Looping Beginner Seeks Help

[sPaCe mOnKeY <spacemonkeyx05@yahoo.com>]

Hello,

I've been casually visiting loopersdelight.com for the past couple of years now, reading up on equipment, checking on past mailing archives, but I've finally decided to seek out some help for my own looping needs. A lot of my questions are basic since I don't have any looping equipment yet, but I have a clear idea of what I hope to achieve.

I want to be able to play one-man-band performances of original songs - complete with verses, pre-choruses, choruses, bridges, etc. I hope to play and loop the drums (either electronic or acoustics mic'd), bass, piano, guitar, vocal harmonies, and any other wacky sounds... and sing over all that. My questions are:

1. What looping equipment (hardware/software) would be ideal to achieve this? I'm a beginner, but I'm looking to invest in a quality product to keep me going in the long run. Any suggestions for accessories (midi pedals, set-up suggestions) would also be helpful.

2. How can I have separate
 loops for the verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, etc.? Is there a way to switch from each of these segments of the song to the other on the fly, or is there a smarter way of performing entire songs?

My songs follow general pop structure for the most part, but I like to have tempo changes, usually going into a bridge or chorus. I assume this may throw out the possibility of recording to a click, but please let me know if I'm wrong.

Any tips will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!