Rationale
Introduction
Our event is a country-themed gig to be hosted at Headrow House on the 10th March 2026. Our three acts consist of headline band ‘The Wranglers’, alongside “Murmuration” and “Daisy Castellaro” as support acts. The gig is a release gig for “The Wranglers’” second single ‘Ghost’ which is due to be released on the Friday before the gig (6th March). The aim is to bring fans from 3 great acts together to create an unforgettable evening of Country-inspired music, from which all the artists can gain fans and followers from the other acts’ fans.
Time-management
“The use of time is crucial” (Tum, 2006, p.230), which is why in our project, group tasks have been evenly delegated throughout the organisational process; roles have been given in areas where members believe they are stronger. This is referenced in our event advance, with myself dealing with the technical requirements of the events from both the artist and venue, and also being the headline act contact. Efficient communication on our WhatsApp group has allowed us to focus on our own specialist areas in key detail to be as productive as possible with our time as a group.
We have also planned our time up until the gig date itself, with a social media schedule underway and a gig announcement on these set for the 26th January 2026, with a 6-week run-up to the event, allowing plenty of time to promote and sell tickets.
The doors open at 7 pm, with Daisy taking to the stage at 7:30 pm. This allows guests to arrive at the venue, get a drink and gain access to the event space before the first act begins. Both changeovers are 20 minutes long – this will be a fast-paced turnaround; however, as there is plenty of time in soundcheck, equipment can be left in secure but accessible places for faster setup on stage with all band members knowing where to plug in, what settings to apply on the amps and where to be on stage.
In the unlikely event soundcheck is delayed, whether that be the engineer, the artist, or technical difficulties, there is an extra 45 minutes we can use before the doors open at 7 pm to continue soundcheck. In a drastic case, we can also move the doors to 7:15 pm if we need the extra time.
Production – Technical
Due to Headrow House being a well-established venue in the heart of Leeds, there was little issue when it came to band technical specifications vs the in-house audio system of the venue. Murmuration require 5 stage monitors, of which Headrow have 6, and The Wranglers all run IEM systems (these are wired so there is no concern over frequency usage rights and interference and no bands are using wireless microphones) (OFCOM, 2015). There will be no lighting engineer present due to cost-saving measures, and no band is bringing a lighting engineer, so the lighting will be operated by the sound engineer also. No band is running click tracks or backing tracks, so this makes setup and pack down simpler and also faster.
The Wranglers will be providing the backline for the event (Drum Kit, Bass amp and Guitar amp). The drum kit and bass amp will be used by Murmuration (drummer to bring their own breakables and snare), but the guitar amp won’t be required as their guitarist will DI through one of Headrow’s 4 DI boxes using an amp simulator pedal. Power will be available on stage for this. Daisy is a duo acoustic act, so this can be accommodated easily.
Production – Logistical
Headrow House is in central Leeds, situated on a road that is governed by a bus gate between the hours of 4 pm and 7 pm. Thankfully, with all 3 acts being Leeds-based, both support acts will not need vehicular access to the venue, so this will not be an issue. As I am co-frontman of the headline band, we will drop off the backline before this 4 pm curfew at 2:30 pm, as we have access to the venue from then.
As there are 6 of us in the group, we decided that I could help set up the backline with my band after load-in, while the rest of the group decorates the venue with a country theme, including fairy lights and other props. This is why the load-in times and soundcheck times overlap, as I will be free to set up for the gig.
The band load-in times have both full bands arriving 30 minutes before their soundcheck start time, and Daisy Castellaro arriving 45 minutes before, as there is a strong chance we will be running early. Usually, a Wranglers soundcheck takes 30-45 minutes, but we have allotted an hour for any issues in setting up the stage or PA. Once this has been set up, Murmuration should easily be able to set up and soundcheck within their allotted 45-minute slot, at which point we may be running early. This is why Daisy is to arrive 45 minutes before her soundcheck. If we can get soundchecks finished as soon as possible, the artists and sound engineer have more time to relax before the show in the green room.
Production – Hospitality
To look after the artists on the bill, we have budgeted for 2 crates of beer to be provided, alongside requesting a bucket of ice and plastic cups. Artists will be asked to bring their own refillable water vessels, as many venues in Leeds have phased out single-use plastics at venues such as the O2 Academy (O2 Academy Leeds, 2018). Statistics show that “in 2019, approximately 875,000 plastic cups were discarded at a single major music festival in the UK” (Waste Management, 2024), highlighting a huge epidemic of waste plastic in the live music industry.
