(Figure A)
Introduction
For our Live Music Management event, my group hosted ‘A Night of Indie Folk Music’ at Lending Room in Leeds on Wednesday February 25th, 2026. We attracted 55 attendees, creating a venue occupancy that felt full without becoming overcrowded, contributing positively to audience comfort and engagement (Figure A). The line up consisted of members from our group, with myself opening the night, followed by Grace de Wolfe as main support, and Thomas Jason’s band headlining. This evaluation critically reflects on both the planning and execution of the event, assessing its effectiveness across key operational areas.
As both a performer and an organiser, my role in the group covered multiple aspects of the event. In the weeks and months leading up to February 25th, it was my job to manage general costs, including tickets, venue hire, and financial risk planning. I was also involved in the promotional side of things, creating and posting reels on my ‘Hoad’ social media platforms (mainly instagram and tiktok) to help gain coverage and increase ticket sales. As an artist I also had to allow time for rehearsals in order to deliver the best performance possible on the night, ensuring that attendees got their money’s worth.
Event Atmosphere
Overall, our event atmosphere was great. We had enough attendees to make the Lending Room’s 200 capacity venue feel full, but not overcrowded. The limited crowd size did somewhat cap energy at a certain level, and only a higher turnout could have resolved this. The positioning of the bar directly facing the stage contributed significantly to audience retention (Figure B), as attendees were able to buy drinks without disengaging from performances. The three sets showcased a variety of performance energy levels, with a nice balance of calm, attentive quietness and intensive, loud climaxes.
My set (under my artist name ‘Hoad’) began with the new song I had been promoting on my socials, performed with myself on guitar and vocals and my friend Rafi Morris on the drums (Figure C), and was followed by a few more original songs performed solo (Figure D). In future, I would ideally play my set with a band throughout as the solo songs created a noticeable reduction in sonic depth, limiting audience engagement compared to the sections where I had supporting drums.
After the break, Gracie sang her set, with Noah Fenton supporting her with his acoustic guitar and backing vocals. This was a sweet and intimate feeling set, with a well retained calm energy which kept the audience listening quietly and attentively (Figure E). Their excellent performance combined with the melancholic cool purple and blue lighting created a strong and coherent atmosphere, and the crowd applauded enthusiastically after each song.
The night ended Thomas Jason’s longer, full band set. With Thomas on lead vocals and guitar, supported by drums, bass and lead guitar (Figure A), the musical texture felt full and appropriate for the headline act. His set wandered through a variety of sounds, with some americana-inspired acoustic-focused songs and some more heavy, distorted and intense ones. It was a confident, well-rehearsed performance, emboldened by the masterful manipulation of the sound engineer, who did well to adjust for the unique and challenging acoustics of the room.
These observations highlight the importance of appropriately programmed set variation in maintaining audience engagement throughout an event with multiple acts.
(Figures B and C)
(Figures D and E)
Financial Outcomes
In total, we sold 55 tickets for this event, including 49 in advance online and 7 on the door, grossing a total of £315. Our pricing strategy fell under my responsibility in the planning of this event. I calculated that in order to make back our main expenditure of £130 on the venue hire, we’d have to sell between 25 and 30 tickets, depending on ADV vs. OTD sales, so we set the online ADV price as £5 (Figure F) and the OTD price as £10. The resulting turnout of our event exceeded expectations, and we made a profit of £185, giving each member of our group £37. While higher pricing may have increased revenue, this posed a risk of reduced attendance. The event also took place on a Wednesday, not as popular as Friday or the weekend for a night out. Furthermore, we discovered that two other Live Music Management groups were also putting their gigs on the same night, and so there was extra competition over the Leeds Conservatoire student crowd. With these odds stacked against us, I believe we did well to turn such a profit, although we could have probably charged more for online tickets given that some student attendees were willing to pay £10 OTD. In future, when planning an event I would like to book the venue even earlier in the hope that a Friday or weekend slot is available. Then again, these slots can be more expensive, and so the extra time would need to be used effectively to extensively promote and ensure an even better turnout. Seasonal timing may also influence attendance and should be considered in planning of future events.
(Figure F)
Box Office / Security
Shania was monitoring security on the door, checking tickets (Figure G) and IDs (Figure H), marking attendees (Figure I) and searching bags (Figure J). With just 55 attendees in our relatively small capacity venue, a single person managing the door was sufficient. Had this been a higher capacity venue, this approach would present limitations and increased door staffing would be necessary to ensure crowd safety. The absence of incidents indicates that the security measures we took were appropriate for the small scale of our event. However, this may also suggest lower risks with our audience demographic. For higher-intensity events, risk levels may increase.
