A successful living room concert is a gathering of friends who enjoy great music and find it intriguing to meet a talented singer-songwriter in a personal setting.  These concerts are simple to organize, cheap to produce and you’re virtually guaranteed a packed house, a pleasant atmosphere and a decent wage for the performer.  It's your chance to see Dave Caruso in concert, up close and personal for you and your invited guests.

Audience Size: It takes an audience of at least 25 people to generate the good energy for a really successful house concert.  A few more is even better.

Room Size: A living room of about 300 sq. ft. or larger.  By moving the furniture around, you can get a lot of bodies in that space.  It might be snug, but coziness is one of the charms of house concerts.  If your living room is too small, have a friend to host it and you can handle the promotion.

Stage: Create a "stage" area in front of the fireplace or an open corner of the room.

Seating: There are several ways to seat 30-40 people in a living room.  Ask everyone to bring a folding chair or cushion.  Borrow stacking chairs.  Arrange for people to lounge on the floor.  Arrange all seating to face the stage.

Price: A $12 donation in advance (up to a week before the show), or $15 after that.  Insist on pre-paid reservations.  They’ll indicate how many people to expect, provide information about seating and refreshment needs and compensate the performer even if people cancel.  If people are reluctant to commit to pre-sales, explain that it's the only way they'll be guaranteed a seat.

Who To Invite: Your audience - and typically upwards of 90% of it - will be people you know or friends of theirs, so just start talking it up with friends, relatives, people at work, neighbors, your children's teachers, the family doctor, check-out clerks, your mechanic, bank tellers - anyone you come into contact with on a day-to-day basis whom you think might enjoy live music. Let them know someone cool is going to come perform an original music concert right in your living room.  Tell them how much you love the music and describe what the music is like.

Promotion: Dave will provide a write-up and fliers with space to write for promoting your concert.  You can bolster these with e-mail notifications and reminders.

Meet & Greet: Before the show, Dave will greet your guests as they arrive.

Show Time: For Fri-Sat shows, start about 8 or 8:30pm. For Sunday shows, start about 7 or 8pm.

Starting the Show: Welcome everyone.  Ask everyone to silence their phones.  Give a short introduction of the performer and start the show.

The Show: Living room concerts typically consist of two sets of original music of about 30-45 minutes each with a 20-minute break between for people to stretch, chat, have refreshments, visit the facilities, purchase the artist's CDs, etc.  Dave utilizes a storyteller format, mixing stories from his personal and professional experiences with his songs.

During the Break:  Consider providing light refreshments.  Ask a few friends to bring finger food and/or a bottle.  Have a volunteer oversee this.  Use two coffeemakers, plus cream, sugar and plenty of cups. Set out a basket with a sign that reads: "Donations for Treats" to help defray your expenses.

After the Break: Re-introduce the performer, then sit back & enjoy the rest of the show.

Smoking: Usually house concerts are non-smoking affairs, with accommodations on the porch, back stoop or patio for smokers before the show, during the break, or afterwards.

Kids: As a general rule it's a good idea to encourage people to arrange for sitters for children below the age of about twelve.

Parking: Is there adequate parking in your neighborhood to accommodate your guests’ cars? Inviting your neighbors might increase parking options.  (Be sure and ask.)

For more information: E-mail Dave.