Upon arrival, artists will be greeted by our artist liaison, Katie. They will then be able to store their equipment and belongings in the secure green room. The green room features seating and a place to relax before going on stage.
There were no rider requests from the artists, but in future, this would be catered for in the budget when booking the act.
Production – Health and Safety
Health and safety are critical elements of event planning. As promotors we have a duty of care to everyone involved in the event, from the audience to the artists. We have developed a comprehensive risk assessment, identifying potential hazards and acting upon this to ensure control measures are put in place in line with industry best practice.
Audience capacity has been limited by ourselves to begin with, with Headrow House having a capacity of 150 and us offering on 120 tickets to reduce the compact nature of a crowd. Fire exits shall remain clear and all members of the promotional team will be briefed on what to do in the event of a fire.
Technical safety will be ensured by the use of fully PAT-tested equipment and the use of a professional, venue-supplied sound engineer. Cable management will be employed on stage with the use of tape to secure loose sections to keep artists safe while performing.
Injury from manual handling will be minimised by ensuring there is appropriate staffing and safe lifting techniques. Noise levels will be kept within the HSE’s recommended average level of 107dB over the duration of the event. (Health and Safety Executive, 2015). Venues often offer hearing protection for audiences as they have to offer staff hearing protection under the ‘Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005’ (Legislation.gov.uk, 2005).
All members of the promotion party will be made aware of the qualified first-aiders on site for the evening. In the event of an incident, one will be located by a member of the team immediately, even to report near misses. If the event is seen to be in jeopardy at any point or unsafe to continue, it will be called off by ourselves.
The safety of our team has also been considered, with us only accepting cards for on-the-door tickets to minimise the risk of robbery of our ticket sales and also our possessions, such as never leaving the card machine unattended.
For their own safety, the audience will be encouraged to “Use handbags with zippers and locking flaps, never carry wallets in back pockets and watch for people loitering” as of all the crime types in the events industry, “pickpocketing is the number one” (Tarlow, 2002, pp.48–49).
We are collectively covered by Leeds Conservatoire’s Public Liability Insurance, but for events outside of this, we would need our own policy.
These measures ensure that risks are controlled, legal requirements are met, and the event is delivered as safely and professionally as possible.
Contingency Plans
Contingency has been discussed at many critical decision points throughout the event planning process to ensure that the event can continue onward in some form to minimise the impact on safety, finances and show delivery. In the event of a support artist dropping out, we have discussed a selection of other local artists who can step in to play. In the case of the headline having to pull out, we would promote the 2nd support band to the headline slot and look to refund or discount tickets that were purchased to see specifically The Wranglers.
As mentioned before, in the unlikely event that soundcheck is delayed, we have scheduled time for this eventuality.
If the schedule of the night runs behind, The Wranglers have agreed to play a shorter set, abiding by the venue’s 10 pm noise curfew.
If the PA malfunctions, the venue may be able to replace this in time, or we will look to hire a suitable PA for the evening. For faulty equipment such as a Bass or Guitar amp, we will look to replace this with borrowed equipment from Leeds Conservatoire on short notice. Other acts may be also able to supply replacement amps for the evening.
Financial risk is managed through our conservative budgeting approach, with our ticket sales needed to break even at 38% or 46 tickets (including a proportion of the early bird sale tickets priced lower). We have included a £50 miscellaneous fee in our budget in the case of any unexpected fees or fines, such as a bus gate fine, as mentioned earlier. Ticket sales will be closely monitored over the 6-week selling period, and marketing can be adjusted to fit the sales we are receiving.
Finances
With tickets being our primary source of revenue, we have opted for a 3-tier ticket pricing system. We have opted to use DICE as Headrow House requires us to allocate 50% of our offered on tickets to DICE, and consolidating our ticket sales platform makes this process more streamlined and easier to keep tabs on how many tickets have sold.
