The Ultimate Guide To A Rock And Roll Theme Event

Rock and roll is one of the most iconic periods in music history and the bands, songs, and styles that came out of it are beloved the world over. If you want a theme that is sure to get people on their feet, is ideal for live entertainment, and will get guests excited in anticipation, then a rock and roll theme is an excellent choice.

Making your event come alive will require you to transform your venue into a rockers paradise with carefully selected decorations, wild lighting, and a meticulously crafted style.

To help you create the perfect atmosphere we’ve created this guide to explore some of the best design ideas to put your event in the rock and roll hall of fame. (To see more great music event themes, take a look at this post.)

Getting Started

A rock and roll theme is very versatile. It will be a dream-come-true for a music lover’s birthday and office parties. It can be tooled for school discos and banquet dinners, and it’s naturally at home around award ceremonies and product launches.

Music venues, stadiums, clubs, and American-style bars make the perfect setting but a glamorous hotel reception can be made to work perfectly with the excesses of rock and roll. If you want live music, then make sure to have plenty of clear-floor space, a good stage, and enough facilities for lighting and sound.

Having outdoor space can be a good solution if you plan to be playing live music to a larger audience.

Decorations, Furniture, And Design

‘Rock and Roll’ is technically a term used to describe early rockers from the 1950s such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry, but it’s come to generally encompass an attitude towards music that fits bands from The Beatles to hard rockers such as Guns N’ Roses.

With this in mind, there is a lot of scope for what you can include in your decorations but you might want to use 1950s America as your main source of inspiration. Staple decoration choices include guitars, drums, amps, musical notes, Cadillac cars, vinyl albums, and jukeboxes. For a nod to the hard rockers, you might use flames, graffiti, and skeletons.

To completely convert your venue, you can try to replicate the feel of a diner with chequerboard patterns, art deco furniture, string curtains, and classic cars. You can use posters, prints, and light panels of famous rock stars to finish the look.

Make your furniture stand out with lit designs including poseur tables, cube chairs, and plinths. With a rock and roll theme, it’s important to have a fabulous bar and a glowing, fully-equipped bar is sure to set the tone you’re looking for.  

Centrepieces, Lighting, And Colour Scheme

With a 1950s rock and roll theme, classic colours include pink, blue, red and chequerboard patterns. You might also want to use a monochrome colour scheme brushed with gold and silver.

Bright lights are what makes rock and roll so it’s important that you get the lighting right. For ambient lighting, you might use neon signs, Broadway bulbs, festoon lights, and light panels. To cast your venue in striking purple and blue hues, you’ll need to have dynamic lighting and to put on a live show you might also want to consider stage lighting and spotlights which are connected via a light console.

A cost-effective way to fill your venue with light that you can control is to use one of Table Art’s custom centrepieces. The piece can come lit in a colour of your choice and they can be remotely-controlled to match the mood of the room throughout the night.

For the design, you can use a range of choices, including guitars, musical notes, twisting flames, or vinyl records. Check out some of our past centrepiece creations for even more inspiration.

Rocking All Over The World With A Rock And Roll Theme Event

Guests always love a rock and roll theme because it allows them to relax in a truly unique atmosphere. With the right props and costumes, it makes a great opportunity to take selfies or group photos and it’s simple to work in branding and social media marketing.

Try to transport your guests to a different world full of larger-than-life characters and create an atmosphere they feel from the moment they step inside your venue.

If you want help planning your rock and roll theme event, then get in touch with Table Art for a consultation. We can create custom centrepieces and furniture and have them transported and installed directly on-site.