Keep On Schedule…

Recently I was performing at a county fair where my act was the only paid act on a stage, the rest were unpaid acts. There were only three out of about 15 acts that were on that stage that cared about keeping the stage on schedule. One was a rock band, one was a hip … Continue reading “Keep On Schedule…”

Recently I was performing at a county fair where my act was the only paid act on a stage, the rest were unpaid acts. There were only three out of about 15 acts that were on that stage that cared about keeping the stage on schedule. One was a rock band, one was a hip hop group and the third was me. The other dozen acts were going to play their set lists regardless of when the started, or how unrealistic their set list was to fit within their scheduled time.


Of all of the acts, I was the only one that was on the stage more than once. I was on the stage three times a day, in between each band. I don’t think they realized how much it impacts every other act. If the first act ends at second acts start time, that means the second act starts late due to stage turn over time. At this point it’s not a huge deal. If the second act then starts late and plays their full set they will run into the third acts start time. Now we’ve got a problem because people looking for the third act will see the second act and assume the schedule they are looking at is wrong. The third act has now been robbed of their base audience who was looking for them.


The first two acts being selfish have hurt the third act, and potentially every other acts on that stage. That’s why sticking to your end time is very important when you are working on a shared stage with a published schedule. Sticking to a schedule is also a good habit to get into. Let’s say you are working a union house, and you run over your scheduled stop time because the show started late, it could cost you hundreds, or thousands in overtime to the stage crew.


When you are performing on a scheduled stage with other acts, sticking to your end time is very important! It’s a good habit to get into early on in your career.