(Figures G, H, I and J)
Health and Safety
As stated in our risk assessment, key risks included fire safety, trip hazards and crowd management, all of which were mitigated through measures we took. During the setup and soundcheck, we made ourselves aware of the venue’s fire exits (Figure K) and fire extinguisher locations in case of emergencies. These exits were kept clear from obstruction by crowd or equipment, as we kept all our equipment and cases well out of the way in the green room, ensuring that the fire extinguisher in the green room was also left visible and easily accessible (Figure L). Furthermore, we kept a copy of our risk assessment handy, making sure that appropriate precautions were taken, including neat cable management on and near the stage to avoid tripping hazards (Figure M), and not overloading electrical sockets to reduce the risk of a fire starting (Figure N). We also adhered to the “no glasses, plastics only” rule at the venue (Figure O), making sure any attendees who tried to enter carrying their drink in a glass cup decanted into a plastic before entering. When a large drink was spilled in the crowd area, we made sure to notify the bar staff who set up an appropriate slipping hazard cone (Figure P). As seen in our tech spec, we used the in house amps and drum kit and so heavy lifting was reduced to just instruments and drum breakables.
(Figures K and L)
(Figures M and N)
(Figures O and P)
Production
Production quality is important in shaping artist performance and audience experience, and so we picked the Lending Room over a less expensive venue like the Pack Horse or Wharf Chambers for its superior sound quality. Good production is important for the upkeep of professionalism, guaranteeing artist confidence and audience satisfaction. The space is tall and short, with the space between the stage and the opposing bar being shorter than the width of the room (Figure Q), so the acoustics can be challenging. However, Lending Rooms have taken measurements to combat this, installing a powerful sound system and employing experienced sound engineers to work the sound desk (Figure R). This is evidenced in the recording of my song called ‘So Long’ captured by our sound engineer Kai (Figure T), demonstrating the value of investing in high quality sound systems and technical staff. Furthermore, the elaborate lighting in the venue was used to great effect, providing different colour schemes for each set which enhanced their unique identities. This can be seen in the photos of my set in which I discussed the lighting with the sound engineer prior to the performance. This resulted in the lighting matching the red of my guitar and beige of my shirt, creating a cohesive visual for the audience (Figure S). The absence of technical difficulties ensured continuity between performances, preventing disruptions that could negatively impact the audience engagement and overall event perception.
(Figures Q, R and S)
(Figure T)
Artist Liaison
Although artist liaison practices were limited due to performers being part of the management team, this created an environment of clear and consistent communication throughout the planning process, reducing the likelihood of misunderstandings that may typically occur with external artists bookings. However, our approach does not reflect the essential complexities of working with external artists, such as contractual agreements, technical riders and hospitality provisions. This gap in practical experience will need addressing in future events and I will make sure to clearly communicate riders and schedules for external artists, as well as factoring in a payment guarantee for them, whether that be a certain percentage taken from profits or just payment for their travel. For these needs, I will definitely consider hiring the Lending Room again for its large green room which is ideal for hosting many people and storing plenty of equipment.
Stage Management
As seen in our advance event schedule, we allowed excess time for soundchecks, sets, and changeovers, which proved to be an effective risk mitigation strategy. We allowed 3 hours (4-7pm) for load in and soundchecks, and these went so smoothly that we actually had a whole hour free between the final check and the door opening time. With this time we double checked everything was set for the arrival of our attendees, like the box office and sticking up set time posters (Figure U). Had there been delays during setup such as late arrival of bands or replacing faulty equipment, we could have pushed the set times back a whole hour as Thomas Jason was scheduled to finish at 10pm, an hour before curfew. In the end, Thomas finished at 10:15pm, giving us an abundance of time for a relaxed pack down. Even if we needed to quickly pack down, the presence of in house amps and drum kit significantly reduced pack down time. Venues with in house equipment would therefore be ideal in future events, and if they don’t supply this then it’ll be worth considering in the organisation process, factoring in extra time in the schedule for setup and pack down.
(Figure U)
Promotion and Marketting
For our promotion, we stuck almost entirely to online and word of mouth methods. Shania designed our poster (Figure V), and we posted this primarily on Instagram and Tiktok in order to cater to our target audience of students and young people. We made collaborative posts across accounts (Figure W), combining the followers of all three artists and of the Lending Room’s Instagram account (Figure X). Our poster was even picked up and promoted by ‘Bi Plus Leeds Social Group’ (Figure Y). This, combined with regular posting of the ticket link on our stories and putting up physical posters around the university campus gave our gig a lot of traction and helped massively towards our 49 online ticket sales. On my personal tiktok and instagram accounts (‘hoad.music’), I was further promoting the gig with reels (Figure Z) featuring some of the songs that could be expected during my set. This strategy proved successful, as evidenced by audience members telling me how they enjoyed hearing and recognising these songs live. Instagram proved most effective due to its visual format and alignment with our target demographic. For future events, it’s worth considering the limitations of relying purely on digital promotion as it can alienate different social circles outside of young people. Methods like flyer distribution and postering around town could be effective in combating this.
(Figures V, W, X and Y)
(Figure Z)
Conclusion
Overall, the event can be considered a success. Our extensive planning made the gig run smoothly and resulted in significant turnout. There were enough attendees to create an atmosphere and generate a healthy profit which also covered our expenditure, demonstrating an effective balance between affordability and profitability. I also built on my existing events management experience, learning to adhere to professional practices like risk assessments and health and safety regulations, and how to work effectively in my role as a member of a team. This event highlighted the importance of strategic planning, targeted marketing, adaptability and audience-focused decision making, all of which will inform my approach to future live music events. This event gave me valuable practical insight into the complexities of the live music management industry.
