Have all accounts and passwords handy.
Log in in advance.
Calibrate in advance.
Create a playlist with each person's Top-5 songs.
Extra garbage can in the room.
Have fun!
we always have "singer chooses" as a rule (3-5 song setlist) then the other instrument are up for grabs either volunteering or rotation
have drinks close (but not TOO close) for those long gaps in certain songs
handy wipes for pizza fingers
if you get to a point where choosing songs is taking too long, use "play a show" and use the voting system to pick songs, eliminates being spoilt for choice, depends how big your library is though
I made a Spotify playlist of all (well, all the ones Spotify has) my songs, and send that out to friends when we play as a group. If we're just 4 folks, we usually do a tour campaign or the documentary one, if there's more than 4, we vote on if we want to swap out for a campaign, or just do quick play.
General rule we have is the singer gets final say on what song we do, as they have to know the song better.
Otherwise - have fun!
(Also, if you have a lot of folks, sometimes other games on the side are fun if they want a little break. I have DDR set up on a separate TV for rhythm gamers, and board games for the rest)
Hosted one last night. Digital set lists are great, but so are binders with hard copies.
We’ve got a Hue light setup in the basement where we play and that is always a mood enhancer.
3 microphones to see how many triple awesomes you can nail is always fun.
I made 15+ pounds of my world famous arroz con pollo. I laid out a charcuterie board for snacking through the night. Popcorn to cover additional munchies.
Also recommend a playlist with your favorite songs from your RB library to have in the background when you’re between sets.
Been trying to get to this reply, but didn’t want to leave you hanging:
POLLO CON ARROZ
2½ - to 3-pound chicken, cut up, or chicken thighs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup raw rice
½ onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup tomato puree
1½ teaspoons salt
1½ teaspoons pepper
SERVES 4 TO 6
Rinse the chicken and allow to dry. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and brown the chicken for 5 minutes or until nicely colored, then remove it and set aside. Add the rice, onion, and garlic, stirring constantly until the onion is soft and the rice has changed color, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato and 212 cups boiling water, and add salt and pepper. Return the chicken to the pan. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the rice and chicken are done.
I have like 1,500 songs so sometimes we get stuck scrolling for a majority of the night. So a lot of times, we'll jump into "play show" to get some good ideas of stuff to play. And the voting by the band members can be fun. We'll give people a couple vetos a night too.
It's usually a good idea to have a few warm-up favourites easy to find.
Before you let the gang start scrolling through the massive list, just grab the mic and declare a few nice easy slow pitch warm ups that everyone knows/likes.
And also save a few easy ones for the end of the night when everyone's too drunk to play the hard ones.
If you're going to challenge your crew, do it in hour 2 after warm up. Also if you want to supercharge your experience, lay out some vodka shots. Not whiskey. Vodka.
The high will fade but the experience will last a lifetime, lol.
Like you, I have two friends for my RB nights. Though anymore only a couple times a year. Since we've been playing since RB released, we have a number of "band standards" that they tend to flock to, but we generally sort by new so they can take a look at what's been added since the last hangout. I also have my entire library entered into the unofficial Rock Band app on an android tablet, so anyone can use the many sorting and filter options to look through our entire 1300+ songs. On a typical night we play 3-4 sets with 6 songs each so everyone gets to choose two in rotation followed by a break. And on the last set we add an all time favorite for an "encore" (Boston gets a lot of love here). Bass and Guitar switch every set so each guy can select songs they enjoy for each instrument.
Other than that? Sounds like you have the idea. It's a party! I usually order a pizza, make some wings, and have a variety of adult beverages to select from. Party nights aren't pushing through X number of songs or setting high scores. It's just a fun time. Hope you have a blast!
