All Event and "Bar Night" Organizers Only!!

[Zoologico]

Need some help! I own a bar and am interested in doing a mid-week event such as this. Problem: Don't know a dang thing about it. If possible, I would like to learn from others who have been there, done it, to minimize my mistakes. Looking for the "package deal" if that type thing exists. Any suggestions on best equipment, set-up, etc., would be greatly apprieciated!

Thanks to the forum and to anyone who responds!
stubby8177

The first thing you should do is read through this thread. There is a lot of good information, in fact about 75% through it, a member aggregates it all into one post which would serve as the summary, but not the whole picture.

Where are you located?
Have you tried looking for who else is doing this in your area?
If you attend an event, it will help you get acquainted with how they can be run. However, I would say not to set these examples in stone as you will want to customize the event to your liking or more importantly to what you think your patrons will like.

Good luck.

[YRDaddy]

Need some help! I own a bar and am interested in doing a mid-week event such as this. Problem: Don't know a dang thing about it. If possible, I would like to learn from others who have been there, done it, to minimize my mistakes. Looking for the "package deal" if that type thing exists. Any suggestions on best equipment, set-up, etc., would be greatly apprieciated!

Thanks to the forum and to anyone who responds!
stubby8177

Hi Stubby! My recommendation to you would be to hire someone like us to run the "Rock Band Night" for you, especially if you "dont know a dang thing about it". There are a lot of logistics and details that are, to be honest, a pain in the *ss! Constant upkeep on DLC (new songs), equipment maitnence, and having an employee host all night are just some of the burdens that bar owners would rather not deal with. What city is your bar located in? Maybe there is someone local to you that is already hosting "Rock Band Nights" and you two just havn't met yet. Hiring someone to run it for you is really going to be the only way to get the "package deal", otherwise your in for a lot of trial and error. And with the money it will cost you for a very bare bones minimum setup to start out with, you can afford to pay someone for a good 1-2 month trial period to make sure that it is the right event for your business. If there is'nt anyone local to your area, or if your not open to the idea of hiring someone like us, then I would suggest reading all of the posts in this thread to gather enough information to get started. If you have more specific questions after reading this thread we will be more than happy to try and help you out. Later!

Oh, and if you just so happen to be in the Denver, CO area, visit www.deathofthearcade.com . I'd be glad to help you out

[fantasyrockstars]

One idea Sarah talked about, which I really like, was maybe getting us a special controller or game disc so that we have complete control over the instrument settings for every instrument (easy, hard, etc.) so when people start pushing buttons or hitting drums it won't cause us the chaos it usually does, that would be cool.

Cool, doesn't even begin to describe how awesome that would be. If they really want to be sweethearts, tell them that if they could get us a disc that will play both RB2 and TB:RB without having to switch discs that would be awesome. That doesn't violate the stand alone aspect of TB:RB, does it?

[fantasyrockstars]

Those of you out there with all of the DLC downloaded... How much space is that currently eating up on your HDD? Specifically, XBox360. I'm still in the process of getting all the DLC, but funds require that I do it slowly.

On a darker note...
My intial RB party to demo my set-up was an utter disaster. Nothing wrong with the set-up; it performed wonderfully and looked rather professional, IMO. No, the problem was the lack of attendance by my so-called friends. I was really hoping to get some good pics and vids from the event, but alas it was not to be. The ones that did show however, thought the set was incredible. One guy said that he felt like he was actually playing a show.

So, I did manage to accomplish the feeling I was trying to convey. We are now able to do Rock Band, regular karaoke, and DJ services. Now, to start approaching paying clients. Here we go!

[fantasyrockstars]

BTW...I've been on here as TheKitchenMan, just so you know who I am.

[YRDaddy]

Those of you out there with all of the DLC downloaded... How much space is that currently eating up on your HDD? Specifically, XBox360.

I have no clue I have about 59 gb left on my 120gb drive but I also have other things on there like arcade games, 3 disk games loaded to the hard drive, map packs, misc videos, etc...

