All Event and "Bar Night" Organizers Only!!

[Jerrid_DOMN8R]

@YRDaddy - busy, crap day - i'm wrecked.
I'll look to call tomorrow sometime.

[YRDaddy]

@YRDaddy - busy, crap day - i'm wrecked.
I'll look to call tomorrow sometime.

No worries. I'm pretty busy myself Thursdays and Fridays. I'm usually free on weekends though. We'll connect eventually. Later!

[Sportzter]

Anyone have any thoughts on Staging and what they use to transport their equipment? Anyone willing to post some of the forms they use in the bars for participation?

-Sportzter

[Sportzter]

I have been fascinated by this thread so I have done a little bit of homework just to put some finer $$$ on costs. All of these tidbits of information other than the console info has been provided by the posters & I am just re-posting in one main post with links. The contribution has been overwhelming. Thank you YRDaddy for the OP and all those that have made this a huge wealth of knowledge.

If I missed anything please Post or PM me and I will edit this list.

Great Information here.

- Sportzter

Console & Game Purchases:
PS3 or XBox Elite - $400.00 (Best Buy)
Game Bundle - $180.00 (Best Buy)
Extra Guitars (2) - $150.00 (Best Buy) 1 Spare
Backup Wired USB Mic. - $30.00
Rockband 1 - $30.00 (Gamestop)
AC/DC Track Pack - $30.00
Track Pack Vol 2 - $30.00
Remaining DLC - ~$800.00
Ion Drum Rocker - $400.00 Takes a licking - keeps on ticking
Total Console Start-up Costs ~ $2050.00 +/-

Rig Options Posted:
22" Monitor Drummer - $220.00 +/- Walmart Link
36" Monitor for Guitar, Base, Singer - $500.00 +/- Walmart Link
42" Monitor for the Audience - $800.00 +/- Walmart Link
Drummer Monitor Stand - $40.00 Musicians Friend Link
Band Monitor Stand - $20.00 Musicians Friend Link

PA System & A/V Info:
Matrix B-52 600 - $900.00 Guitar Center Link
4-Way A/V Distribution Amplifier - $50.00 Radio Shack Link
CE LABS AV 400 Prograde Composite A/V Distribution Amplifiers - $50.00 Amazon Link
4-Way SVGA VGA Splitter Amplifier Multiplier 250MHz - $20.00 Monoprice Link
XBOX 360 VGA CABLE - $7.00 Monoprice Link
LightSnake STUSBXLR10 LightSnake USB Microphone cable - $50.00 Amazon Link
2 Port Vocal Box Mod - $30.00 Doc Rocks Band Mods Link

Lighting Info:
Musicians Gear Lighting Stand with Truss (Black) - $100.00 Musicians Friend Link
Chauvet Color Bank 4-Color Sound-Activated Light (2) - $80.00 Musicians Friend Link
Chauvet PAR 36 Pinspot with Bulb (4) - $52.00 Musicians Friend Link
American DJ PAR-38B Can Buy Two and Save (4) - $60.00 Musicians Friend Link

Songbook Info:
My Rock Band Songs Website Information - Link
DLC Quick Play Website Information - Link
User RockbandLosAngeles will sell for - $75.00 - Talk to him for other Offers

Advertising Info:

Hit the web hard for advertising if you're near a decent metro area. The forums here, of course, as well as Scorehero, Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter are the vast majority of my marketing. I also advertise in a few local entertainment magazines but they really don't bring a turnout. (Side note: Why do I spend $400 a month on useless ads?)

MTV Info:
Rock Band Nights - Link

User Webstites:
www.deathofthearcade.com (Denver)
www.allwillrock.com (Chicago)
www.rockbandnightlsa.com (L.A.)
www.rockoutproductions.com


Other things that have been noted in the posts.

• Plexi-glass for the drummers monitor for protection
• HD output is probably not necessary for a bar atmosphere
• Always have NO-FAIL mode active
• Back-up instruments and backup consoles are a must.
• XBox or PS3 - it is your choice
• All have agreed that your Presentation is just as important as the product.
• ALL of the DLC is not a must, but mainstream DLC is a must.
• The Women tend to Sing the most
• Most have agreed that the Vocals Track should be turned down below 50% - Tweak as you need to
• The Band track should be lowered to around 50%-70%
• The Actual Singers track should be at Maximum
• Getting everyone to participate that wants to participate is key. Get those new faces a chance to be a Rock Star!

[TheKitchenMan]

Good job in aggregating all the information on this post, Sportzter. Thanks.

[theRealDarkFact]

Hey all,

Well we just had our first RB2 night. All went well.