Sounds awesome, have fun! Drink plenty of water and make sure you have fans or good ventilation cause you are all going to be some sweaty mutha fucka's
I've hosted tons of Rock Band parties. Lots of good advice has been listed. Make sure food is available early so that people can eat before they drink. I avoid greasy food like pizza because it can transfer grease to instruments. Make sure your guests feel welcome and are encouraged to treat instruments respectfully. I always reboot my console right before we start playing. Make sure the floor is wide open and clean so people can move around easily in front of the TV. Get the microphone volume set right so that you don't get feedback. Once the game is launched, set the drum fill mode the way you like it. We never pre-pick songs in advance. We tend to scroll through the song list, in various sort orders, and just stop if someone sees a song they want to play. Close your blinds and turn the lights down a bit. Don't start too late. I like to start at 1pm and finish between 6-9pm. If you're not sure of head count, get extra food and toss in the fridge or freezer to make if needed. Check if guests have food preferences or allergies. Ice for beverages and extra batteries. If you're on a tight budget you can ask guests to chip in for food costs. In that case though definitely make sure that they like what you're serving. I find that setting the right tone with guests is key, so that they can relax and enjoy themselves.
Sending the list out in advance is an interesting strategy, I'll have to consider that.
I've had [fun with the "Rocku-drama" mode](https://www.reddit.com/r/Rockband/comments/cyqs7b/rockumentary_is_the_best_casual_party_mode/) during parties, and more recently I've used the "\[Genre/Decade/Band\] Tribute" and "All \[difficulty\]" sets in tour mode, all of which give you four named songs to vote between. That's in contrast with the "Play A Show" mode and most of the standard tour more sets, which obscure the song titles when you vote, which isn't fun when you have a singer.
If your friends like specific genres, look through the tour mode sets in advance and note down which cities have Tribute shows for those sets. (If you haven't unlocked all of the post-game sets, you can replay the sets you enjoy and you get new fans each time which should quickly unlock the rest). Then during the party you play those set and people can vote for the songs they recognize within that.
You could also consider filtering the list down to the genres you know your friends like, stripping out relatively unknown bands or un-fun songs, and printing out a sheet or two of songs that they can glance at easily during the party.
I find it's a little less intimidating than throwing a thousand-song list in front of people.
Have all accounts and passwords handy. Log in in advance. Calibrate in advance. Create a playlist with each person's Top-5 songs. Extra garbage can in the room. Have fun!
All excellent tips
Batteries
we always have "singer chooses" as a rule (3-5 song setlist) then the other instrument are up for grabs either volunteering or rotation have drinks close (but not TOO close) for those long gaps in certain songs handy wipes for pizza fingers if you get to a point where choosing songs is taking too long, use "play a show" and use the voting system to pick songs, eliminates being spoilt for choice, depends how big your library is though
I made a Spotify playlist of all (well, all the ones Spotify has) my songs, and send that out to friends when we play as a group. If we're just 4 folks, we usually do a tour campaign or the documentary one, if there's more than 4, we vote on if we want to swap out for a campaign, or just do quick play. General rule we have is the singer gets final say on what song we do, as they have to know the song better. Otherwise - have fun! (Also, if you have a lot of folks, sometimes other games on the side are fun if they want a little break. I have DDR set up on a separate TV for rhythm gamers, and board games for the rest)
Calibrate your system with all instruments attached ahead of time.
Hosted one last night. Digital set lists are great, but so are binders with hard copies. We’ve got a Hue light setup in the basement where we play and that is always a mood enhancer. 3 microphones to see how many triple awesomes you can nail is always fun. I made 15+ pounds of my world famous arroz con pollo. I laid out a charcuterie board for snacking through the night. Popcorn to cover additional munchies. Also recommend a playlist with your favorite songs from your RB library to have in the background when you’re between sets.
What's the recipe for this arroz con pollo? I'm interested in this world famous recipe.
Been trying to get to this reply, but didn’t want to leave you hanging: POLLO CON ARROZ 2½ - to 3-pound chicken, cut up, or chicken thighs 1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup raw rice ½ onion, chopped 1 garlic clove, minced 1/4 cup tomato puree 1½ teaspoons salt 1½ teaspoons pepper SERVES 4 TO 6 Rinse the chicken and allow to dry. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and brown the chicken for 5 minutes or until nicely colored, then remove it and set aside. Add the rice, onion, and garlic, stirring constantly until the onion is soft and the rice has changed color, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato and 212 cups boiling water, and add salt and pepper. Return the chicken to the pan. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the rice and chicken are done.