Tier one is our early bird ticket; there will be 20 of these available on our online ticket vendor DICE for £5 per ticket. This will only be available for the first two weeks after the event announcement or until tier one’s allocation has been depleted. Tier two (the main pricing tier) will then become available for the remaining 100 tickets at £7 per ticket. I have found through many of the gigs I’ve played in Leeds and surrounding cities that tickets for a small band headline vary between about £6 and £10, plus booking fees (often £1 to £1.50). By pricing at the lower end of this at £7, we give ourselves a greater chance of producing a profit from the event. Also, our third and final tier is our on-the-door ticket price, which is £9. We haven’t accounted for this on the costings, as we didn’t want to budget for the extra £2 per ticket when it may sell out online. However, if there are still tickets for sale on the day, these will be sold at a higher premium to cover card machine fees (1.75% for our Zettle card reader) and to encourage people to purchase their tickets in advance, reassuring the venue that their event space will be busy.
Our artists have accepted a split deal where The Wranglers recieve 17.5% of the total profit, with Murmuration and Daisy receiving 8.75% each. This means a total of 35% of the total profit goes to the artists, and 65% to the promotions team. This was selected to allow the artists to earn more for greater ticket sales, meaning more profit for the promoters also. The amount of money the headline act will take from this is similar to a recent headline show they performed at Royal Park Cellars, meaning they were happy to accept this.
The split deal is a great motivator for artists, as “the more people come to see the show, the better the split deal for both artists and promoters” (gigmit, 2020), and artists will feel a greater sense of achievement in promoting the event as they reap financial rewards. Online, this will be easy to keep track of through DICE. With ticket sales on the night, there will be 2 people on the door keeping separate tallies of tickets bought to ensure we correctly pay our artists. With there being two members of the promotion team performing in The Wranglers and Murmuration, respectively, two neutral team members will be given this task to avoid skewed results that financially benefit their own act.
We will also be selling cowboy hats on the night, with normal brown hats being sold for £3, and pink fluffy hats being sold for £5. We will purchase 20 of each, at a cost of 76p per unit, giving us a cost of £30.40 with a potential gross of £160 if all hats are sold, leaving £129.60 in profit. This has been accounted for in the costings, and with our low ticket breakeven point of 46 tickets (38%), if we don’t sell all of the cowboy hats, we can still make a good profit on the event and save the hats for a future event. The profit from the sales of the hats will be included in the split deal once we break even to provide extra funding to the artist as it is highly likely we will break even.
We have included our PRS fees for a sold-out event, which is 4.2% of our ticket revenue (MU, 2023). This amounts to £33.60, but may fluctuate if tickets are left for sale on the door. The increased revenue from this will cover any increase in PRS fees, so this is not a concern.
In our costings is a miscellaneous £50, which will be used for things on the day, such as beers for the acts, fines, parking, or other small fees that we may incur. This may not end up being spent; however, it is a good safety net to have in place and means we aren’t underestimating our costs – making sure we turn a profit.
We have also budgeted for a run of 50 professional A3 posters for the event (£21.32) and £50 for Instagram advertisements.
Marketing
The event is to be announced 6 weeks before the show date of the 10th March, this means that our social media accounts and first pieces of content will be launched on the 26th January. “For most events, sales spike when tickets first go on sale” and then “Tickets don’t spike again until the last few days before the event” (Martin, 2019). Following this trend, we have built a social media schedule that launches with 4 to 5 posts in the first two weeks, pushing our early bird ticket deal and hopefully selling this out.
The tickets will not sell in a uniform manner, and because of that, we need to target our Instagram adverts accordingly. A recommended advert budget split looks like “40% Combined on-sale and announce stages, 20% Maintenance campaigns and 40% Closeout” (Martin, 2019). From this, we can deduce that tickets will more likely be bought at the very start and very end of the campaign. This can be for a variety of reasons: the event being new and exciting for fans; cheaper tickets being available at the beginning (such as our early bird tickets); and the audience’s plans being finalised, or their evening becoming free at the end of the ticket-selling phase.
We will be following this budgeting guide, with £20 allocated for the first week, followed by £10 for the following 3 weeks, and £20 budgeted for the final 2 weeks (until and including event day). This way, the early bird tickets have a greater chance of selling out within their two-week time frame, and we can sell more of the remaining tickets closer to the date. The £10 budget for the middle section is to keep a presence on social media feeds during the time we are statistically least likely to sell tickets.
We will be building tension by staggering the support act announcements in accordance with our marketing timeline from the initial announcement. This will be Murmuration first, as they are a full band, and Daisy Castellaro when tickets move to general sale. This helps keep audiences engaged as “Anticipatory pauses create tension and expectation before significant announcements, allowing audience attention to consolidate” and again gives fans more chance to purchase an early bird ticket (Diamond Goose, 2025).
