Backline

The word comes from band shows, where amps and the drum kit stand at the back of the stage. In clubs it mostly means the DJ setup: players, mixer, turntables, often the booth monitors. The house sound system, the PA, is not backline: it belongs to the venue, whoever plays.

Who provides the backline is a line in the offer and the contract, and for club shows the answer is usually the promoter. What exactly is needed comes from the tech rider; during advancing the promoter confirms the house equipment or arranges what is missing.

Example

A live act travels with a laptop, a synthesizer and a drum machine. The promoter’s backline: a stable table about 1.8 m wide, DI boxes for the stereo outputs, two monitors and power for four devices. The DJ after them plays the club’s CDJs and mixer on a separate table, so the changeover takes minutes and nobody unplugs anything mid-track. If the club has two CDJs and the rider asks for three, the promoter rents the third: the cost is part of the backline.

What to watch for

• “Or equivalent” needs the artist’s yes before the show. Finding out at the booth that the mixer is a different one is too late.
• Check the setup before doors: clean faders, working headphone outputs, fresh needles.
• On a night with several DJs, agree on one setup that works for all of them, or put up a second one.
• If the artist brings gear, the deal says who pays for its transport, baggage fees and insurance.