The band’s wishes.
With positions.
No more digging through page nine of a PDF for “no strobe please”. Backlion puts each band’s lighting wishes and specials on the same stage plan the sound and backline crews use, and tells you what to refocus between bands.
Numbered specials, measured in metres
Bands mark which musicians want a spotlight. Each gets a numbered special on the lighting plan, with its position in metres from stage right and from the front edge, taken from where that musician actually stands on the stage plan. When the band moves someone, the special moves too.
| SPECIAL | WHO | FROM SR | FROM FRONT |
| S1 | Anna | 1.4 m | 2.5 m |
| S2 | Ben | 5.0 m | 1.8 m |
| S3 | Eva | 8.3 m | 2.2 m |
What they want, and what to avoid
Each rider carries the band’s lighting wishes in fixed fields, so every band answers the same questions: colours, what to avoid, strobe OK or not, haze OK or not, front light, and free notes for the lighting designer. They print on the rider and the per-band pages, and show up where they matter on show day.
Warm amber, deep blue
Strong backlight on keys
No strobe
OK
Normal
Blackout before the last song
Refocus steps between bands
Every changeover has a lighting column: specials to refocus (“S1: refocus for Anna, 6.4 m → 1.4 m from SR”), the incoming band’s colours, and warnings like “No strobe”. Tick them off with the rest of the crew.
Same drawing as sound and backline
The plan you light is the plan the stage crew builds: the same positions, the same musicians, the same version the venue froze. If the venue changes the stage after the freeze, the band is asked to acknowledge it, and nobody works from an old drawing.
Questions
Does it export to my lighting console?
Not yet. Backlion gives you the wishes, the specials with positions and the refocus steps; lighting-console exports are not in the product today. Tell us which desk you run and what you’d want from it.
Can I print the lighting part on its own?
The full rider has a lighting section with the plan and specials, and the per-band pages carry the wishes. Print just the pages you need.
Where does the special’s position come from?
From the musician’s position on the band’s stage plan, or on your stage if you moved them there for this event.