Flying your band to Hawaiʻi: the audio advance I wish everyone sent

Touring to Hawaiʻi is not like adding another city to a West Coast run. You’re crossing an ocean. Freight costs real money and takes real time, so most acts fly with guitars, a few pedalboards, maybe a console file on a USB stick, and expect the rest to be here. Usually it is. Sometimes the exact amp on your rider is in a warehouse in Los Angeles.

A good advance closes that gap. Here’s what I ask every touring act for, and why.

Send these at least three weeks out

• Input list. Channel by channel, with mic preferences and what’s negotiable. “SM57 or similar” helps me. “Must be a vintage 421” tells me where to start calling.
• Stage plot. Where people stand, where the power drops go, how many wedges or in-ear mixes.
• Backline. Exact models, plus the acceptable substitutes. If your bass player only tolerates one amp, say so early.
• Show file and console model, if your engineer is traveling. I’ll try to land the same desk so the file opens without a fight.
• Wireless. How many mic and in-ear channels, and the frequency bands your gear covers. I’ll coordinate against what else is running in that venue.
• Times. When you land, when you want to load in, and how long you need for line check and soundcheck.

What you get back

A day sheet with load-in, line check, soundcheck, doors and curfew. A confirmed backline list with any substitutions called out before you fly, not at the venue. An RF plan. And a local engineer, either running your show or standing next to your engineer with a flashlight and a spare everything.

If you’re playing more than one island, the advance gets more important, not less. Maui and Kauaʻi have smaller inventories than Oʻahu, and moving gear between islands means a barge or a cargo flight. Lock the gear list early and the rest is easy.

Routing through Hawaiʻi? Send me the rider.