I’ve been hosting house concerts first in Sunnyvale, and now in San Francisco, California for around seven years. Over the course of several dozen shows, I’ve had the good fortune of having some of my favourite musicians play in my living room.
Frequently asked questions
- So what is a house concert, anyway?
- It’s a wonderful way to experience music. You hear an acoustic sound in an intimate
setting. There’s no smoke, no drunks, and no obnoxious suits.
- Will there be house music?
- No.
- Is this a house party?
- No.
- Is this a “house series”?
- Huh?
- Where is the concert?
- In my living room. Really.
- How many people come to these shows?
- Usually about 35, though we’ve had anywhere from 20-47 people.
- When should I arrive?
- Between 7:30 and 7:59 is good. If you’re late, don’t ring the bell; call, and I’ll let you in.
- What time does the show end?
- The performance ends around 10. However, you are encouraged to stick around after and mingle (and eat dessert).
- Is the food vegan?
- Sorry, no. The cake’s got eggs in it. And milk.
- What about parking?
- There’s plenty of street parking.
- What if I don’t have a car?
- I live within walking distance of the Caltrain station, and the Muni buses drop you off as close as half a block away. If you want to carpool, let me know, and I’ll try and put you in touch with someone else coming from your area.
- Do you have pets?
- No.
- Can I bring my pet?
- No.
- Can I smoke in your house?
- No.
- Should I take my shoes off?
- Sure, if you want to.
- Will there be dancing?
- Nope. But I wouldn’t stop you if you tried (assuming you could find room).
- May I take pictures?
- Yes, but please keep flash photography to a minimum.
- May I record the show?
- That’s fine with me; check with the performer beforehand.
- Is there an age requirement?
- People of any age are welcome. However, it’s important that everyone remain quiet throughout the performance. If you plan to bring young children, talk to me beforehand.
- Can I blog about this concert?
- Sure.
- How much are the shows?
- The suggested contribution is $10, but you are welcome to give more.
- Who gets the money?
- The performer. Every cent.
- Will there be CDs and merch for sale?
- Indeedy.
- Who should I bring?
- Bring a friend! Bring a date! Bring your Mom! Bring all three!
- What should I bring?
- Drinks and snacks will be provided, but if you’d like to bring
something to share, I’d be really grateful. If you have folding chairs,
let me know.
- Anything else I should know?
- Please turn off the ringer on your cell phone.
If you’re interested in finding a house concert in another area or hosting your own show, check out houseconcerts.org, houseconcerts.com, Russ & Julie’s House Concerts, Concerts in Your Home and the HouseConcert Yahoo Group.
Alan Bershaw wrote a history of the living room tour for the Everyday Angels mailing list a while back. Meredith Tarr and Woj run a living room concert series in New Haven, Connecticut.
House concerts in the bay area
The site, which is valid XHTML and CSS, was hand-coded by me in TextMate. There’s some nifty PHP and MySQL going on behind the scenes, running on my trusty Ubuntu Linux box. The nifty tabs came from A List Apart and Andrew Wooster. Tantek Çelik showed me how to do microformats and lose some tables. Everything here is © 2005–09 Paul Schreiber and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.
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