Front of house names the sound the audience hears and the person mixing it. It also names the desk position, usually a fenced square in the middle of the room.
The engineer
A touring front of house engineer travels with the artist and mixes every show the same way. Without one, the venue's house engineer does it from a soundcheck and an input list. Both are normal at club level. Above roughly 1.000 capacity, most artists carry their own.
What they need
- The input list and stage plot in advance
- A desk they know, or the time to learn the house one
- A soundcheck, or a line check when the schedule kills the soundcheck
- Room at the mix position, and not under a balcony
The other front of house
In venue management the same phrase covers the audience side of the building: box office, bar, door staff and cloakroom. Context decides which one is meant. See Monitor engineer.