Show dictionary · Audio
Line Check
A line check is the verification that every input on the stage reaches the console: an A2 works down the input list (scratching each mic, plucking each DI line) while engineers confirm signal channel by channel. It checks the plumbing, not the mix.
In practice
Line check is the changeover’s core ritual: with patches rebuilt between bands, the only way to trust channel 14 is to hear channel 14. Experienced A2s run it briskly and in list order, because a random-order line check finds problems slower and misses swapped pairs.
When a support act is "line check only," their engineers mix the show cold: gains and mixes get built during the first song. It is a compromise of stage time, and it is why festival engineers show up with prepared console files.
How you’ll hear it
"Line check from the top: kick... kick... snare top..."
Related resources
Part of the eventools.io Show Dictionary, a free glossary of live event production terminology.