| Can I play at your venue? | |
| Check out this page for information for musicians wanting to play at Cooldog, or in the Delaware area in general. | |
| Do you make money from this? | |
| Absolutely not. We do this because we can, and because we love music, we love entertaining, and we love the intimacy of a house concert. And let's face it, it's really cool that our favorite musicians come to our house to entertain us. All money donated goes directly to the musicians. For us, this is a very expensive hobby. | |
| Can I bring a friend? | |
| Absolutely - just RSVP to any concert with the number of people that will be attending. | |
| I'm not sure I can make it - can I still RSVP? | |
| Please be honest about attending. We can only fit about 70 people, which keeps the experience cozy and friendly. This means if we start to fill up, we'll have to tell people they can't come. If you're "tentative", go ahead and RSVP, but tell us you're tentative. If we start filling up, we'll contact you and let you know that we need a firm answer. | |
| I can't find your address on your site - where are you located? | |
| We are just about 5 or 10 minutes from Dover, Delaware; about 45 minutes south of Wilmington, about an hour from Rehoboth Beach and Annapolis, MD. We don't publish our street address publicly because we're not a public venue. When you RSVP, we provide our address and phone number, along with detailed directions to get here. | |
| Can children attend? | |
| Well behaved children are always welcome. A house concert is a wonderful way to introduce young people to great music in a home environment. We have a 6 year old ourselves, so there are plenty of toys and a playroom downstairs, so if the kids get bored with the music there are other activities. Of course we can't be responsible for your children at our shows. | |
| Is this an "all ages" show? I'm under 21. | |
| We're thrilled to have music fans of all ages here. However, we will not tolerate anyone under 21 consuming alcohol on our property. We frequently provide beer and wine, but it is exclusively for those 21 and over. It's not that we don't trust you, it's that we don't want to go to jail. | |
| How long does the show run? | |
| Most artists do 2 sets of about 45-50 minutes each, with about a half hour break. If we get the music started around 3pm, then we're generally done by about 6:30 or 7pm. If timing is an issue, please e-mail us to discuss your situation and we can advise you how to plan your visit. | |
| Do you allow smoking? | |
| No, we are pretty serious anti-smokers. Smokers are welcome to go outside to smoke, but there is no smoking permitted in the house. | |
| What kind of food should I bring? | |
| A dessert or snack is best - whatever you'd like to share. You probably want to eat dinner before coming, but you're not likely to go home hungry. We provide beer, wine, great coffees and teas, and soft drinks. If you'd like to bring a bottle of wine or 6 pack of interesting beer, that would be appreciated, of course. | |
| Do you have pets? | |
| We have an extremely friendly golden retriever. She is a long haired dog who typically lives inside the house, so if you have allergies, you may want to bring your allergy medication, or restrict yourself to our fair-weather outdoor shows. Please contact us with any concerns. | |
| Are you wheelchair accessible? | |
| For indoor shows, unfortunately no, we are not.
The performance is done in our family room on the 2nd floor. Also,
the doorways to our bathrooms are far too narrow to accomodate a wheelchair.
Email ahead if you have any other type of accessibility question.
If it's an outdoor show, we're in a much better position to be able to accomodate. There is only a short distance between the parking area and the stage area. For some larger shows we will get an accessible portable restroom. Please e-mail ahead if you have questions or special needs, like a reserved parking space. We'll be glad to help if we can! |
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| Is there anything else I should bring? | |
| Most musicians have CDs for sale, and some even have T-shirts and other gear. You may want to bring some extra cash or your checkbook in case you decide you can't live without taking a souvenir home. And don't forget to ask the musicians to autograph whatever you buy! | |
| Are shows really open to the public? | |
| Not really. We would like some contact with our guests before they show up - this is our home, after all. Send us an e-mail, let us know how you found us and what show you'd like to attend. Also, we really like some kind of contact information - your full name, a home or cell phone number (particularly handy in case there's some last minute problem or cancellation). Then, we'll send you our address and directions. If you have our address and directions, please don't pass them along to strangers or the general public. Steer them our way so we can talk with them first, please. | |