Hunt the Hare’s Guide to Hosting a House Concert

So you want to host a house concert? Excellent!

House concerts are an great way to experience live music in a very personal setting. We often get asked to do house concerts, but sometimes the cost of hiring a four piece band is prohibitive. This is unfortunate, because we love doing these kinds of intimate shows.

Here is Hunt the Hare’s guide to hosting a house concert.

The Prep Work

The first thing to do is to pick a date that’s far enough away for your friends and family to RSVP. It will be important that you know the number of people that are expected to be there, as this can effect sound equipment requirements, seating arrangements and what space you use as the stage in your home.

Once you have that date, send out the invitations. They should include a number of specific things:

1. Limited space so please RSVP early
2. What the ticket / admission price is
3. It’s a potluck dinner
4. The name of the band and their website

Selling Tickets or Charging Admission is Recommended

In our experience house concerts that sell tickets or charge admission do better. The benefits of selling tickets include covering costs, tracking the number of guests and setting the tone for the party. A house concert is more of a concert than a party, and by selling tickets or charging admission you are encouraging your guests to focus on the music. This way both your guests and the musicians get the most out of the evening, instead of you (the host) spending money on background music – which is better left to the experts “Spotify”.

Building the Stage in Your House

We’re not about to give you plans for constructing a raised platform, however that would be cool to play on in someones living room. Instead here are some tips for creating the right space in your home that promotes the music as the focus, and the reason why everyone has paid to attend your house concert.

The first thing is setting up concert seating. You don’t need a seat for every person, but creating a stage area, and a seating area that clearly suggests where guests will sit to listen to the music goes a long way. Other things that can promote this focus is ensuring that the food areas, and walkways are in appropriate locations. For example having the food table right beside the stage will making grabbing a quick bit to eat awkward for both the guests and the band.

Speak Before the Show

You’ve invited your friends, found a band and made some food before any music starts to play it is always a good idea to get up to the mic has the host and say a few things. You don’t need to be very long but having a clear beginning to the show will help your guests. Things to include are:

1. Why you’re having the house concert
2. Thank your friends for attending
3. Setting any ground rules (we’ve played house concerts where the host asked guests to refrain from using the washroom between sets)
4. Let people know where the washroom is
5. Finally introduce the band

While this is a small detail, it goes along way to creating a real concert atmosphere.

Have a Potluck

Having food & beverages at your house concert is one of the perks of hosting the concert yourself, otherwise you’d just go see the band at a different show. However cooking for large groups can be challenging, especially if you’re hosting enough people for a small house concert. A potluck makes this easy, and most people don’t mind cooking a single dish.

Get the Right Equipment

This point in close to any musicians heart, having the right equipment. You might think your sweet giant speakers you bought in that yard sale will connect to your musicians instruments and make sweet music – but you’re wrong. Having the right equipment for your home is the difference between being able to hear your bands beautiful music and only being able to hear the bass and kick drum because the other instruments can’t be turned up loud enough.

The good news is most musicians will know what they need, and often have much of their own equipment, listen to them. It is better to have speakers that are more than what you need for your space, and turn them down, than to have skimped out and not be able to hear the band at all.

What Are You Waiting For?

Get planning! Host a house concert, see how much fun it can really be. Remember, once the band has played there show there is still lots of time to socialize with your guests and the band afterwards. It’s not uncommon for Hunt the Hare to just keep playing while inviting the audience to join in.