Car show sound
and announcing.

The job

Announcing over engines and a moving crowd.

A car show is a harder listening environment than any banquet room. Engines start without warning, the crowd is spread out and walking, and there is nothing overhead to reflect sound back down. Announcements have to cut through all of that without turning into noise.

That is more about placement and a practiced voice than about wattage. Tyler has been on a microphone since 1980.

Coverage

Speakers where the crowd actually is.

We place sound where people gather, usually the announcing area and wherever awards happen, instead of trying to blanket every row of cars. Send us your layout ahead of time and we will plan placement with you rather than guessing on the morning of the show.

Power

One thing to check before you book.

A full setup needs power. Most organized shows are at a fairground, a lot with power pedestals, or a downtown street event, and in those cases this is a non-issue and we bring the whole system. If your show is on a lot with no power anywhere, we can run battery powered sound for announcing, but it covers the area around the announcer rather than the whole lot. Tell us the site when you ask and we will be straight with you about what will carry and what will not.

Weather

Rain needs a plan, not a surprise.

Our gear has to stay dry. That means a tent, a covered spot, or a decision to postpone. We will tell you exactly what we need well before show day, not the morning of.

Straight pricing

What car show sound costs.

• Weekday events: from $400. Monday through Thursday. Most meetings, conferences, and weeknight banquets land here. Weeknights are already open on our calendar, so there is no wedding to turn down to take your event. You get the benefit of that.
• Friday, Sunday, and Saturday daytime: from $550. Car shows and daytime ceremonies fit here. These days start to compete with wedding work, so they run a little higher than a weeknight.
• Both rates buy up to 4 hours of event time. Event time only. Setup and teardown are free on top of your 4 hours, never counted inside them. Your clock starts when we start running sound for you and stops when we stop. We are usually on site 60 to 90 minutes before that to set up and test everything, and we stay afterward to pack out. You are not billed a cent for either, and neither one shortens your 4 hours.
• Longer events: $125 per additional hour. A six hour car show is the base rate plus two hours. We work the total out with you before you book. Past four hours we are into a long day, often ten hours door to door once load in and load out are counted. The hourly keeps a long event worth doing properly instead of rushed.
• Saturday evenings: usually booked for weddings. Ask and we will tell you honestly what is open. A Saturday night is a wedding reception for us, and those book up to a year ahead. If your date happens to be open we will say so.
• Announcing or MC work: add $200. Optional, and only if you want it. Running the microphone is a different job than running the sound. This is the part that four decades of doing it actually buys you.
• Travel: Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo, and Dilworth are included. Anywhere farther is quoted plainly up front. Those four are our home metro, so there is no drive time worth passing along to you.

That is the whole list. You will know your full number before you sign anything, because we ask how long your event runs and quote the hours up front instead of adding them to the invoice afterward.

Car shows usually run Saturday daytime, which is the $550 base rate and covers the first four hours. Most shows run longer than that, so tell us your start and end time and we will quote the whole day up front. A daytime show does not conflict with our evening wedding work, so Saturdays are genuinely open for these.