SHR6E037P~002 COB23083962 Portfolio: Event Evaluation

Event Evaluation

· Intro

As a group, a high level of preparation went into the execution of the event from ensuring the event was promoted effectively as well as compiling technical requirements and communicating with both the venue and our sound engineer. Regular ticketing updates were sent weekly which informed how well the promotion was going.

On the day of the event, as the events manager I liaised with crew and ensured the setup ran to schedule while also performing as a bassist and playback engineer.

· Event Atmosphere

The event took place on St Patrick’s Day which made the venue lively before doors were even open for the event. Across the course of the night more people arrived and filled the space, eventually filling to a comfortable level (1a). The high quality of sound from our engineer as well as the lighting to complement it created an enjoyable experience for attendees, who were attentively watching during the music and responsive when the artists interacted with the audience. Enjoyment of the music is further evidenced through attendees willingness to purchase merch with sales at £450 (1b)(1c).

It did take a while for the room to fill up at the start of the event which could have been reduced through the opener having a full band instead of being stripped back and promoted accordingly.

· Box Office

The box office is provided in-house for this venue, stationed at the single entrance to the gig space (2c) who stamped attendees so they could freely come and go from the event (2b). We provided a list of physical ticket holders (2a) in case of loss of ticket before the event to the staff as well as cheap and guest list. There was occasionally a queue between acts which made the room take around a song to fill out which could be combatted by more box office staff.

· Security

Brudenell’s security staff were present on the entrance to the venue checking IDs (3a) as well as accompanying the box office staff on the door to the event room (3d), bar staff had a quick line of communication via close proximity and radio to security staff in the event they were needed.

Performers were also given a uniquely coloured gold wristband that security staff could easily identify that allowed them into the event and green room (3c), facilitating a space for performers to leave their belongings throughout the evening.

On the box office a small amount of cash was taken which was kept in a money box stored safely in the venue after the event.

One shortcoming for the security was the allowance of regular pub goers into the gig space use to toilets which then could have allowed them to stay in the space without a ticket causing financial loss while also potentially creating disruption in the gig space. There was also no security on the green room which could’ve easily been accessed by the public, this is an issue because it is an expectation from artists to have a safe space to store equipment while performing at an event.

· Health and Safety

As identified in our risk assessment there were some potential hazards we worked to mitigate:

Gap in stage presenting a trip hazard – covered by floor monitor (4b)
Cabling across the stairs to green room – taped down with coloured gaffer tape
Fire exit clearly labelled – easily openable from inside
Seating available on raised area for those with accessibility requirements (4a)
Lighting fixtures falling – safety chains used on truss
No glass allowed in the gig room – enforced by security staff (4c)

Through this we reduced risk to an acceptable level and created a safe environment for everybody involved (See risk assessment for full breakdown). However, the risk was still non-zero and there were still hazards such as cables posing a trip hazard.

· Production

During soundcheck we encountered unexpected technical issues (5e) such as faulty DI boxes and cables, this combined with the time required to set up 7 IEM lines and all the equipment for the headliner caused the soundcheck to overrun. However, we factored in an extra hour of contingency time into our schedule which Jo (our sound engineer) commented on and was grateful for. This combined with the opener Emma Coates having a stripped back setup allowed us to get back on track and finish sound checks with around half an hour to spare before doors opened to the public, ensuring all performers were comfortable to perform.

During soundcheck we actively noted:

Buzzy ceiling tiles excited by bass frequency (5g)
Use of piezos in acoustic and nylon string guitars to increase gain before feedback and ensure easier changeovers between songs
Guitar amp with odd settings with little bass and mids with nearly max treble which gave the engineer a strong source signal to work from (5d).
Instrumental changes for the engineer to prepare for, primarily songs with acoustic guitar

While we requested a multitrack recording of the event, the engineer didn’t set this up in time which hindered production of media after the event. However, we made use of camera audio from the videographer which was of a much lower quality but still allowed us to create this. In the future we can make it clearer to the engineer that this is a requirement and push for it to happen rather than find out after the fact.

A lighting set was created which moved dynamically throughout the whole performance using a software called capture, this was modelled on our visit to Brudenell conducted in December 2025, where the lighting fixtures were recreated for an accurate visualisation (5i). We opted to hire a dedicated lighting engineer, this allows lighting to be their primary focus and avoid the sound engineer leaving a static colour while focusing on sound. They made use of the soundcheck time to assign lights into groups and create presets to match James’ visualisation (5j). While a lighting engineer isn’t an essential expenditure, it enhanced the experience beyond what it could be with a sound engineer alone, and led to great feedback and videos of the event which can be used to gain a reputation and promote our events in the future.

