Live Bass Acts vs Selectors: Festival Backline, Patch, and Changeovers

Imagine a packed drum & bass festival in full swing: a DJ just finished an electrifying set, and up next is a live electronic act hauling drum machines and synths on stage. The crowd is eager, but the switch-over needs to be fast and flawless. Live bass acts (bands or electronic performers playing live) have very different stage needs compared to selectors (DJs playing tracks). Without proper planning, changeovers can become chaotic – cables everywhere, awkward silence, and frustrated attendees.

For festival producers in the bass music scene (from warehouse raves in London to massive dubstep festivals in the US), managing these transitions efficiently is a key skill. This guide shares veteran insights on backline management, patching, and quick changeovers, ensuring you can seamlessly alternate between DJ sets and live acts on the same stage.

Advance Planning: Clarify Every Live Rig Need (Months in Advance)

Start planning early. As soon as you book a live bass act, request their technical rider and stage plot. This document details everything they need – from instruments (e.g., drum machines, synthesizers, MIDI controllers) to amplifiers, DI boxes, and monitor mixes. Pinning down these needs months ahead of the festival gives you time to source any special equipment and avoid last-minute surprises. For example, when the Australian drum & bass band Pendulum brought their live show to festivals, organisers knew far in advance that they’d need a full drum kit, bass guitar amps, and a suite of synth gear on stage – far beyond the typical DJ setup.

Sit down with the artist’s team (virtually or in person) well before the event. Ask detailed questions: Do they need a certain model of mixer or a specific drum machine as backline? Will they bring their own gear, and does it require unique power adapters or extra space? Clarifying these details can reveal critical needs. Case in point: A festival in Mexico once learned just two weeks out that a live act required a special voltage converter for their analog synths – an expensive piece of kit that had to be flown in. That scramble could have been avoided with earlier communication.

Budget and contract for the backline. If the festival must provide gear (like a drum set or keyboard), include that in your budget early. Many international festivals partner with local backline rental companies to supply standard equipment. The key is giving those suppliers plenty of notice. If you’re organising a smaller bass music event in, say, India or Indonesia, it’s even more crucial to plan ahead since the specific gear might be harder to find locally. Build tech requirements into artist contracts: make it a clause that artists must submit their tech rider by a certain deadline (e.g., 60-90 days before the show). This ensures accountability on both sides.

Plan stage layout once you have the riders. Visualise where each piece of the live rig will go on the stage and how it interfaces with the existing DJ setup. Will the DJ mixer stay in place, or be swapped out? Mark these decisions on a stage plot diagram. Some forward-thinking festival producers even create a 3D stage model or use software to map out how a drum kit, turntables, and other gear will coexist on a small stage. The more you can anticipate spatial and power needs, the smoother show day will run.

Dual Risers and Dedicated Setups: Swap DJs and Live Acts Fast

One of the best tricks for speedy changeovers is using dual stage risers. A riser is a platform on wheels that can hold equipment. By building two setups – one for DJs and one for live acts – on separate risers, you can prepare one off-stage while the other is in use. For example, at major festivals like Boomtown Fair in the UK, stages are known to host a DJ set followed by a live band in rapid succession. The crew often positions the band’s gear on a riser behind or beside the stage while the DJ is performing. The moment the DJ set ends, the DJ’s rig (on its own riser or table) is rolled off and the live act’s riser is rolled on, ready to go. This method can shrink changeover times to just a few minutes.

Dual risers require some investment and space. On a large stage (like the massive setups at Rampage in Belgium or Electric Daisy Carnival), there’s usually enough room to have two rigs queued up. Even at smaller venues or indoor bass music events, consider a mini-riser or wheeled table for the DJ gear that can be moved aside quickly. Make sure to secure everything on the riser: velcro-strip down power strips, use cable ties for loose wires, and ensure heavy equipment like turntables or synths won’t slide. A spilled or disconnected piece of kit defeats the purpose of a quick swap.

Another approach if space is tight is the flip-top setup: Keep the DJ gear on a lower table in front and set the band’s gear on a taller platform or back table. When it’s time to change, you disconnect and move a few cables, and the band is already standing behind ready. Some bass festivals in New Zealand and Australia use this approach – the DJ plays on a front stand, and as soon as they finish, they step aside so the live act behind them can take over (already plugged into a separate mixer feeding the sound system).

No matter the method, coordination is key. Train your stage crew to rehearse these swaps like a Formula 1 pit stop. Each crew member should know their task: one person unplugs the DJ mixer outputs and power, two others roll the riser, another reconnects the main sound cables for the live rig, etc. Practice this in advance if possible, especially for a complex headline changeover. Use a stopwatch during rehearsal and look for snags. A well-drilled crew can change a stage over in under 5 minutes – sometimes less – keeping the crowd’s energy up with minimal downtime (perhaps just a short MC announcement or background music in between).

