In Equipping Your First Fake Plastic Rock Band I described the essential accessories for a first class Rock Band experience. Seriously, read it. You will want a lot of that stuff if you’re serious about Rock Band.

But what about the non-essentials? Like, say… a killer fake plastic rock stage experience?

That’s what I’m talking about.

The above picture was taken at Microsoft’s MIX 08 conference, where there was a small Rock Band tournament. The people playing are my ex-coworkers from Vertigo Software, including our esteemed CEO on lead guitar.

I’m not sure if you can make it out from the picture, but there are four screens:

• Two displays at the foot of the stage for the guitarists and vocalist
• One dedicated display for the drummer
• One dedicated display for the audience

Let’s inventory the rest of the items we’ve got going on here:

• Elevated stage
• Tinsel curtain in the rear
• Scaffolding and lights above the band (I assume synchronized to the music in some way)
• At least five rotating ground lights

But there are a few notable items missing from the fake plastic rock stage experience, too — where are the strobe lights? Where’s the smoke machine? Well, we’re in luck. The Xbox 360 Rock Band Stage Kit from PDP includes exactly those items.

It’s not exactly clear how this stuff will work yet, but it’s intriguing that the strobe light looks like an Xbox controller. That means it’ll plug into the console just like a controller, too. Will the strobe somehow be synced to the music through the controller? Who knows? There’s been a lot of criticism of this kit because it’s 99 bucks, and so obviously over the top. But that’s exactly why it’s so awesome!

Of course, there’s an entire category of Lighting & Stage Effects at Guitar Center if you want to create a truly rocktacular stage presence:

The above scene is from the awesome but unfortunately short-lived series Freaks and Geeks. Highly recommended.

I’m still debating how much of this I want to try in our “boom boom” room. I’m looking for advice. If you’ve created anything like this at your place, or have any links to images of great fake plastic rock stage experiences, definitely add a comment!