What we did was:

200 flyers were handed out, word of mouth, and posting here on the forums.

15 copies of all songs were spread throughout the bar.

Forms were also spread out.
On the form it asked:

Name/Band SEVEN7

X Singer X Guitar Bass Drums

SONG 1 Indestructible

SONG 2 Inside the Fire

SONG 3 Down with the Sickness

Note: (each one of these were checked off accordingly to who was playing) Ex: Singer and Guitar come up to play they would check off Singer and Guitar(the X's above represent checkmarks). This made it easier to set up ahead of time.


We had a full DJ system. While I was setting up for the next band to play we had music playing while I was setting for the next band. When the band was ready to play we announced them and they played.

2 projectors, 1 flat screen TV for the video.
4 led lights on stage, set those to blue.
1 robo light behind the drummer.
Xbox 360 for the console.
2 les pauls
2 RB2 guitar
1 guitar tree (holds 6 guitars only had 3 on it)
1 guitar stand (held 1 les paul)
1 wireless microphone.

It was free to play. It was our first time trying RB2 out in public and just wanted to see what kind of reaction we would get.
They're we people there who tried it out for the first time and speaking with me after the played they said it was entertaining, fun, and that they felt like a ROCKSTAR.
So all in all everyone there that night had a good time.

Any questions, comments, please post.

Rather than have multiple copies of the song list why not have your list in a single place by the host of the event? Wouldn't that cut some costs and ensure maximum usage of your paper and time?

I figure if you can save the little costs it would add up and make the venture more profitable

[TheKitchenMan]

Rather than have multiple copies of the song list why not have your list in a single place by the host of the event? Wouldn't that cut some costs and ensure maximum usage of your paper and time?

I figure if you can save the little costs it would add up and make the venture more profitable

Sure it would cut down on the cost, but it would also only allow one band/person at a time to sign up. I couldn't imagine a bar full of people trying to share one book.

[Zoologico]

Sure it would cut down on the cost, but it would also only allow one band/person at a time to sign up. I couldn't imagine a bar full of people trying to share one book.

The money you'd save would be eclipsed by the audience frustration of having to wait around.

Some people take a long time to read through the entire song list and then they read through again and choose their song.

I have been in a coffeehouse with nigh 10 people with only one songbook (karaoke) and some people just take forever.

[LiquidKourage]

Has anyone ever thought of using electronic "songbooks"? I use a digital hosting system for the karaoke aspect of my shows, and it is FANTASTIC. I've also got a little background in computers/programming, so I don't believe it would be terrible to develop or expensive to implement.

Essentially, you get 2 computers and a wireless router. One computer has to act as a web server (with apache, mysql, etc. installed), and the other acts as a terminal. Basically, you make people sign in, then pick their song from a web interface. You can customize the data that comes back to you, like difficulty choices, names of bandmates, etc.

Anyway, the person picks their song and submits it to you wirelessly, where you can keep a window open that auto-updates the "waiting list".

Updating the system would be as simple as adding new songs into your database.

Any thoughts/interest?

[Zoologico]

I would normally be all over this, but that sounds like way too much tech for a problem that doesn't quite exist.

Normally, I would add technology to anything and everything I could, however, running two PCs, a Web server, a SQL server, and PHP just to do something that isn't really that tough to solve with paper and pencil is not my idea of a good idea, but I don't run these events just yet.

I saw this mostly because as I compile equipment to run this, it is getting to be a lot and I don't want to think about setting up two PCs and troubleshooting any connectivity issues and then also get a wireless router going.

Just seems like overkill. If you run this on your own, you have to split your time between the console, the audio system, the participants, your video system, your lighting system, and be the top level manager of it all. Seems to me two PCs and a wifi router would just complicate things more than it would benefit. Plus, a publicly available keyboard and mouse really have no place around a typical music/bar scene. If anything, it would have to be a touchscreen.

Keep in mind, I've not tried it.

One thing that intrigued me weresome TouchTunes system and it would be cool to have a touch screen for people to do this with throughout the establishment, but even that is way more complicated than you need to make the sign up process.

The way I see it at this point is that for small events (10-20 people) there would be a single sign up sheet with the organizer where people put their song and their band mates and we go down the list. For larger events (20+) there would be individual sign up forms that would get turned in to the organizer.

I have been to two events, both small (<20). One event used a clipboard with a sign up sheet. The other didn't even use any sign-up sheet. Interestingly, both events let the players set themselves up picking a song and difficulty levels. Each time there was a complete band, at least one person was a regular player it seems.

I will make a sign up sheet I plan to use and post it here. I'll make it with the research I've done in mind and I'd like to hear some feedback on it preferably from those folks with experience running these events.