Advance the show. Settle before you load out.

The week-out call

Call or text the day-of contact about a week before the show and walk the night once: times, sound, parking, payment. You're not being needy. You're being the easiest band they book this month, and easy bands get asked back.

• Confirm load-in, soundcheck, set time, curfew
• Confirm PA, sound person, backline
• Where does the van park and where does gear roll in
• Confirm the money: amount, method, and who hands it over
• Give them your day-of cell and get theirs

Paperwork that makes you look like a pro

Keep a W-9 filled out in the glovebox and in your email drafts. Any venue paying you 600 dollars or more in a year is supposed to collect one, and the band that has it ready gets paid faster than the band that says 'a what?'

A one-page invoice with the band name, date, room, amount, and where to send the money does the same job. Send it the morning after, every time, same format.

Settle in the room

Get paid before the gear is in the van, while you and the buyer are standing in the same building. If it's a door deal, be there for the count or send someone. Not because everyone is a crook, but because memory gets creative after midnight and paper doesn't.

If the room insists on mailing a check, that's a real answer and sometimes a fine one. It just needs to be the answer you agreed to a week ago, not a surprise at 1 a.m.

Keep a gig log

One line per show: date, room, city, draw, pay, contact, and whether you'd go back. That notebook becomes your negotiating leverage. 'We drew 80 here in March' beats 'we're pretty popular' in every conversation with every buyer, forever.