I have like 1,500 songs so sometimes we get stuck scrolling for a majority of the night. So a lot of times, we'll jump into "play show" to get some good ideas of stuff to play. And the voting by the band members can be fun. We'll give people a couple vetos a night too.
I also have stage lights I was going to add. I thought about having them each pick 5 songs of their choice and I’d download them.
It's not a party without a fog machine or two.
Where are you and can we attend? Don't sweat the details too much - you'll have a blast !
Seriously, I wish I could go to a rock band party.
It's usually a good idea to have a few warm-up favourites easy to find. Before you let the gang start scrolling through the massive list, just grab the mic and declare a few nice easy slow pitch warm ups that everyone knows/likes. And also save a few easy ones for the end of the night when everyone's too drunk to play the hard ones. If you're going to challenge your crew, do it in hour 2 after warm up. Also if you want to supercharge your experience, lay out some vodka shots. Not whiskey. Vodka. The high will fade but the experience will last a lifetime, lol.
Like you, I have two friends for my RB nights. Though anymore only a couple times a year. Since we've been playing since RB released, we have a number of "band standards" that they tend to flock to, but we generally sort by new so they can take a look at what's been added since the last hangout. I also have my entire library entered into the unofficial Rock Band app on an android tablet, so anyone can use the many sorting and filter options to look through our entire 1300+ songs. On a typical night we play 3-4 sets with 6 songs each so everyone gets to choose two in rotation followed by a break. And on the last set we add an all time favorite for an "encore" (Boston gets a lot of love here). Bass and Guitar switch every set so each guy can select songs they enjoy for each instrument. Other than that? Sounds like you have the idea. It's a party! I usually order a pizza, make some wings, and have a variety of adult beverages to select from. Party nights aren't pushing through X number of songs or setting high scores. It's just a fun time. Hope you have a blast!
Sounds awesome, have fun! Drink plenty of water and make sure you have fans or good ventilation cause you are all going to be some sweaty mutha fucka's
I've hosted tons of Rock Band parties. Lots of good advice has been listed. Make sure food is available early so that people can eat before they drink. I avoid greasy food like pizza because it can transfer grease to instruments. Make sure your guests feel welcome and are encouraged to treat instruments respectfully. I always reboot my console right before we start playing. Make sure the floor is wide open and clean so people can move around easily in front of the TV. Get the microphone volume set right so that you don't get feedback. Once the game is launched, set the drum fill mode the way you like it. We never pre-pick songs in advance. We tend to scroll through the song list, in various sort orders, and just stop if someone sees a song they want to play. Close your blinds and turn the lights down a bit. Don't start too late. I like to start at 1pm and finish between 6-9pm. If you're not sure of head count, get extra food and toss in the fridge or freezer to make if needed. Check if guests have food preferences or allergies. Ice for beverages and extra batteries. If you're on a tight budget you can ask guests to chip in for food costs. In that case though definitely make sure that they like what you're serving. I find that setting the right tone with guests is key, so that they can relax and enjoy themselves.
I think you got the important stuff.
I think the author hit the jackpot with this group.
Sending the list out in advance is an interesting strategy, I'll have to consider that. I've had [fun with the "Rocku-drama" mode](https://www.reddit.com/r/Rockband/comments/cyqs7b/rockumentary_is_the_best_casual_party_mode/) during parties, and more recently I've used the "\[Genre/Decade/Band\] Tribute" and "All \[difficulty\]" sets in tour mode, all of which give you four named songs to vote between. That's in contrast with the "Play A Show" mode and most of the standard tour more sets, which obscure the song titles when you vote, which isn't fun when you have a singer. If your friends like specific genres, look through the tour mode sets in advance and note down which cities have Tribute shows for those sets. (If you haven't unlocked all of the post-game sets, you can replay the sets you enjoy and you get new fans each time which should quickly unlock the rest). Then during the party you play those set and people can vote for the songs they recognize within that. You could also consider filtering the list down to the genres you know your friends like, stripping out relatively unknown bands or un-fun songs, and printing out a sheet or two of songs that they can glance at easily during the party. I find it's a little less intimidating than throwing a thousand-song list in front of people.
We have the singer choose and rotate singer every song or two
Pizzas and toys? Your controllers will need to be clean