In order to put on a Rock Band birthday for our 12 year old son, we set about turning our main floor into a nightclub.
The 3 keys were to be 1) dark 2) late 3) loud. Invitations went out asked for a new member for our band for an upcoming gig. The guests were told to dress like rock stars. To get the dark organized, we rented a big disco ball with the spot lights from the local rental shop for $35. It really set the mood. Otherwise we kept the lights low to make it feel like a nightclub. I set the time from 7-10pm so they were out later than they usually are to make it feel like a more grown-up treat. And to achieve loud, we brought the surround sound for the tv from the family room in the basement and set up a sound system in the living room. The object of the party was to play Rock Band, but we wanted to make it cooler than just a video game. So we built a 4 x 4 stage 12 high for the drum kit to sit on at the back. We put the tv away from the wall so that the band would be almost facing the dance floor (the dining room). That way the game players were the entertainment at the nightclub. It was decorated with rock posters printed out from the internet on 11x17 paper. The dining room had the main furniture moved out and the disco ball in the centre. That was the main dance floor. The kitchen is off the dining room and we built a bar across one of the doorways. I had a full service bar set up on the kitchen side with the fruit garnishes, stir sticks, ice etc. I had a drink menu mounted on the wall with drink names like Rolling Stone, Stratocaster, Ice Rock, Rock Star but what I made were Shirley temples, roy rogers, milk shakes and floats etc. They LOVED the bar. Nobody ordered a regular pop, they all ordered the drinks by name. For food, I served nachos, chicken strips, mini pizzas etc. The cake was made to look like the drum kit of the rock band game. I made four layers of cake (2 mixes) used fondant icing to do the grey drum centre with the primary colour rings around the edge. I just added a couple of drum sticks and it looked amazing. My sister was the paparazzi with her big flash and good camera. She took over 300 pictures and the kids (aka rock stars) got a kick out of developing a love/hate relationship with the press. My brother in law was the club bouncer. He dressed all in black with a black cap, gloves, sunglasses and big flashlight. He met everyone at the door to see if they were on his list and if they were invited to the private event. The kids loved it, but some of the parents who don't know us well thought they were at the wrong place. My husband ran the rock band game and played the roll of the rock promoter. I was busy full time running the bar. Finally, we gave a prize for Best Rock Performance, Best Costume, and Best Rock Attitude. I gave the winners $15 ITunes cards and I figured at their age, they didn't need goodie bags. The 7 boys and 7 girls all took turns playing all the different instruments and they had an amazing time. They want it to be a yearly event.
