On the 19th February 2026, our group promoted and carried out a night of high energy, electronic dance music at Hyde Park Book Club. Due to our groups excellent co-ordination and planning, the event was a great success with 3 bands performing and over 80 attendees, resulting in a profitable and positive night for everyone involved. The following evaluation will look at how we achieved this, as well as any improvements we could have made along the way.
Event Evidence Video
Event Atmosphere
As our event was an electronic music night, ensuring the stage design and overall aesthetic of each performance was unique and engaging for the audience was incredibly important for the night to be a success. We had arranged to use the venues projector and screen as we hired a digital artist (BUNDY) to code live visuals for each set, that would react to the music in real time, creating a stand out on-stage spectacle(see 1A). We also brought along several dancers (see 1B, 5C, Evidence Vid) in eccentric, vibrant costumes which helped elevate the performances by encouraging the audience to engage with the music in a more physical way, and helped dissipate any awkwardness people may have felt to dance. This resulted in the night having consistently higher energy levels throughout each performance, and the audience were engaging with the artists throughout the sets. Overall, I think our event succeeded in creating a unique and memorable atmosphere of high energy danceable music that resonated with and engaged the audience, leaving them wanting more.
Box Office
We decided to staff our own box office for this event as we had two team members, Tommy and Matthew who were available to take shifts manning the top and bottom entrances (see 2A, 3A) after the event space had been set up, as having two people on the door helped mitigate burnout and prevent the entrance being left unstaffed. We put posters out around the entrance so everyone knew where to head once they arrived at the building, as there are multiple event spaces at HPBC which could lead to confusion if not properly signposted. In terms of equipment we brought for the box office, we made sure to be equipped with both a functional card reader and some petty cash for on-the-door sales as well as a marker to stamp and track who had bought a ticket. An improvement in this area we could have made would have been to get a unique stamp, coloured marker or wristbands as the black X would have been quite easy to replicate. We also made sure to check arrivals IDs as our event was strictly over 18s only. We also had a merchandise table downstairs selling stickers, jewellery and figurines to help the artists generate some more income as well as chat and network with fans after the show. We put Tommy on the main entrance because of his interpersonal skills, as he managed to sell several tickets OTD to people coming up to inquire about the event on the day.
Security
The event space came with a dedicated green room which was passcode protected, so all performers and staff were encouraged to put valuable instruments and equipment in this room when not in use. We also made sure once performances started that this room remained locked as the large numbers of people in the event room would make it easy for someone to take valuables unnoticed. There were also checks with venue staff that all cctv cameras were working and active for the evening so we would have video evidence if an incident were to occur. We made sure all side door were locked so the event could only be accessed by the main entrance, manned by a team member to check the attendees tickets and assess if there was anyone unfit to enter the event space as there was a bar upstairs serving alcohol.
Health and Safety
Upon arriving at the venue, the first thing we made sure to do was sweep the floor to remove any debris and wipe down any slippery surfaces as this would help reduce the chance of injury both while our team was setting up the stage/moving heavy objects around and once the event commenced to prevent attendees from slipping or falling on sharp objects(see 4A). In the green room we made sure all the shelves were stacked efficiently and safely, as this was a high traffic area all evening so ensuring no heavy objects could fall from high up as people were coming in and out of the room (see 4B, 7A). We also made sure to provide ample hearing protection for all attendees (see 4C) because the performances would be frequently exceeding 110 decibels which can cause hearing damage and temporary pain if left unfiltered. When setting the stage up for each performance, we took extra care to check there were minimal loose cables and trip hazards in the performance space, as we would also be having dancers on stage which increased the risk of a heat of the moment fall or people getting tangled in cables. As stated in our risk assessment we also made sure all fire exits were un-obstructed and clearly signposted, and that there were working fire extinguishers to hand. When loading in and packing down, we made sure all heavy items were carried by at least two people in good physical health.
