Okay, I got an idea recently. Our area needs a showcase or something for bands. At the one existing venue, bands aren't allowed to be vulgar or use too much distortion. This is where I figured that maybe I could put it on.

I'm not doing this for money. I'm doing this for Social Failure, Faceless Emotion, Broken Sound and all the other bands in the area.

I've never undertaken something like this. There's a lot I haven't figured out. I talked to Ziv about this a bit and she's been helpful. I figure I'd better ask the rest of my family who assumably knows a buttload more than I do.

Here are my notes thus far in their entirety:

Possible bands
-Tragick the Clown
-Social Failure
-Broken Sound
-Faceless Emotions
-Diamonian

Necessities
-Advertisement
-Flyers
-WOM
-Space
-Rec center?
-Sound board
-Basic lights
-Security
-Staff

Stage effects
-Fog machine
-Black lights
-Red rope lights

Merchandise
-Refreshments
-Sodas
-Soft pretzels
-Hot dogs
-Chips
-Other food
-Merc tables
-First come/first serve?
-Limited time?
-Fee?

Scheduling
-1 hr. sets: 15 setup-30 performance-15 tear down
-start when finished set up
-East Nassau bands & Carrie’s band(s) take precedence over Jax &
west Nassau bands
-Tryouts?
-Submissions?
-Standby?
-Application
-Band name
-Members’ names
-Genre/style
-“Please be as specific as possible (e.g. goth
rock, grunge, alternative, industrial, acoustic,
hardcore, etc.).”
-DQ if “rock”?
-Pay to play
-Nominal fee
-$25?
-Refundable if cancelled
more than five days
before show.
-Pay bigger bands?
-Combo?
Rules/regulations
-Smoking outside
-No moshing?
-No inter-scene violence

Yeah, I know some of it sounds silly, but I live in a rural town and I'd be attempting to break even. If there's any issue with what I've put down or you have any suggestions, tips, pointers or whatever, pleast let me know.

Find out licensing laws in your state/county. You'll certainly need a license if you want to serve alcohol, and another one for selling food/drink in general, probably a third for having live music... also find out any regulations covering how you can set up your venue (fire safety rules and such). Make sure you stay on the right side of the law, basically - it's easy to trip up, with something like this.

There's no way in Hell we're gonna be able to serve alcohol. I don't have a liquor liscense and even if I did, the powers that be hate the youth.

Tomorrow, I'll talk to one of the employees at my uni who used to book concerts and was once a roadie. (why he works at UNF, I have no idea). He'll be able to help out.

On Wednesday, I'll head to the city hall building and check things out. Hopefully this won't be like pulling teeth.

Depending on the general mood of your town, this might be abitch and a half, it might be slightly annoying. Just remember: do everything by the book. Legal technicalities can really bone you up the ass. I'd recomend an outdoor concert. It'd save money on the rec center, I'd imagine and you can fit a decent amount of people there. If you can pull it off, more power to you.