The Wranglers ‘Ghost’ Single Release Gig – Headrow House (10/03/2026)
Event Atmosphere
There was an engaging and professional event atmosphere from all acts though the night. Daisy Castellaro gave an extremely emotive performance and captivated the audience straight away, and with a bar situated within the event space, the majority of the audience remained throughout all three sets. Next up was Murmuration, bringing their full band sound. Their set was entertaining sonically; however, the band lacked some stage presence, and the use of iPads for song lyrics was a little unprofessional – especially given that it was a night of heartfelt folk/country-inspired original music. The audience still appreciated the music, and everyone was clearly very excited to see the Wranglers headline, with fans travelling from as far as Liverpool to watch their set! The Wranglers excelled in all areas of stagecraft and musicality and were a joy to watch. The audience was actively involved in singing along to their released music and dancing throughout the entire set.
I am pleased with the lineup we chose for the evening, and at future events, would lay out clearer expectations for the use of crowd barriers such as iPads. The event succeeded in creating a cohesive evening of music around The Wranglers for their single release gig.
Box Office
We ensured we always had 2 members of the promotion team on the door to allow one to take down names or payment, and one to distribute wristbands. The venue provided us with 2 boxes of wristbands, one for over 18’s and one for under 18’s. This did not apply, however, as the venue was over 18’s only from before we opened the doors, therefore everyone was given a pink wristband.
We took card payments on the door with my card machine, and kept a tally of the total number of audience members in the event space to avoid overcrowding and to eliminate any chance of overselling the event. We also had the early bird, general admission and guest/press list on the door to keep a clear track of who had been in, and which tickets were still to be claimed.
Due to the setup of the venue, we were able to form an orderly queue on the stairs outside the event space before doors opened, meaning we could easily control entry to the gig. Plastic cups were provided by the venue as glass was prohibited in the event space, so it was the box office’s job to ensure they swapped their drink into a plastic cup. For bigger events, two people manning two card machines would make for faster entry to the event. Harnessing ticket scanning software would help speed up the entry process also, meaning their name is digitally crossed off instead of physically.
Security
Headrow House provide a lockable green room which we had access to from load in until event close. This key was kept by one of the promotion team at all times, however the green room did remain unlocked for the majority of the time while artists were preparing for performances or resting afterwards. Ideally, the green room would have a code to unlock the door, which could be distributed among performers as seen in other venues in Leeds, such as Hyde Park Book Club. This was not an issue for us this time, as the green room was always busy. The green room also had a leak in the ceiling on arrival. This was reported to the site staff, and all equipment and cases were moved away from the affected area.
The venue provides a bouncer at the main door to Headrow House, which mitigates the need for extra security as all ID’s are checked on the way in. The lack of security in the event space meant that all members of the promotion team had to be vigilant, and the card machine and phone were never left unattended by the door. We didn’t accept cash on the night, which also reduced the risk of theft in and transporting from the venue. In future, if possible, it would be best to have security on the event space doors also.
Health and Safety
Our risk assessment was strictly adhered to throughout the evening. As stated before, plastic cups were given at the door if they had a drink from the downstairs bar in a glass, preventing any injury from smashed glasses. Another one of our points was trip hazards from unorganised cables. We requested bands keep the stage tidy, and any equipment that was too large to stay on stage for the acts before to be stored in the green room. Plug sockets were not overloaded, and all fire escape lights were functioning correctly, preventing fires and allowing for proper evacuation procedures to occur if necessary, respectively.
We kept cases in the green room tidy as laid out in the risk assessment, alongside monitoring the leak that was spotted. This could have caused electrical issues and damage to equipment, so the Headrow House team were informed as soon as the issue was spotted, and they resolved it in a timely manner.
Headrow House is a professional, well-run venue, and it was clear to us that they took audience and performer safety seriously from their actions, such as the under-18 wristbands and plastic cups to keep glass away from the gig space.
Production
The sound equipment in Headrow House was plenty adequate for the audience size. This was researched before the event, as they provided all venue technical specifications in the advance documents when we booked the venue, with d&b being a well-respected name in the audio industry, alongside an industry standard Allen & Heath mixing desk. The sound engineer (Chris) was also super helpful and allowed us to record the desk output for the event, which has allowed The Wranglers to release some live tracks recorded from the event this summer.
Chris also dealt with the stage lighting, which looked sublime, and was a pleasure to work with throughout the entire event. For larger events, it would be beneficial to have a separate lighting engineer to elevate performances to the next level.
