How the data is decided

Methodology

Every time on EventTimes is either Observed (reported for that show, with a source) or Expected (derived, always labelled with its basis). This page states the rules in full, with worked examples computed by the same code the pages run. Last reviewed 2 September 2026.

Written and maintained by Emily Dyson, site owner

1. Observed times: the agreement bar

A crowd-reported stage time is published only when it clears all three rules. Nothing weaker is shown; it is logged and waits for corroboration.

Same moment. Reports within ±5 minutes of each other describe the same time. The most-reported exact time in the cluster is the one shown.
Independent sources. One source per distinct URL. Three comments in one thread count once.
Two sources, or one plus a reader. A cluster publishes on two independent sources, or one source corroborated by an approved reader report within the same ±5 minutes.

Worked example (live code)

21:05 · example-review-site.test
21:08 · www.reddit.com (same thread)
21:06 · www.reddit.com (same thread)
20:30 · example-forum.test

Strongest cluster: 21:05 from 2 distinct source(s); the 20:30 report sits outside the window and is discarded. Publishes: yes.

The first report alone: publishes no. The same single report plus an approved reader report of 21:03: publishes yes.

2. The confidence floor

Every fact row carries a source URL, a source type (official, community, reader submission, or computed), a confidence score, and the dates it was first seen and last verified. Any field below 0.6 confidence, or with no value, renders as absent. There are no defaults: a missing curfew is shown as missing, never guessed.

3. Expected times

When a show has no observed time, an Expected time is derived in this order and always shown with its basis text and the grey Expected badge:

Headliner: the median start across this tour’s observed shows (needs at least 2), else the midpoint of the venue’s typical headline slot.
Finish: headliner time plus the tour’s median set length, capped at the venue’s verified curfew for that day of the week.
Doors: the official listing when present, else the venue’s usual doors time.

Worked example (live code)

Headliner expected 21:35, tour median set length 105 minutes → projected finish 23:20. Venue curfew 23:00 → shown finish 23:00 (curfew-capped).

4. Venue facts

Curfews, bag policies and capacities come only from the venue or operator’s own pages and documents, quoted verbatim, with the quote kept in a dated verification script. A premises-licence closing hour is not a curfew and is never used as one. Wikipedia, resellers and listings sites are not sources for these fields.

5. Last trains

Last-departure tables are computed from the Department for Transport’s Bus Open Data Service GTFS timetables (buses, trams and light rail; refreshed weekly), matched to the stop nearest each venue by platform-level stop code. Heavy rail is not included. Early-morning rows whose service day is ambiguous are excluded. Toronto and New York venues use the TTC and MTA GTFS feeds the same way. Every table shows the timetable date it was computed from.

6. Data sources and dates

Shows and tours: Ticketmaster Discovery API, synced daily.
Observed times: reviews and community reports found by a nightly search, plus moderated reader reports, through the agreement bar above.
Venue facts: official venue and operator pages, verified by hand on the date shown as “last verified” on each page.
Last trains: BODS GTFS (UK), TTC and MTA GTFS (Canada, US), refreshed weekly.

7. What this site refuses to do

Invent a stage time, curfew, capacity or bag rule from a model’s memory.
Present an Expected time as an observation, or drop the basis text.
Publish on a single source, or let one thread corroborate itself.
Loosen any of these rules to make more data publish.
Use setlist.fm data on published pages (their API terms).

Every published change is listed on the changelog. Spot an error? Use the report form on any venue or show page.