Label Every Cable and Keep a “Reset to Default” Document

In the heat of a festival, with multiple acts and quick turnarounds, organisation is your best friend. A simple but lifesaving tip is to label every cable path. Use coloured tape or printed labels for all audio, power, and data cables on stage. For instance, label the main output cables to the mixer as “MAIN OUT L” and “MAIN OUT R”, label the DJ CDJ decks’ audio cables by deck number, and mark instrument cables for the live act by instrument or channel (“Synth 1”, “Drum Machine L/R”, “Vocal Mic 2”, etc.). Many top festivals (from Shambhala in Canada to Outlook in Croatia) follow a colour-coding system – e.g., blue tape for DJ gear cables, red for live band gear, yellow for monitor sends – so that anyone on the tech team can instantly identify what goes where.

Beyond labelling physical cables, maintain a “reset to default” document for the stage setup. This is essentially a cheat sheet of how the stage is wired and configured in its baseline state. Imagine after a live act with a spaghetti of cables, you need to quickly return to the standard DJ setup. A reset document (laminated and kept at the tech booth) might list: Mixer X Channel Assignments: CDJ A on CH1, CDJ B on CH2, MIC on CH3, etc., and Patched Inputs: Stage snake channel 5 is DJ Left, 6 is DJ Right, 7/8 for MC mic, and so on. It also notes default EQ or monitor send settings for the DJ setup, and where all outboard gear should be. The moment something isn’t working, this document is the reference to troubleshoot or to rebuild the patch correctly from scratch.

Use patch sheets for each act. Alongside the master reset doc, have individual patch input lists for every live act. These should map the artist’s inputs to the stage’s inputs. For example, if a dubstep live trio needs 8 channels (kick, snare, synth left/right, bass guitar, two vocal mics, and an FX feed), determine in advance which stage inputs or console channels they will use. Write it down clearly (ideally print it) and give copies to the monitor engineer, front-of-house engineer, and stage manager. When the act finishes, you can refer back to this sheet to ensure all those connections are removed or reset, and use the default patch sheet to plug back the DJ equipment correctly. This level of organisation drastically cuts down on errors – like a DJ starting and the left deck being silent because someone mis-patched the cable after the changeover.

Maintaining a neat stage also helps: tape down cables to avoid accidental pull-outs, and don’t let artists rewire things on the fly without informing the crew. If someone absolutely must change a cable or move a mixer, insist that the stage manager or tech on duty is involved so the documentation stays accurate. Every time a change happens, update your “reset” notes if needed. It’s tedious, but it means faster setup for the next day or the next act.

Rehearse Complex Patches and Unusual Setups

Not all performances are as simple as plugging in a laptop. Some live electronic acts – especially in the bass music world – have elaborate setups with multiple hardware pieces and effects chains. If you’ve booked something out of the ordinary (say a live dub ensemble with mixing desks on stage, or a drum & bass act with a full drum kit and triggered samplers), schedule a rehearsal or extended soundcheck for them. This might happen earlier on the festival day before gates open, or even the night before on an empty stage.

A great example is how large festivals handle headline live acts: When The Prodigy (an iconic live electronic band) played at EDM-heavy festivals, the organisers allotted them extra time and a private soundcheck to set up their extensive backline – from Liam Howlett’s multiple synths and controllers to the live drum kit. Even though The Prodigy isn’t drum ’n’ bass, the principle applies across the board: if an act needs 30 minutes to line-check everything, plan for it. Boomtown Fair once brought in a live DnB orchestra where rehearsals were the only way to ensure dozens of inputs were mixed properly in time.

For smaller festivals or club nights featuring a hybrid live performance, try to arrange a mini-rehearsal during a quieter time. If an artist is local, invite them to do a practice run at the venue a week before. If that’s impossible, at the very least get them to send a detailed signal flow of their setup so your audio team can mentally walk through the patch in advance. Maybe one artist’s drum machine needs to sync via MIDI to their DJ software – knowing that beforehand means you can prepare the right MIDI interface or clock source.

Soundcheck priority: If you have multiple acts in a day, give the most complex act the first soundcheck opportunity, even if they’re not performing first. It’s common at festivals to do line checks in the morning. Use that window to let the complex live act set up all their gear, check lines, and even mark positions on stage with tape. You can then strike their gear (leave it on the riser and roll it off to the side intact) and let the simpler acts (like DJs) soundcheck after, since DJ gear can be tested in minutes. This way, when it’s time for the big live performance, everything is set exactly as it was in soundcheck.

Despite best efforts, remember that festivals are live events – unexpected issues can arise. That’s exactly why rehearsal and pre-checks are invaluable. You might catch a faulty cable, a missing adapter, or a software glitch in a synth before it becomes a show-stopping problem at peak time. It’s much easier to replace or fix gear at 2 PM during soundcheck than at 10 PM in front of thousands of fans.

On-Stage Technical Support: Baby-Sit the First Moments

Even with perfect preparation, the start of a set is when things are most likely to go wrong – a muted channel, a DJ’s USB not reading, or a synth that isn’t outputting sound. That’s why wise festival producers put a tech at the booth for the first two minutes of every set. Essentially, a stage technician or audio engineer stands just out of sight (or even on stage if appropriate) as the artist begins their set, ready to leap in if something’s amiss.

