where to start

I had to move this into the correct section. .

Know your audience. That's all I can say.

My typical audience is easily entertained, happily chugging along booze to a band not doing all that whippy a job. Throw a few lights on it and it's "ooh, ahh, SPLORF(barfing)". Nothing like 400 people in an audience, and at least 125 of which are drunk. To appease them and beat out of the other local lame-o sound flunkies, I've spent way too much on lights. I'd rather be ahead than behind. While they are feeding back, I'm running louder and longer and cleaner with no feedback.

But I digress. I'm moving hopefully away from this audience and into another one, more sophisticated. It's going to force me to buy some intelligent lights as now the lights are going to be part of the show, not just "something to add some flash and energy". Yes, the lights will still be needed to do that, but now the lights are going to be a requirement. It will be a slow process, but I'm estimating $3K on lights within a year or less and another DMX controller as I'm outgrowing my DMX Controller.

Roto Pods are good to start with. Preferably 8 of them with a T-Bar to mount them and a Co-Pilot to run them. Fairly inexpensive. Then build off that. Saga is a good choice also, Vertigo, H2O,. It's all personal preferance though.
Flame Bowls are good too with a couple of black lights.
I know it's hard starting out and knowing what to get, but like I've said before once you get a few lights, you get hooked and need to have more. I'm running about 22 separate pieces of lights right now, now of them intelligent though, just all effects lights. Works for me though.