In the budget, there is also a run of 50 A3 professionally printed posters. These will be put up around Leeds Conservatoire, as all 3 acts are strongly affiliated with the establishment, and we have requested that some be displayed around Headrow House to promote the event. Posters will have a QR code to scan and lead customers to the DICE site to purchase tickets. Local music and record shops will also be asked if they can help promote the event by putting up posters, such as Crash Records or Vinyl Whistle.
Finally, the artists will be heavily promoting the event, and from this, we will be requesting features on our social media channels from all 3 acts, alongside performance clips, existing releases, The Wranglers’ new release and press shots. This will limit our need to create as much content as an artist, and the social media roles have been pre-delegated within our team, with two members happy to help run the channels.
Technical Specifications
Press Kit
Press Release
Artist Biographies
The Wranglers
The Wranglers are a 5 piece, independent Country band. They champion showmanship and storytelling, inviting the audience into their world of freedom, heart and belief.
Their songs are shaped from a lifetime of loving music. They bring the energy of the 80s, inspired by legends like Bruce Springsteen, Journey and Foreigner, while incorporating modern Country from Luke Combs, The Shires and Lady A.
While only forming in April 2024, The Wranglers have already made waves in the UK Country scene, rallying a small but dedicated following and performing at some of the UKs best upcoming Country venues like Lil’ Nashville in London, and The Long Road Festival.
Expect audience participation and a powerful, mesmerising performance.
Murmuration
Mumuration are a 5-piece indie/folk act led by Adam Scott and Loola.
Their honest and vivid lyrics are crafted to make you think, booming into the Leeds music scene in just two years Murmuration have made a name for themselves at venues such as Hyde Park Book Club and the Sound of Scarborough Festival.
Daisy Castellaro
Daisy Castellaro is a folk-inspired singer-songwriter based in Leeds who, with the help of her guitarist and co-writer Greyson Cadman,creates complex harmonies and emotional lyricism designed to capture, not only her own, but also the experiences of the listener.
Influenced by the likes of Phoebe Bridgers, Lizzy Mcapline and Sam Fender, she conveys deep emotion through her songs and their intricate melodies, whilst creating a feel of relatability in live performance at venues such as Hyde Park Book Club and Northern Guitars.
Artist HD Photographs
Replace these with your own HD photographs, minimum of 3.
Risk Assessment
Additional Material
Reference List
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gigmit (2020). What Makes the Door Split A Good Deal? | gigmit blog. [online] gigmit. Available at: https://blog.gigmit.com/en/good-deal-door-split/ [Accessed 5 Jan. 2026].
Health and Safety Executive (2015). Event Safety – Noise. [online] Hse.gov.uk. Available at: https://www.hse.gov.uk/event-safety/noise.htm [Accessed 5 Jan. 2026].
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Martin, A. (2019). The Event Marketing Lifecycle: When You Can Sell the Most Tickets. [online] Eventbrite UK. Available at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/blog/event-marketing-lifecycle-ds0c/ [Accessed 5 Jan. 2026].
MU (2023). How to Report Live Performances to PRS for Music | Gigs & Live Performances. [online] musiciansunion.org.uk. Available at: https://musiciansunion.org.uk/working-performing/gigs-and-live-performances/how-to-report-live-performances-to-prs-for-music [Accessed 5 Jan. 2026].
O2 Academy Leeds (2018). Sustainability Charter | O2 Academy Leeds. [online] O2 Academy Leeds. Available at: https://www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academyleeds/sustainability-charter [Accessed 5 Jan. 2026].
OFCOM (2015). Wireless microphones and monitors. [online] www.ofcom.org.uk. Available at: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/spectrum/radio-equipment/mics-monitors [Accessed 5 Jan. 2026].
Tarlow, P.E. (2002). Event Risk Management and Safety. [online] Proquest.com, WILEY, pp.48–49. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/leedsmusic/reader.action?c=UERG&docID=141420&ppg=67# [Accessed 5 Jan. 2026].
Tum, J. (2006). Management of event operations. [online] Routledge, p.230. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3sCwynXQHdAC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ViewAPI&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=time%20management&f=false [Accessed 5 Jan. 2026].
Waste Management (2024). Festival Waste Management Guide | Waste Managed. [online] Waste Management Services | Recycling | WasteManaged. Available at: https://www.wastemanaged.co.uk/our-news/festival/festival-waste-guide/ [Accessed 5 Jan. 2026].
