TeamBall Collective

On January 31st, the Music Industry Club met Max, Ted, and Nico from the TeamBall Collective, a local group that helps organize house shows around the city. During their visit, they explained what hosting a house show is like, the logistics, and how to be successful in carrying them out.  

The first point was booking the “right” bands, and understanding the methods of booking bands that will create a fun environment for a house show. The loudest band or biggest draw should be last and o bands should always be in the middle unless otherwise preferred. They also emphasized that the musical styles of the bands don’t need to be the same, but the groups and music should go well with each other. Along  with booking the right bands, when forming the lineup, the energy should trend upward as the night  

goes on; the most energetic group shouldn’t be the first to perform. 

They moved on to talk about marketing for the show and getting people informed. If you are planning a  show, make sure that the bands will promote the show so their fan bases can attend. It is especially important to create an eye-catching show poster as this can potentially bring in new people. Hang these posters up in popular places, like your campus dining hall or popular concert venues. You could also make a cool promo video and make sure to share it because these types of things usually get around quickly. Another idea is to send show details to every group chat and subreddit you have access to,  basically be really annoying about it in the words of TeamBall. The most basic way to spread information is word of mouth and usually works very well. Tell all your friends, make sure everyone you have a  connection with knows that you’re hosting. On the day of the show, you can reach out to all the people you informed to ask if they plan to come. Lastly, document the show on social media! Create cool visuals and make people aware that your house show was super fun. They may see that the show was fun and come to the next one!  

Next up is planning when to hold a show and how to organize the timing of the show. TeamBall recommends that big shows should always be on Friday and Saturday nights and should ideally be from  8-12. When planning the date of the show, plan so you have enough time to organize the event. Avoid long school breaks, travel holidays and other times when your target audience would be unavailable to attend. Once you’ve decided on a date, be sure to tell your neighbors so they’re not caught off guard when there’s loud music playing at 12AM. You should leave an hour for doors before the first group starts and avoid pushing back the start time by more than 30 minutes unless there’s a serious emergency. Be wary of severe weather, especially winter house shows. In the winter, provide extra time for doors, lay down tarps for dirty shows, etc. Also, make sure there’s an understanding of the parking situation, whether there is on-site parking or not, the attendees should be aware of this.  

For the safety and security of the show, make sure to tell attendees to DM for the address on social media so the location isn’t available to random public. It’s important to have a security team and have at least as many people as there are entrances. Make sure to have a door person who can ensure that people coming into the house aren’t suspicious. Ensure that all valuables in the house are locked away and block away entrances to bedrooms or other private spaces. For the bands, have one room where they can safely keep their gear. Have a security member or trusted person in every room that attendees are allowed in and make sure the security is visible and known for attendees in case of an emergency.  From experience, TeamBall recommends that BYOB is best so that you/the hosts aren’t held accountable for any mishaps or people getting out of control. Make sure that the house has a public access bathroom and an area with clean drinking water with cups. 

Regarding the presentation and production of the show, TeamBall recommends hosts decorate the show area with proper stage lighting and color-changing lights or LED strips to make the ambiance more inviting and fun. If you’re hosting a themed show, make sure to also have themed decorations and even a  dress theme. With production, ensure that there is a back-lined drum set for all the groups and tell individual drummers to bring snare and cymbals on their own. You must have a PA system and a  minimum of 2 microphones for a satisfactory performance. The SM57 microphones are recommended and are decently affordable. When the groups arrive at the location, help them load in and get organized. You don’t necessarily have to help them load out but make sure they know where everything is. It’s also crucial to have a prepared playlist on aux for set changeovers and for pre/post-show background music.  

Lastly, TeamBall spoke about the financials that go into planning a house show. Standard door cover is usually between $1-$5 and if you’d prefer no cover fee, you can go around asking for donations. Make sure to establish the split of money beforehand! It makes the entire process smoother and decreases  

tensions. Unless you’re hosting a charity show, ensure that the artists are always paid. Typically, the opener should have the 2nd largest draw on the bill. If you are hosting a charity show, they should be themed and widely promoted as such. When collecting cash, have a runner who can store it in a secure,  unknown location. It’s also important to have a “fallback” fund in case something happens at the show  (holes in walls, broken floors, etc.). The most important advice that TeamBall can give is: always be ready to pivot!! In the case of emergencies or planning mistakes, ensure that there are fallback plans. 

Questions: 

MIC: Do you find the most success in social media, word of mouth, or posters for marketing a show? 

TB: It’s a little bit of everything because there’s an active scene of concertgoers who rely on word of mouth for big events, however, if you can do your due diligence to promote events on social media, do it! I think our social media, specifically promo videos, were our most successful methods of promotion.  

MIC: How much do you typically make each show? 

TB: We do not take in as much as the artists, so it depends, but usually $50-$150 per show. When we started, we made maybe $50-$100 on a good night but once we started doing covers, we made closer to the $100 range. Once again, it’s like paying yourself out like a band, it’s an equal split. We’re making money so we can host more shows, but it’s also important for us to set aside emergency money. The whole event might be $400-$600 so once we split it between the bands, the emergency fund, and then pay ourselves, it ends up being that much.