At major events like Tomorrowland or Glastonbury, if you watch closely at the start of a performance, you’ll often spot a crew member observing the DJ mixer levels or listening on a cue headset to confirm sound is coming through. For a drum & bass or dubstep DJ, the first transition is critical – imagine if the DJ hits play and there’s silence due to a disconnected cable. A tech on hand can immediately diagnose (“Channel 2 is down? Switch to Channel 3!”) or quickly swap a faulty CDJ. Same for live acts: a technician can verify that all musicians’ gear is un-muted and audible when they kick off the first song.

Make it a standard operating procedure that your stage audio tech or stage manager doesn’t leave the DJ booth or stage until they’ve confirmed everything is running smoothly. The first couple of minutes are typically enough – once the DJ is into their second track or the band is playing their second song, you can be more confident that the setup is solid. This policy has saved countless shows from derailment. For instance, at a bass festival in California, an artist’s laptop failed to send sound due to an incorrect audio interface setting; the on-stage tech spotted the issue within seconds and corrected it, so the crowd only experienced a brief hiccup instead of a disaster.

Beyond just the start, having roaming tech support through the set is useful, but it’s those opening moments where your presence counts the most. It also reassures the artists – DJs and live performers alike feel more confident knowing a skilled hand is nearby to help if needed. (Newer artists especially appreciate this backup.) Just be sure the tech knows not to interfere with the performance unless absolutely necessary – they are there to support, not to distract or crowd the stage.

Additional Tips: Communication, Scheduling, and Backup Plans

• Artist Communication: Communicate the changeover plan to the artists in advance. Let DJs know if they need to plug into a different mixer for their set, and let bands know if part of the DJ gear will remain on stage. Clarity avoids confusion on show day. Many festival organisers host a brief production meeting or send a tech brief to all artists explaining the stage setup (for example, “CDJs will be available at stage left on a rolling riser, while the centre stage will be used for live setups”). This heads-up helps artists come prepared and cooperate with the plan.

• Scheduling Considerations: When crafting your festival schedule, consider the order of acts. If a live act is going to take longer to change over, you might schedule them at the end of the night or before a longer break. Some festivals deliberately put the sole live band of the night as the closer so that there’s no act following them (meaning no pressure if they run over on changeover or need extra time). Alternatively, place a host or MC segment right before the live act to buy time – the MC can hype the crowd while the band’s final line-check happens behind the scenes.

• Backup Audio: Always have a backup audio source ready to fill any unexpected gaps. For instance, a USB stick with a suitable track or a spare DJ ready to play a “holding” song can cover a few minutes of silence if a changeover hits a snag. In the bass music world, even a hype MC and a creative lighting display can keep energy up briefly. But nothing calms nerves like having a Plan B track cued up if, say, a synthesizer won’t produce sound immediately. Use this only if needed – a seamless show is the goal – but be prepared for the worst.

• Dedicated Stage Manager: Assign a dedicated stage manager or crew chief to any stage juggling live and DJ acts. This person’s sole focus is gear and schedule coordination on that stage. They will direct the hands during changeovers, double-check that the departing act’s gear is fully removed, and ensure the incoming act’s setup is complete. With so many moving parts in a festival, having a “captain” for each stage greatly reduces oversights.

• Failsafe Plans: Discuss contingency plans with your artists. Most performers understand that technical issues can happen. Encourage live acts to have a backup plan (for example, if the bassist’s amp fails, they’ll DI straight into the PA, or if the drum machine crashes, a backing track is ready). Likewise, ensure DJs are comfortable switching to a different setup if needed (say, using festival CDJs instead of their controller if a laptop dies). These mutual backups – artist and organizer – create a safety net that keeps the show going no matter what.

Key Takeaways

Organising mixed live and DJ line-ups is an art, but the right preparation makes it achievable on any scale. Here are the key points to remember:

• Advance Tech Planning: Nail down every live act’s equipment needs well ahead of time – get those tech riders early to avoid last-minute emergencies.
• Dual Setup Efficiency: Use dual risers or separate setups so you can swap a DJ rig and a live rig in minutes. Keep the show flowing with minimal downtime.
• Meticulous Organisation: Label all cables and maintain a “reset to default” stage patch sheet. This ensures quick troubleshooting and re-patching after each act.
• Soundchecks & Rehearsals: Give complex live acts a proper soundcheck or rehearsal. Testing the setup beforehand prevents nasty surprises during the festival.
• On-Stage Tech Support: Always have a technician present at the beginning of each set to handle any issues instantly, ensuring the music never stops.
• Communication & Backup: Clearly communicate the plan to artists and staff, and have backup audio or gear ready. With everyone on the same page and contingencies in place, even the trickiest changeovers can happen smoothly.

By implementing these practices, festival producers can confidently juggle the raw energy of live bass performances with the seamless flow of DJ selectors. The result? Happy artists, non-stop music, and a crowd that never stops dancing — exactly what every great drum ’n’ bass, dubstep, and bass music festival strives for.