Powerstrip mod/Light Controller Design

[senorpapacabasa]

I know this is pretty basic, but i need some help here.

This is probably extremely unsafe, and I'm not sure if its even possible.  I have a little background in electronics, but not much with power ratings and stuff like this.  This is the basic idea:

Im in a band, and we have these 500watt "worklamps" that we use for concerts. We just flash on/off briefly, they are not on constantly. Right now, we just have two that are plugged into a single power strip, and our drummer kicks them on and off with his feet (well he tries to).  What I want is a better way to control these lamps, preferably by a footswitch. 

This sounds non-practical, but my first idea was taking a footswitch, opening it up and either replacing the existing switch, or lengthening it out to a box with a big pushbutton on it.  My questions start here; is this possible/reasonable.  I didnt know what kind of power considerations i need to take into consideration.  These lamps pull alot of power at 500W each.  Ideally, we eventually want to have several of them (6-8).  I need a way to control them with one switch.  Could I build a simple device with a few components and a switch to go in front of the power strips?

Our biggest concern is $$$ because they make retail products for this application, but they are pricey.  Please help!