If you're thinking about inviting ApologetiX to come and play at your church, here's where to start!

What does it take?

Our mission is to Reach the Lost and Teach the Rest. The only thing better than having an ApologetiX CD to share with your friend at work or school, is to have an upcoming nearby ApologetiX Concert to take them to. So, we try to appear in as many towns as possible. And since professional Christian concert promoters are few and far between, we've designed a system so that almost anybody can promote an ApologetiX concert in their town and without losing their shirt.

Cost

Almost always, the concert pays for itself or comes very close. It's almost never an issue, but of course, we'll have to go over that case by case and most likely over the phone. But, really -- don't worry about that. We're not about money, We get hundreds more invitations per year than we can play, and pick where we're supposed to go and we do what it takes to get there.

We have to do three things to see if we can add your idea to our schedule. First we have to clear the date. Once we have a date that works, we have to "qualify the venue." Finally, we have to verify the promotor. Make sure you can pull this off.

Date

if you have a solid date, put it on the form, and tell us how flexible it is or isn't. If you have NO date, put some date several months down the road and make sure you say that it's a random date. THEN keep after me via email. j@apologetix.com. Finding a date is the hardest part- it has to line up with touring routes. If we end up with a hole in our schedule we do everything we can to find a great church on the way to our next stop and have a great time there. Maybe that's how you got here!

Venue

Then We have to qualify the venue. That really means make sure we FIT! Maybe you've seen us play in the tiniest church in the universe. We love doing that BUT, since then we've developed a much more worth-seeing show and we hope that that will make it easier for you to promote it to more folks. If your church isn't the right shape and size for a rock concert, no sweat.

Every town has a great auditorium at the high school that sits idle all weekend. That is really the perfect venue. Please measure to see if we fit your church and take photos from the requested angles so we can see through your eyes and if you're not completely sure, get a couple shots of the high school or middle school auditorium and submit those too. We might be able to approve the concert based on the alternate venue.

If you imagine our band as a bunch of fish in an aquarium, the aquarium would have to be 30' x 20' and about 15' high. If that aquarium fits in your sanctuary, you might be good to go. Especially if you have a straight ledge off the stage of over 3 feet. There is a huge difference in crowd response to a concert where the stage is such that the kids can come right up against and smack us on the sneakers, as opposed to being stairs, which keep them 3 feet away and not low enough. Also, if we play at the church, you'll need to clear the stage like you moved out. We do it all the time, but it might be a headache to someone at the church. Again, the high school :)

Sound and Power

Your church may have a great sound system and some great lights. Since most not, we've developed a stellar sound and laser light show. We even bring our own power substation. We won't plug a single thing into the wall, we'll run a hose-sized supply line to your circuit-breaker box and tap in directly. We need 220V 50Amps per leg and we can go over that more later. Some high schools can't or won't help out with that and we've found that you can rent a great diesel generator which will provide that smoothly for about $150 and set it outside and we'll run the line out that and be good to go. We might even buy one some day.

So, We take care of sound and you take care of power.

Promotor

Once we have the date and the venue squared away and approved, the hardest part is last. The promoter. If you're wondering "what size crowd we'll draw" then you may be shocked to hear that the size of the crowd has almost nothing to do with the event and everything to do with the promoter. We've played in the exact same town to 200 people then several months later to 1200 people, then several months later to 600 people. Everybody who comes loves the show. It's not us. It's the promoter. So, our job is this. We get 500+ invitations a year to play 120 concerts. We need to rule out the opportunities we can't get to because of scheduling and routing, then rule out the churches we won't fit in. After that, we have to read what the others have said in their application to try to determine which of these folks is the best promoter for that date. That means:

* Do you have the time to promote this? It's a huge undertaking with daily effort for about a month.

* Do you have the support of the pastor. He can get more people from the church than you can.

* Are you the kind of person that does well at stuff like this? Are you persistent, consistent, organized, determined and disciplined? You'll be amazed at how much work it is to get 200 people to be somewhere to have the time of their life.

I'm in. Where do We Start?

* Pray about it. Don't wait for a "Yes", just be sensitive in case there's a "no." Malcolm Smith says, "If God doesn't give you a red light it means, 'GO!'"

* Talk to the pastor if you want to have it at your church. Talk to the schools in the area if you're going that route. if you go to maps.google.com and type "High Schools near Indianapolis, IN" You might find a few more local schools than you thought.

* Take the digital pictures of the area as described below. This is very important. We can't really do much if we can't see the area. Take pictures of the alternate venue as well. And please have someone take a picture of YOU for this. Up close so we can see your face :) It really helps to be able to put a face to a name

From stage right showing the stage, the ground between the stage and the first row and the ceiling height if possible.	From the very back of the stage, showing as much of the stage as possible, the floor in front and the audience
From stage left showing the stage, the ground between the stage and the first row and the ceiling height if possible.	From the very back of the room, showing as much of the stage as possible, the floor in front and the stage
It'll be nice to see who I'm talking to! Unlike this guy, look at the camera :o)

* Measure. Look at our diagram. draw a floor-plan that shows dimensions. how deep is the stage, how high off the ground, etc. how far to the first pew or chairs. Ideally, take a picture of your drawing and submit that. It really helps.

Once you have everything you need, the digital photos, permission and your measurements, go to this form and fill it out completely. After it's filled out, it'll take you to a place to upload your photos. Once you do that, you can contact us via email if your invitation is out of the blue or we might not get to it for a while. Squeaky wheel gets the grease :)

If You Have Everything Ready, Fill out the Form, upload the pictures and we'll get started.

And let's try to make this happen!

God Bless

ApologetiX Booking