The latest trend rocking America is the house concert. A house concert allows you to draw even distant friends and contacts into an intimate setting to share a common experience.
While some people would rather fly in a famous cover band from California and set up an event at a local bar or hotel for friends and family, you don’t have to go that far. Please peruse our brief guide for hosting a successful house concert below.
Search Out Talent
Depending on how many people you want to draw to your event or how special the occasion may be, you will want the most talented performers to attend. In booking a band or solo performer, it is important to let them know all the details.
Pick a performer with a large online portfolio so that you can share the music with your friends before the event. Hopefully, they like the band and will mark their calendars. If you grew up with a group of friends and shared common interests with them your whole life, it won’t be hard to find something everyone will enjoy.
If you are not originally from the area, you may want to consider a band that plays popular music of the sort you might hear on the radio. Popular music is typically based around a good melody, quality vocals, and relatable lyrics. These acts will have less dependence on instruments and generally play major chords.
Refreshments
It is advisable to make the event even more fun by asking guests to bring their own food and drinks to share in a type of potluck dinner. If your friends aren’t vocal about possessing great culinary skills, you may consider buying or renting a smoker to make savory barbecue. Generally, people don’t get to eat melt-in-your-mouth barbecue every day and will find the event memorable if it is good.
Reservations
Send out invitations to your friends and family who you want to attend so that you can calculate the price upfront. Your budget will be blown if you are not able to draw a crowd to donate and share the costs of the event.
Since some people may back out at the last minute, you should overbook just in case. If your property is large enough, you may want to expand the guestlist by inviting co-workers, neighbors, or even the entire town. If the event is too big, however, you may need to obtain permits from the city to host such a concert.
Decide Upon Exterior or Interior Spaces
Outdoor concerts are generally the most fun. The great outdoors provides your guests with plenty of room to spread out and socialize. In many cases, you will have enough room to set up different activities to encourage group behavior. A trampoline, a dart board, and a corn hole kit can all be set up in designated areas to keep people busy. Make sure you have enough outdoor seating that is comfortable so people can relax during the concert.
It is advisable to build a stage so that everyone will be able to see and hear the act from any distance without distorting the sound quality. Amplification is usually required for outdoor acts because natural acoustics are generally not available outdoors. For this reason, you will want to make sure the band is there early to set up and conduct a sound check.