We added fairy lights around the box office and bar area, which felt like it added to what was already an aesthetically suitable venue for our event.
Artists Liaison
Before the day of the gig, set timings and arrivals were clearly communicated to all the artists and their bands. Upon arriving at the venue, we checked the green room was clean and safe to use (which was when we located the leak in the ceiling), and also filled the fridge with cider and lager, which was a request of the artists.
We also all helped load equipment into the venue and into the lift, as the event space was on the 1st floor. This meant that the artists could focus on setting up the stage and equipment there, instead of having to get it all into the venue themselves, saving us time and meaning all soundchecks ran to schedule, and everyone got an hour break before doors open (including the sound engineer, as it was a contractual stipulation that they received a minimum of a 30-minute break before doors).
If we were to put on another event of this calibre, we should consider putting funds towards artist travel, instead of them having to take it out of their split of the profits from the event.
Stage Management
The event schedule was communicated to all artists involved before the gig, and everyone in the promotion team knew the set timings and how long the changeover times were, if any artists needed to know! The sets and changeovers all ran to time as we allowed extra time for the two full band setups to swap over and make sure all their equipment was fully working before their set.
The sound engineer was also made aware of the set timings and was very helpful in the changeovers.
The Wranglers organised and provided the backline which was used by Murmuration, also allowing for a faster changeover between the two acts. This was necessary for this venue as two drum kits would not fit on the Headrow House stage; however, if we were promoting at a larger venue such as the Leeds O2 Academy, it would likely be that both bands would want to use their own backline, and this would need to be accommodated around the headline acts equipment.
Online Marketing
We focused primarily on Instagram marketing for this gig, as the majority of our target audience followed one of the three artists. All 3 acts were super cooperative with helping with marketing, and we managed to post rehearsal videos, photos of us putting up posters and the actual gig poster itself. The gig was heavily pushed by The Wranglers as the gig was their single release gig, so every post was to get people to listen to their song and come to the gig.
Tickets were sold through Headrow House’s ticketing partner DICE. We distributed all online tickets through the platform for simplicity; however, with hindsight, I believe we may have sold more tickets if we had sold some physical tickets at vendors such as Crash Records or at our stall in the Leeds Conservatoire Café-Bar.
The Wranglers also share their Instagram page to Facebook, and this did sell 4 tickets as one of their fans saw the post from there and booked tickets for themselves and their family, so this is also worth considering for next time.
Ideally, a marketing budget would have been put aside for social media adverts, but we tried to keep costs to a minimum for this gig as we wanted to make as much money for the artists as possible. Moving forward, the profits from this gig could be used to book another venue and market the next gig to bring a bigger audience.
Promotion
As mentioned before, we ran a stall in the Café-Bar at the Conservatoire to capitalise on the fact that a lot of the 3 acts fanbase attend the Conservatoire. This was a success as we sold 7 tickets on that day, and many people who chatted to us but didn’t buy a ticket still came to the gig. We had an incentive where, if you bought a ticket, you got a free chocolate or brownie. This seemed to have a positive effect on sales.
We also put up 35 posters around the Conservatoire building with QR codes that directed to the DICE ticket sale website for the gig. This directed customers to the ‘Early Bird’ ticket price in the first two weeks of sale (£5 + booking fee), and then to the normal fee after that (£7 + booking fee). The use of a cheaper ticket price in the first two weeks allowed us to sell tickets straight away and start to break even, as it gives people a reason to buy now instead of waiting until the event is closer.
Financial Outcomes
Financially, the event was a huge success, and all the artists were paid in agreement with the pre-arranged profit splits. Although this rate doesn’t fall in line with Musicians Union rates, the artists were very appreciative, as many of the long-standing promoters in the Leeds area, such as 360 Club, rarely pay at all. This leaves aspiring artists with a loss after travel costs, which is not sustainable.
We also paid £24.28 in PRS costs, which was deducted by the venue from the advance ticket sales.
For future events, having a larger marketing budget would allow for more ticket sales and a larger crowd, allowing us to pay the artists more. Alongside this, I would increase fees by £1, having the early bird at £6, general admission at £8, and the door price at £10, as many other Leeds-based gigs are charging similar prices and audiences are happy to pay this.
Event Evidence Video
Event Atmosphere
Box Office
Security
Health and Safety
Production
Artist Liaison
Stage Management
Online Marketing
Promotional Materials
