All Event and "Bar Night" Organizers Only!!

[Klubby]

1. Not yet... still in debt
2. We haven't had anything break yet, but have only had 7-8 gigs
3. Remained steady but we were doing more one-time events. We recenlty booked a permanent, recurring gig so hope to see that improve.
4. It all depends on where you are located, what bar you are going to be in and how much money they make per night.
5. For a night of 4 hours, I would say I put in about 8-9 hours into the entire night.

[YRDaddy]

Stats from 2009 for Death of the Arcade:

-161 total events for the year
-Avg. of 3 gigs a week
-$22,174 Gross earnings for 2009
-Most gigs run 3-4 hours with an additional 1/2 hr for set up and tear down (total 4-5 hrs per gig)
-I don't count drive time which is usually 20-30min because... well do you factor your drive time into your salary for your 9-5? Milage is always tracked though for tax deduction.
-Equipment failures are inevitable. I went through 1 or 2 standard RB2drum sets, 2 guitars, 2 mic stands, 2 mics, a video splitter, and a few replacement light bulbs and video cables. Probably more but that is all I can think of at the moment.
-The Karaoke price you guys are quoting seems a bit high but I do not live in your area. At that price I would bet that the karaoke host only gets booked 2-3 times a month. I tend to set my prices at a reasonable rate in order to acquire steady work and build a good reputation, rather than focus on that "big payday".

I guess that is all I have at the moment. Hope it helps. Later!

[Gimme Some Critters]

Just wondering if any of the Rock Band Night providers have taken advantage of the program offered on the Rock Band Bar Nights site? I have not seen much activity over there and was wondering if providers are getting benefits from joining, before we make our final decision? Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

[RockBandAtlanta]

Has anyone gotten a call from a Rock Band ambassador?
I thought I was up to speed on all things Rock Band events after running my gig for almost 6 months, but recently I have someone calling me to find out about my events and he says he is a Rock Band ambassador which is a new program to help people doing what I am doing.

Anyone?

[RockBandAtlanta]

Hey Gabe,

How to you safely transport your large LCD that goes up front?

[YRDaddy]

Has anyone gotten a call from a Rock Band ambassador?
I thought I was up to speed on all things Rock Band events after running my gig for almost 6 months, but recently I have someone calling me to find out about my events and he says he is a Rock Band ambassador which is a new program to help people doing what I am doing.

Anyone?

Could be part of a marketing group that the Bar Night Program has contracted to get more bars signed up. I was contacted by a marketing group the other day that wanted to know a little bit more about what I do and how I sell the service to bars. I had a meeting with them and they are out in the field now promoting the Bar Night Program as well as Death of the Arcade Services That would be my best guess, and if he is part of this marketing group, they are on the level, so see how you can help each other out.

Hey Gabe,

How to you safely transport your large LCD that goes up front?

Fits perfect in the back seat of my Scion Xb. Screen against the seat with a bungie holding it upright.

[RockBandLosAngeles]

1. Yes, a nice little side job that puts a few bucks in our pockets. In a nutshell, we're getting paid to play games, eat, drink and meet girls.
2. All of our venues already have monitors and PA systems, so our only equipment is the game itself. In a year and a half: on our second XBox and drum throne. We go through a RB2 drum set about every two months (may have to upgrade to the ION kit if Best Buy ever changes their return policy) while guitars seem to last 4 to 5 months, again, this averages 3 nights a week at 4 hours a night.
3. Participation overall has increased, slowly but steadily.
4. Jeez, if I could make $400 or more a night...and I live in LA. Too many DJs and Karaoke guys in town needing work, so you're usually looking at $100 - $200 per night.
5. Hard to say with multiple venues, the weekly newsletter we email out takes about two hours, half hour drive each way, some occasional shopping.

We have been contacted by a couple of these Rock Band Bar Ambassadors. They seem to be PR people hired by Harmonix to promote Rock Band to bars, and seems they are coming to the same conclusions that we did when the Bar Nights program was started: quit trying to get bars to buy the equipment (they won't) and focus on finding more venues for established hosts like ourselves and promote Rock Band that way. Most bars have a karaoke night and a DJ night. The bars do not own this equipment, they hire someone with the equipment to come in and do the work, why would that be any different for a Rock Band night? Especially with as fragile as this equipment is if not handled and looked after properly? We have two to three bars currently and would like to have 10 to 20 so I could hire some hosts, so any help we could get in that area would be greatly appreciated.

[RockBandAtlanta]

So, want to hear something insane?
I just confirmed a gig that will have 1600 invited guests (expected that about 900 will show).
I will be the primary entertainment. A wild night is putting it mildly.

I am hiring a video crew and photographer.

Any last words of wisdom?

[YRDaddy]

So, want to hear something insane?
I just confirmed a gig that will have 1600 invited guests (expected that about 900 will show).
I will be the primary entertainment. A wild night is putting it mildly.

I am hiring a video crew and photographer.

Any last words of wisdom?

Bring help!! These large gigs are fun but hectic and there is no way you can handle it all yourself. The last Kotaku event we did, I was lucky enough to have about 20 "roadies" on hand to help out in various areas and it made things much easier. Also, try to go in with a marketing plan as well to promote your company (flyers, banner, etc...). A lot of future gigs, opportunities, and bar night regulars can come out of a 900 person event Good Luck!

[bandaddy]

So do you give instructions on being gentle with the equipment, or give people the boot if they are just mashing on a guitar or pounding the drums to death?