Awesome posts guys, thank you for everyone participating!

I talked to the owner of the bar where I currently host the poker tournaments for my league. We came to a basic agreement about hosting Rock Band nights on Thursday nights. So my quest begins to put all the needed gear together and prepare advertizing.

Does anyone know if there is a place I can download material to create an add? I am talking about logos and graphics here. As anyone asked Harmonix if they have downloadable material to promote rock band nights in bars? I am thinking of putting a permanent vinyl banner in the bar with the info about the weekly event.

I have decided to go with the PS3 system because I already have one along with a Starpex Obsedian guitar, all the software and a bunch of DLC material for it. So it will save me a lot on the startup cost to use mine. I will definatelly make a backup of the hard drive. I have never done it but a friend told me it was really easy to do. The hard drive of the PS3 can also be changed to something bigger, he got a 500 Gb one. So if I ever fill the HD with songs there is a simple solution. Same applies if the HD dies on me at some point.

I believe I can be up and running within about 3 weeks. Advertizing will take the most time to prepare and distribute. The equipment should not be too long to aquire. I will start small and grow as the shows get more popular. I calculated that for about 2000$ I should be able to have a workable solution for the equipment. The items like an Ion Drum will come last. I too am worried about people damaging it and will wait until I have everything else to add this. For the guitars I think I will go with the Starpex I have, and get a Warbeast for the second guitar. I will use my Rock Band 1 guitar as a backup for now even though it is partly defective (overdrive doesn't work and sometimes it looses sync with the console for a sec or two). Silencers for drums seems like a must have. Have you guys ever have people break the drumming sticks? Should I get a spare set?

What do you guys suggest for lighting? I want something cheap to start with. Are the lighting frames expensive? Someone who posted a picture was using one. I can't afford professionnal lighting to start with, I know these lamps cost an arm and a leg. I was thinking of grabbing cheap flood lights at home depot or something. If I put lamps that are not too bright in them, I could have a few... say 4 or 5 of them light the stage and we could dim the light in the room a lot. Would you use color gels to change the lamp colors? Later on I will get lights that sync with the music and maybe strobe lights. Since I can't go with the stage kit, I know this will be a bit more expensive. I did not want to use a fog machine anyway.