House Concerts
Thanks for your interest in booking us for an intimate concert in your home!
What is a house concert?
A house concert is an intimate concert experience where an artist comes and plays in your home. You invite your friends, family, and neighbors over to listen and donate a few bucks to the artist. No smelly bars, no loud cappuccino machines, no sound systems (unless it’s needed), no stages, no tickets. Just great music, good company, and a very personal, intimate experience for all! House concerts have been around for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. The earliest concerts in America were often held at someone’s home. In more recent years, many folk musicians make a full-time living playing in their fan’s homes. Many hosts enjoy the experience so much they host shows regularly and build a community around the shows! Hosting a show by The Intrepid Travelers in your home is easier than you think and we will help every step of the way. Your friends, family, and neighbors will thank you for it!
Here’s what we need to make it happen:
- Space to seat at least 30 people comfortably (the more, the merrier!). They don’t necessarily need to be all in one room, but everyone will need to see and hear us clearly. If your living room or den isn’t quite big enough, consider your quiet backyard (in nice weather), the neighborhood association house, or even your dorm’s lobby. Any space that’s large enough will work, as long as people can see and hear the show.
- More importantly, you’ll need at least 30 people that would come over for a concert at your place. Keep in mind, this isn’t just a social gathering, it’s a concert, so they’ll need to be people who enjoy music and would pay attention. We would recommend this be an adults-only kind of event, kids probably won’t sit still during the show (but we still love ‘em!).
- A guest bedroom. Ideally, two rooms with a full or queen sized bed in each. A space for an air mattress or two would work also.
If that sounds like you, contact us and we’ll find a date that works for both of us. Then you invite your friends, family, neighbors, and any other music fans you know over for that night. If you’re not sure you can do all of that, do you know someone who can? Maybe they would like to host the night for you or you could co-host with them!
RSVPs and Promotion:
We recommend you make it an event. Have everyone bring a pot luck dessert. You could also grill out and have your guests bring the sides and fixings. Food and concerts go very well together! Alcohol is fine with us, but we should all agree this isn’t a kegger or a house party, it’s a concert. Drunk people heckling at a house concert will be an annoyance for everyone!
We will create a digital poster you can use on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc. Use any means to let your friends know about the show. We can also send you invitations, posters, and flyers if you want to print them up.
We will post the event on all the digital concert websites and contact the local newspapers. We also have fans all over the place, so we can let them know about the show and give them your email address to contact you for directions and details.
We also understand that inviting strangers into your home can be a cause for concern, so if you prefer this to be a private, invitation-only event, we won’t tell anyone and will put it down as a private house concert on our public calendar.
We highly recommend asking people to RSVP for the event. This gives us both an idea of how many people to expect, how much food to prep, and tells you if you need to invite more people. Facebook events are helpful, but you might also try Evite or Socializr. If you allow us to publicize the event, we can send people to those digital invitations to RSVP, which gives you the option to screen who you invite into your home.
Other Details:
We recommend a suggested donation at the door of $10 per person. When you invite people for the concert, be sure to let them know about the suggested donation in advance. This would not be a good surprise! if you’re not comfortable asking your friends for money at the door, an easy option is to setup a tip jar near the door and put up a sign with something like:
SUGGESTED DONATION
$10 each/kids free
All proceeds go to the musicians!
THANKS
We will have CDs at the show and will be happy to chat, sign CDs, take pictures, etc after the show.
We will video tape each show, if you don’t want us to, please let us know in advance. We use the videos on our YouTube channel and for our own learning and archives.
We ask that you provide two meals for us also, dinner the evening of the show and breakfast the next morning (if we stay overnight). Once we work out a date, we’ll send you info about the meals (like allergy info, etc).
Still Need More Info About House Concerts?
How to Host a House Concert (pdf)
eHow Videos: How to Host a House Concert