Ever have an Event night that you 'own'?

[wheresgrant3]

This weekend is our 8th Annual Mardi Gras party. Since 2004 my band has been hosting an annual 'Mardi Gras' party and it basically fuels buzz about the band and turnout until the warm summer months. This was an idea we came up with, approached bar owners and sponsorships with and have really built our reputation on. We actually have some real history here as well, since this band was basically thought up on a trip to Mardi Gras back in 2001. Our bass player and band leader hosts a semi annual trip of sorts. A guys weekend to NOLA. On one of these trip (which I paid for and at last minute I couldn't attend) our bass player and now band manager were in a bar watching people respond to a Zydeco band. There were people of all ages in the mix but the real spark came from watching a bunch of college girls dance their asses off to music they didn't know or care about..., there were just there to have a good time. A year later we started NUTS with the idea of giving people a good time. playing good music and throwing a party. And 10 years later the formula is still working.

 

So back in 2004 we launched our first Mardi Gras party at a now defunct nightclub. We were making $400 per show and lucky to get family and friends out to see us. The venue was on it's very last legs barely hosting more than 20-30 people on a Saturday night. We got the idea to approach a Morning DJ crew that we knew through a mutual friend to get them to 'independently' MC the evening. What followed was a match made in heaven. The room ballooned to over 300 people for the event and it led to not only our radio sponsorship but our future beer sponsor as well.

 

 

 

When I think about it, it was our first huge drawing gig... and it was all by our own design. I think from that event the 'spark' ignited... Lesson #1- we were we waiting for venues to deliver us an audience to play in front of... we needed to work on our own to bring people to our shows no matter where we were booked.

 

The following year (2005)the same venue wasn't available, so we had to choose a new place. We picked a brand new room that had a pending liquor license. This time we went all in with the radio station a new beer sponsor. Unfortunately after many false promises the venue was never able to get it's liqour licensce in time and we learned Valuable lesson #2... partner only with established businesses that have the ability to partner with you.

 

Since 2008 we've been based in one of our largest local rooms and have built a pretty memorable night. Our draws have been close to Thanksgiving Eve and every year we get more and more people to attend. This is bigger than St. Patty's for us... and perfect timing. In the doldrums of February there is nothing of interest to compete against this night. Effectively, we own it. It've seen a few other local bands observe the success and try to replicate, they just can't produce the same effect.

 

Here's some footage from 2010 which the who crowd is singing Journey's DSB for us:

[video=vimeo;9447215]

 

This video from last year's show sealed the deal with 'Jagermeister' who had given us a trial sponsorship. We actually curtained off the VIP section, filmed a little interview/red curtain area and sent this off to Jager. Withing two weeks we had approval for a 13'x4' banner, 4000 NIAB branded guitar picks, 1000 NIAB branded shot glasses and other swag.

 

[video=vimeo;21102985]

 

 

Again, this has been eight years in the making. Every year we have been tweaking this to make it 'bigger and better'. This year we have Jagermeister sending shot girls for the event and had special t-shirts printed up to give away. We purposely played out of town last weekend and we're off the following weekend after this one. So fingers crossed we can break last years record of 1127 people through the door. Half our band is actually returning to NOLA from Feb 17-22nd to get a little sleazy in the Big Easy. Our bass player, drummer, manager, DJ and a whole group (fans/friends of the band, guys from other local bands) of 14 guys are going down. Hopefully they come back alive.

 

Has anyone considered or planned a regular event night? What makes it successful and what would you do differently if you could to make it a bigger event.