Production
With performances starting at 7:30, we arrived at the venue around 3:30 to begin setting up the drum kit, amps and the rest of the stage as Tom, the house sound engineer, set the desk and monitors up. TONII began load just after 4pm and finished her soundcheck around 5pm, slightly behind schedule, however we gave ourselves around an hour buffer between the last soundcheck and doors opening, so extending TONIIs soundcheck slightly to ensure everything was running smoothly and the band was happy with the sound was a well informed decision. Soundcheck’s were wrapped up around 6:30pm, and we also gave BUNDY some time to set the visuals up on the projector and test them while bands were sound checking. We also had team members available at the changeovers to help bring rigs on and off stage, helping streamline sound checks and also acting as a useful practice for the real changeovers between sets to ensure there was minimal downtime between the performances. We mainly used Lucas’ car to transport all the heavy equipment, as I had booked most of the backline equipment in advance from our uni facilities and couldn’t be moved via public transport or on foot as the venue was over 2 miles away.
Artist Liaison
We made sure all the artists were catered for in the green room by meeting their rider requests for towels and drinking water (6A, 6B). We also made sure to bring extra water for the visual artist and especially the dancers as they were using lots of energy in a hot environment, so dehydration would have been a serious issue. (we made sure to have plenty of throat sweets for the singers as well). There was also effort made to ensure the green room was clean and not cluttered (6C) so the bands had a space to relax and unwind before and after performing. In the lead up to the event we made sure all the performers tech specs were correct and lined up with the specs of the venue, and that everyone had all the backline they needed for their sets.
Stage Management
Due to the varying amount of electronic equipment that needed to be set up we made sure as much as possible was ready to be brought on stage before each set. For example, both TONII and Shotbungullet needed to use the large table to put all their synths, laptops, drum machines and interfaces (7C). Some of this equipment was shared as Lucas was performing in both sets however all of TONIIS equipment needed taking off. This is one of the reasons Deff60 was placed in the middle of their sets, as they didn’t require use of the table, so during their set all the equipment could be changed over off stage and brought back on immediately after their set. All instruments and cases not in use were stored in the green room shelves to keep as much floor space as possible clear. We already knew cable management would be important from a health and safety standpoint to avoid tripping, however having all the cables organised also reduced stage clutter, allowing the performers to move around more freely. Also if any problems had occurred with any of the equipment, having all the cables organised would make finding and resolving the issue much more streamlined. All the event timings had been attached to the green room door (7B) so everyone would be on the same page for meeting the evenings schedule.
Online Marketing
Our online marketing strategies would be important for creating wider promotional outreach to get to a broader audience. The majority of our focus was on social media, particularly Instagram and TikTok, as this is where our younger target demographic primarily goes to find information about events. We decided not to create separate promotion accounts and instead just use the artists profiles for promotion as there wasn’t enough time to build a significant following on a new account that would be bigger than the combined following of the already established artists. TONII had also created some short videos on her various socials to promote the event and her new single which was being released on the day of the event to further generate interactions from her fanbase. There were also several small local music news accounts that released showcases/interviews with TONII in the lead up to the event, which helped expose her music to a larger audience and attract more people to the gig.
Promotion
Our promotional strategy played a key role in getting our event noticed and talked about by as many people as possible. We had arranged a few days where we would have a stall in our university cafe bar, located in a convenient, high traffic area to ensure we could talk to as many people as possible (9B). The main part of our stall was used to display the various merch items we would be selling at the event, such as bracelets, earrings and figurines. Often when people stopped at the stall they would talk about which items were their favourite and if they could reserve anything for themselves. This in itself helped encourage people to attend the event before they had even bought a ticket, and would make sure once at the event that they would be more inclined to stay till the end. As well as displaying the merch, we made sure to have something that people could take home direct from the stall.
We settled on leaflets and stickers (9C), as we could give these away for free for minimal losses, and if people decided to stick them on their personal items this would create more outreach for our promotional campaign (we had attached QR codes with links to event tickets and TONIIs music/website) and keep a strong discourse around our event. We also held a mini scavenger hunt within our uni, where the first person to find a secret poster (9A) would win some free merch at the gig, further encouraging attendance and interactions. We had also made individual poster designs tailored to each band performing, to better help draw in their individual fanbases by displaying their signature aesthetics. Kurtis had also placed some posters in some of the other universities around Leeds to help with bringing in a more diverse audience. The only issue main issue we ran into when promoting was that we struggled to get posters/leaflets into the venue in advance, due to the high demand of the venue, their dedicated noticeboards were usually filled up with other events. However we did manage to put some leaflets out on the day of the gig, which gave people coming in and out during the day some good exposure to the event.
