Printing setlists for the stage

The setlist is the one document every member reads 40 times a night, in the dark, while sweating, from a metre away, between songs. And most bands print it in 11-point Arial on a sheet that ends up under a monitor wedge by the third song.

A stage setlist is a piece of equipment. Design it like one.

What goes on the stage setlist

Not the same as the setlist you send the client or keep in your archive. The stage version is stripped to what the band needs between songs:

• Song title (short form is fine: "Valerie", not "Valerie (Amy Winehouse version)")
• Key in brackets, especially for songs with 2 singers: "Valerie (Bb, Anna)"
• Who starts / count-in: "dr 4", "gtr riff", "keys intro"
• Segue markers: an arrow or ">" where songs run together, no gap
• Cues that matter: "vamp for speech", "stop for cake", "first dance, watch couple"
• Set boundaries and times: "Set 2, 21:30–22:15"

Leave off: tempo (unless the drummer wants it), full lyrics, chords, artist names. Each extra item makes the font smaller. The drummer's list can carry bpm; the singer's can carry the first line of each song. Per-role variants are cheap when the list is generated from one source.

Font size and layout

Rules that come from bands squinting at lists for years:

• Minimum 18 pt for song titles, 24 pt if the band is over 40 or the stage is dark. Cues in 14–16 pt bold.
• One set per page. A 3-set night is 3 pages. 15 songs at 18 pt fit on A4 in portrait; 20 at 18 pt fit in landscape in 2 columns. If a set needs 2 pages, tape them side by side.
• Number the songs. "7. Superstition" lets the singer say "we're going to 9" without anyone reading titles.
• Bold, sans-serif, black on white. No colour coding that vanishes under red stage light. If you must use colour, use it only for boxes or underlines, never for text.
• Left-align, wide line spacing (1.5). Centred lists are harder to scan.
• Nothing in the bottom 3 cm. That is where the monitor wedge covers it.

Print a test page, tape it to the floor, stand up, and read it. If you have to lean, go bigger.

Copies and placement

Print one per member plus 2 spares. Then place them:

• Singer: taped to the floor at the mic or on the monitor top.
• Guitarists and bass: floor at the pedalboard, or on the amp top if there is no pedalboard.
• Keys: on the top of the keyboard or the music stand, never on the keys.
• Drums: taped to the hi-hat stand or the floor tom rim, facing the drummer.
• Horns: on the stand, with the chart pack.
• One on the mixing desk if you have an engineer, with set times in large print.

Gaffer tape, not masking tape; masking tape lifts under heat. Fold a small tab under one corner so you can pull the list up between sets without tearing it.

Paper vs tablet

Tablets are common now, and a good setup (stand, charged, brightness up, auto-lock off, offline files) beats paper for bands with 300 songs and lots of chart reading. For the setlist alone, paper still wins on a small stage: it does not need power, it can be taped anywhere, and it does not go to sleep during the speeches.

Bands using tablets for charts should still print the setlist. The number of times "my iPad died" has stopped a set is not zero. See chord charts and lead sheets for the tablet side.

Setlists with inline chords

Some bands want chords on the stage list: 4-chord songs with no chart, or a dep who does not know the whole book. It works if you keep it to a single line per song:

7. Valerie (Bb) — Bb Cm / Eb F — dr 4

Anything more than one progression per song belongs on a chart, not a setlist. A setlist that turns into a 4-page chord document is neither.

The client's setlist

The client sometimes asks for "the setlist". What they mean is a list of songs, not your stage document with "vamp until BL cue" on it. Send them a clean titles-only list, grouped by set, without cues or keys. Planners like a version with approximate timings so the day's schedule can go around it. See the wedding band guide for how the setlist fits the day.

Handling changes on the night

The list will change. The cake is late, the speeches overrun, a request comes in. A stage list that copes:

• Leave 2 blank lines at the bottom of each set for additions.
• Number the songs, so a change is "skip 6 and 7, then 8" rather than a whispered conversation.
• Have a "pocket" of 5 extra songs at the foot of the last page: known, high-energy, in the singer's key, for when you need 15 more minutes.
• One person calls changes. The leader or the singer says it aloud, everyone marks their sheet. Do not rely on everyone hearing.

Bands that use these get through a chaotic wedding without anyone playing the wrong song. Bands that do not spend the changeover shouting titles across the stage. More on planning for changeovers in the pre-gig rehearsal.

Do this today

1. Print your last setlist at 18 pt, tape it to the floor, and read it standing up in low light. Fix what you cannot read.
2. Add keys and count-ins to the template.
3. Buy a roll of black gaffer tape and put it in the cable bag permanently.
4. Write the 5-song "pocket" at the bottom of your template.

Where expert.band helps

Build the list in expert.band setlists from your repertoire, with each song's key and notes attached, and print it for the stage. Because the setlist is linked to the gig, the set times and the client's must-play notes are on the same screen when you are putting the running order together, and every member sees the current version rather than a photo of a list from the group chat.