My intial RB party to demo my set-up was an utter disaster. Nothing wrong with the set-up; it performed wonderfully and looked rather professional, IMO. No, the problem was the lack of attendance by my so-called friends.

Be prepared for this on an official Rock Band Night also. I've been lucky enough to at least have 1 full band show up everytime (which then allowed us to just play "cover band" all night for the people who where'nt playing). Depending on promotion and just general interest in the area that the venue is at, this same scenerio can happen at a paying gig. That is why I try to put as much responsibility as I can on the venue or bar to promote the event, so that they accept some accountability for the turnout. Judging which location Rock Band will be succesful in has really been a crap shot for me. I currently have 3 bars or resturaunts as weekly clients, 2 of which have been going for about 8 months (pretty steady participation & the bar has always made money) and the other for about 2 months (still struggling). But I have also been in and out of 7 other venues where it didn't really take off (1 was my choice). This has all been in just 1 year. Keep in mind that I have a pretty dedicated group of friends ("roadies") that help keep these things going as well so even with their regular participation, things just didn't work out sometimes. Anyways... just a word of caution. Good luck booking those 1st gigs. Let me know if you have any "sales man" type questions I might be able to help you out with. Later!

[GameRansoM]

I have no clue I have about 59 gb left on my 120gb drive but I also have other things on there like arcade games, 3 disk games loaded to the hard drive, map packs, misc videos, etc...

Nearly 18GB currently dedicated to just DLC, with everything DL'd to date - I just checked.
Incidentally, RB2 itself takes up 6.3 GB. I'd highly recommend loading the game to HD to anyone hosting a RB Night with 360. It cuts down on wear & tear on the disk drive as well as protecting against disk-scratching "mishaps".

[LiquidKourage]

So thanks to the recommendations from Jerrid, I'm happy to announce that my video system will be completely revamped sometime next week. Instead of running the single 22" CRT TV and a house video out (over composite connection), I'll be rolling with 3 19" LCD monitors (one stand-mounted for the drummer) and a 4th video out!

On a side note, we really need to come up with some kind of homebrew website/twitter combo to promote everyone's events calendar-style. Anyone want to jump on the bandwagon?

[Zoologico]

So thanks to the recommendations from Jerrid, I'm happy to announce that my video system will be completely revamped sometime next week. Instead of running the single 22" CRT TV and a house video out (over composite connection), I'll be rolling with 3 19" LCD monitors (one stand-mounted for the drummer) and a 4th video out!

On a side note, we really need to come up with some kind of homebrew website/twitter combo to promote everyone's events calendar-style. Anyone want to jump on the bandwagon?

Great news.
Congratulations.
I look forward to your next rockumentary with the new gear.

I'm hosting my "at home" night as a rehearsal this Saturday. I have some families that are Rock Band veterans as well as Rock Band newbies coming.
I am setting everything up early in the week (tonight) to get a list of last minute items still needed and setting up the night before to make sure everything works the way I expect it to.

[fantasyrockstars]

I'm hosting my "at home" night as a rehearsal this Saturday. I have some families that are Rock Band veterans as well as Rock Band newbies coming.
I am setting everything up early in the week (tonight) to get a list of last minute items still needed and setting up the night before to make sure everything works the way I expect it to.

Good Luck. Hope your first goes better than mine. The make-up event I had last Friday was more of a success for me. Got a lot of pics and some video of the event. I will be getting that up in the next couple of days.
I am also doing another practice event at a family reunion this weekend. Should be about 75-100 people there, so I should be able to work on getting my rotation down.
Also, I am selling some software from my last business so, I should have another $700-$800 to throw into this next week after paying off some expenses from the other business.
I am trying to decide what is the best way to spend it. Right now I am running with my personal 360, in which my wife is not too thrilled about. So, for the sake of a harmonious home life, that probably needs to be one part of the upgrades. I think the rest of my PA will eat up the rest of the money.
I said all of that to get to this...
What are you guys that are doing this already using for public display? Are you just plugging into the venue's displays or do you have a dedicated LCD/projector?