Battle of the Bands

[achstechdirector]

Our school is considering hosting a battle of the bands as a fundraiser for the theatre department. Is this a good fundraiser? What are the pros and the cons. What all is involved in hosting one of these? Is this very popular in high schools? What are some suggestions on organizing and executing this fundraiser? All ideas are welcome?

[ReiRei]

In both of the high schools I've gone to we've done a Battle of the Bands every year. In my old school, we just did it in the commons but at Ashland High, we've done it at the gym and I think we're going to do it at the armory this year because we have no gym.

All of the administrators and my TD even won't let Battle of the Bands so much as sniff the inside of our theatre. It wasn't built for bands that don't really know quite what they're doing. Even during the talent show, a few bands entered and it was a huge mess of bleh! One band brought their own microphone and mixer and it didn't work when they went to play so we just took them out another mic. During sound check only one of the bands listened to anything the Sound guy and I had to say. If their guitar was so loud that you couldn't hear the singer and the bass, we would tell them and they were basically like, "what do you know? You're not in a band!"

It is a pretty popular thing in high schools and they usually have a big turnout though, so if you can deal with teenagers and their giant egos then it'll be worth it.

Make sure everyone knows when sound check is. Write it on their forehead if you have to... Five hundred times...

[achstechdirector]

I have had to deal with ego for a long time so I am good.
Should they sign a contract?
Where do you make the money?
I am completely stupid about this. It got suggested and since Im the Prez they said research and get back to us at the next board meeting.
Do bands pay a fee?
Is there a prize?
What should you charge?
Someone said something about door prizes?

[NickJones]

Try an in-school one, we had a sucessfull one last year, meaning the students are the ones playing, (This year's one epic failed) basicly, students paid $1 or $2 to get in, and they got to watch bands playing for the whole of lunchtime, Gyms aren't the best places to work, especialy in terms of lights. The easiest thing to do is to not bother about a wash (if your gym is like ours that is with the clear plastic roofing) because you allready have light, and just make some chases or somthing, in the end I decided to give up on doing lighting in the gym and just focus on the Vision Mixing. Nothing like chroma keying flames & satan dancing over a band in a Christian School.....
Nick

[Gretsch]

Few tips:

Charge people at the door. Don't pay the bands get donated prizes from local companies (i.e. sports tickets, movie tickets, gift cards, studio time...ect.) Have bands sign an "intent to compete" contract that includes clauses that say the band forfeits all prizes and is liable if any damage occurs to the facility. Tell all the bands they all get the same amount of mics (7 drum, 1 bass, 3 guitar, 3 vox) and the same amount of imputs and monitor mixes NO MATTER WHAT. This eliminates a band wanting to bring their 32 piece kit or to have a 13 piece orchestra. Also they all need to told they all have the same amount of setup/line check/sound check time (say 20 min) this keeps bands from getting super picky with their mixes and keeps the playing field level. Finally just generally schedule the crap out of it. All the bands should know when to show up, when to set up, when to be on deck, and when to play. Don't let them bring friends in for free (or you don't make money.) Battles of the bands can make lots of money if you make it compelling to compete, and limit your talent, 4 or 5 good bands competing will do the best. Hope all this helps.

T

[museav]

Get an attorney involved, probably one from the school. You have numerous issues to address from liability (e.g. what happens if anyone is injured while on the school property or if a performance somehow causes injury or damage) to intellectual property (e.g. performance rights for any cover songs) to address, especially as this is not an "educational" function for the school and if you charge for admission. You may also have to address things like what if a band cancels or 'no shows'. If it is an official school function, the school administration may want to preview or approve what is played just to be sure they do not incur any potential liability. Also think about things like whether any security may be required, what happens if a band damages your equipment (intentionally or unintentionally) and so on.

I agree with Gretsch on the scheduling, and be ready to enforce it, but I disagree a bit on the tech limitations. While I concur that any tech requirements or limitations should be addressed and discussed upfront before any band commits, I would not necessarily put a specific limit on it unless it really is a physical limitation of the facility or system and would definitely not apply such a specific assignment, keep it more generic such as total number of inputs, number of monitor sends, etc. You might also want to require every band to reset everything to some nominal default setting, I have seen bands intentionally mess with things to make it difficult for the next band. Oh, and some reasonable sound level limitation is typically a good idea so that it is about the music and not who runs the system the loudest, potentially damaging it in that pursuit.

Quite frankly, I have yet to see a "battle of the bands" that wasn't somewhat a joke in regards to the outcome. I still remember one where all bands had to be unsigned, and they were when they initially entered the contest. However, the winning band, which was far from the best performance, just "happened" to have signed a contract with one of the judges days before the actual competition. So identify up front how the winner will be selected and be willing to address any resulting "disagreement" from the audience (that may be where some security requirements come in to play).

[achstechdirector]

I think that I have more details.

Admission Price: $3
Event Starts: 7:00pm
Band Entry Fee: $15m (they will pay double to do it but...)
No. of Bands: 5
Location: School Theatre

We don't have drum mics or subwoofers, what do you suggest?
We really don't have a large budget since this is sort of an awareness fundraiser (Raise awareness of our program, and make 100 dollars)

Our schoold doesn't interject in our programs or fundraisers, as long as noone gets hurt. Sometimes I thnk the administration forgets where here.

[lieperjp]

My advice: If you're not able to have the same equipment for each band (not bring your own amps) or if you don't have the equipment to do so, find a way to minimize set changes. People (students especially) get bored during the few minutes it takes to switch bands. Find some really good emcees to fill that space and keep the audience happy. People will get less rowdy.

Also, make sure you and your team have final say over sound. If the guitar is too loud, they have to turn it down on your say so. This prevents people from coming up to you later and saying "I couldn't hear the words!!!"

With regards to drum mics, you may not need them, depending on your space. And depending on your speakers, you may not need subs. If you can't get them, you can't get them. If you DO need drum mics, spare SM57s or 58s work well. If any of your bands are trying to go pro, they may even have a kit mic set. Or check with your music dept.

[achstechdirector]

I don't believe we will need to mic drums but i don't know about subs
Thanks for all the help and I am pretty sure that we will do like the sound co. in the FOH article about the grammys did. Our men will actually turn the knobs and their sound guys can advise during sound check and be there during the actual event, but I doubt that the bands will have a problem with this. I have ran sound for most of them and they, for the most part, trust my team.

[Eboy87]

Regarding set changes: have a stage manager. I've done far too many shows like this where we constantly run behind schedule because no one is in charge. Have a schedule made out for set duration, changeover times, etc, and have someone in authority enforce it.

Regards to drum mic'ing. If you have a condenser and a large boom stand, you may get away with a single overhead (unless you have a china basher) and something on kick, like a '57.