stage deck along with the keys and spare drum parts. Pedal boards are in front of the guitarists to switch between effects easily. Monitor beach is where the band’s I.E.M.s (also known as In Ear Monitors) would be getting mixed by their monitor engineer. They also have power labelled so the venue crew know how much power and how many lines they’ll need. While The All American Rejects stage plot may no longer look like this, it is still a great example to go by for any live band who is touring.

Also by Drew Janine:

Interview with Anna-Louise Cole

Threat of A.I. in SAG-AFTRA Agreement

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