· Artists Liaison

We ensured each of us arrived at 3pm with the headliner to ensure all required gear was present and to begin setting up the stage and answering any questions the sound engineer had regarding the event. We parked outside in the designated area just outside the load in door (6d), while there was plenty of parking available, all artists were Leeds based and made their own way to the venue. All musicians for the headliner were present for 4pm with equipment on stage ready to go. Having all members of the band on the stage proved difficult and ended up in a staggered soundcheck by instrument, finally having everyone on to run a song and establish monitoring levels.

Artists largely arrived in good time with the exception of the opener’s bassist. This resulted in the artist who sings and plays the saxophone as well as the keys player having to soundcheck without them and line check quickly just before doors opened.

We used allocated funds to purchase 20 beers, orange juice, bottled water and sandwiches for all artists (6a) (6c), placed in the green room fridge. This seemed the right amount as by the end of the headline act there was still some rider left and we didn’t hear complaints of insufficient supplies. Around the green room there ended up being a lot of partially consumed drinks which if fully finished could have stretched the rider out further, although it is easy to lose track of in a high energy gig setting. Sandwiches proved to be a peculiar choice of food where more easily sharable foods such as biscuits or crisps would’ve been a better option that would’ve stretched further.

The Large green room was used to store cases for equipment as well as provide an environment where band members could prepare to perform in a comfortable environment with designated artist WiFi (6b). A smaller second room was available which could’ve been used exclusively for cases allowing more room in the larger room for bands to prepare to perform which also had a cooler to keep the room a nice temperature.

Each band were allocated guest and cheap list ticketing which was provided to the venue rep named George who acted as the middleman between technical, bar, door staff and security; making sure the whole event ran smoothly. George’s presence wasn’t expected and his role was unclear but this was not an expenditure we made as promoters but instead by the venue so is a welcome addition.

· Stage Management

Due to Brudenell’s planning, we didn’t know which room we were playing in until the week before, which created uncertainty of how to decorate the stage and position performers until on the day and hindered planning.

On the day however, we liaised with the sound engineer to place the shared backline to reduce the chance of feedback and maximise sightlines. This is important as the stage is peculiarly shaped with a low hanging PA which could cause feedback in the vocal microphones and acoustic guitars. Amps, keyboards and drums were placed as close to the walls as possible which allowed space for performers to all be visible (7b, 7c). This allowed us to maintain a clean stage with multiple wall boxes keeping XLR runs to a minimum, with the exception of a keyboard being switched out and a different guitar amp being placed in front of the headliners for the main support which slightly cluttered the stage but was removed before the headliner with the biggest band of 8 people (7d).

Multiple schedules were put up on the wall backstage (7a) which made set times clear to artists preparing in the green room to ensure the event kept to schedule.

· Online Marketing

Romy Taylor promotional campaign consisted of multiple strategies such as:

Interviews
Clips of upcoming song of varying sized ensembles
Videos in Brudenell to film content
Highlighting support artists
Direct promotion using the flyer (7c)

Both supports Lauren Mikki and Emma Coates regularly uploaded on Instagram (7a) (7b) with posts and stories closer to the date. We ensured Romy posted first with the announcement of the gig with the supports delayed by a few days to maintain presence online.

Brudenell posted on their fairly large platform, collaborating on a post with Romy using the event flyer.

· Promotion

Physical promotion with a stall allowing ticket purchasers to spin the wheel to win prizes (9b). The names of winners were recorded to keep track (9c).

Flyers were put up in various high traffic places in Leeds that our target demographic regularly visit such as Hyde Park Book Club and Jumbo Records (9d).

Brudenell positioned banners throughout the venue, having high traffic as a popular student bar (9a).

Promotion could have been improved through use of radio advertisement, alternative platforms to instagram as well as trialing paid targeted advertising to increase the reach of our promotion which we did not employ.

· Financial outcomes (See settlement sheets)

The venue and engineer hire was very reasonable for a venue of this size at £250 which made us confident we could make this back and turn a profit.

Brudenell settlement, PRS and VAT were two unexpectedly high costs, deducted straight from ticket sales taken by Brudenell, leaving a bulk sum to combine with the physical sales already within our account to pay artists, promotional costs and ourselves.

Keeping track of money, receipts for rider as well as an account for physical tickets combined with what Brudenell owed us summed to gross sales of £1188.

While the event did not create a large financial gain, it did turn a profit with the event being positively received leaving us a reputation for putting on a well organised event which pays fairly to artists. The payment of a lighting engineer, photographer and videographer was not essential but provides us with content to further our careers are promoters and works as an investment into the future.

This experience also gives us a better gauge of how to stage events and how to operate as promoters in the future and identify unexpected costs and mitigate loss through a careful balance between expenditure and event quality. We could also investigate other models of paying artists that aren’t just flat fee’s and can adapt to the turnout of the event without being predatory to artists.