Event Evaluation
Intro
On the 17th March, we held a gig for Romy Taylor at Brudenell Social Club to promote the launch of her new single for her upcoming EP. With months of planning going into this, the aim was to make this gig feel like a professional concert, and to be an experience for the audience.
Event Evidence Video- Romy Taylor “Human Nature” Live at Brudenell Social Club
Event Atmosphere
The entire event atmosphere was perfect- the room felt very full, and due to everyone being friends or mutuals, there was a really nice friendly vibe in the air, which made the gig very comfortable for performers and audiences. In addition, the elevated production made for a great atmosphere, immersing audiences and creating an experience for them. We constructed lanterns before doors as seen in A1 to elevate the stage presence which was a nice touch.
We were selling Romy’s t-shirts, stickers, carabiners, tote bags, and CDs for Emma Coates (see A5). We organised the table in an aesthetic fashion during soundcheck, and began gaining customers immediately after doors opened (A4). Jethro was in charge of taking payments on his phone (see A3) and we sold 9 t-shirts 15 minutes after doors opened.
Overall, I would say that this event was a huge success- everything ran to schedule, production exceeded expectations, the room was visually full, had a great atmosphere and the show achieved its goal of promoting Romy’s new single and creating a high end gig atmosphere.
The only downsides we found was that the black bricks behind the stage didn’t match Romy’s vibe- it created quite a harsh environment visually, which would be perfect for heavy music, but contrasted with the soft genre of music played that night. Hanging decorations over the bricks, like coloured fabrics, or having the projector screen down (which was available to us) could’ve countered this issue.
A1 A2 A3
A4 A5
Box Office
The box office helped process tickets, distribute stamps and handed out wristbands to performers to distinguish who could be let in the venue (See B1, B2). They also handled our guest list and cheap list, although they did say they’d need help from us identifying people in case of liars, which thankfully didn’t happen, and they were very friendly to people it was reported to us. It would’ve been helpful to have more staff in the box office to process punters quicker, as the venue took a while to fill up due to there being a queue, however Brudenell didn’t let us manage that aspect of the gig so we had no control over that, but overall, they did a very good job.
B1 B2 B3
Security
Security was excellent on the day- our gig was on the same day as St Patrick’s Day, meaning there was lots of traffic in Brudenell- there were multiple security guards throughout the venue, checking ID on entry to the grounds and the venue (S1,S2) to ensure people were being directed to where they needed to go.
They made people decant fluids into plastic cups to keep people in the venue safe (S4, S5) however, some people were let in by security to use the bar or toilet who didn’t have tickets- these individuals disrupted the gig by talking and could’ve resulted in lost profit if they’d stayed. It would have been better if security had restricted access to the venue solely to staff and paying audience members by paying more attention to the identification distributed by the box office.
S1 S2 S3
S4 S5
Health and Safety
We removed all obstructions from fire doors promptly (see HS4) and kept them accessible at all times to ensure we were keeping people safe. We also made sure that all fire extinguishers were accessible and notified people of their positions in case of a fire. As you can see in the video below, we removed all cases promptly during load in to avoid creating clutter and trip hazards. In addition, photo HS1 shows that we had designated areas for people with disabilities make the venue space accessible and safe.
There were multiple hazards that we had to address during the gig- dangling wires across the stage access stairs were taped down so not to cause a trip hazard, and the hole on stage we highlighted during the initial risk assessment (HS3) was mitigated via monitor positioning (see HS2) and unlikely to cause harm. As mentioned in the risk assessment below, we were concerned about the roof tiles, which buzzed in soundcheck (see HS5), but this issue was fixed when bodies began to fill the room and thankfully, the tiles stayed in tact.
There were 2 complaints about the lights being in people’s eyes during the show. To fix this in the future, we must ensure that no light should be static whilst pointing towards people and let the lighting operator know this to put this into effect.
Risk Assessment
HS1
HS2
HS3
HS4- Removing cases during load in
HS5- Buzzing ceiling rattling loose roof tiles
Production
Everything on the production front ran extremely well, with elevated production value added to the gig via the lights, venue choice and high quality sound. Choosing to have a lighting engineer was a large financial risk, as it cost us £130, however it paid off because we got lots of positive feedback on the lighting after the show, and was definitely worth it to give the show a more professional feel (see P5).
I undertook the role of creative designer and designed the lighting for the show. When we conducted our site visit of Brudenell, I took detailed photos of stage and lighting positions, and created a virtual lighting and stage plot which I used to render each track in Romy’s set (see P6). Romy sent me a setlist of notes describing what she wanted visually for each track. I then created the renders and refined the notes, making them more realistic for the show. On the day, I showed Ciaran, the operator, the renders, running him through the notes and my technical design process for the tracks (see lighting cue sheet below- P0).
It would have been even better if I used timecode to make the lighting sync up with the music exactly, however this was not possible due to the fixture models in Brudenell being different to the fixture models on the software I used. I would also have needed to timecode using the same lighting desk or software that is used in Brudenell, and I doubt that Brudenell would have allowed me to spend hours programming on their desk. However, timecoding is something I will look to do going forward from this assignment when I work on creative design.
Romy’s soundcheck took longer than expected to set up due to an issue with Brad’s playback system (see P4) not sending the right signals to FOH. I stepped up to help Brad sort out this issue (see P1-3), and diagnosed the problem to get everyone back on track quickly, but this did contribute to the first soundcheck running over.
P0- Lighting Cue Sheet
P1 P2 P3
P4
P5- Lighting for Romy
P6- Lighting Renders Demo
Artist Liaison
We treated all the artists very well on the night, paying them generous fees and supplying them with water, wifi, and beer in the dressing room (see AL1 and AL4). The perfect amount of drinks was provided too – they lasted until the very end of the night, and we received positive feedback from performers on the water we provided. We also bought 5 sandwiches, which no one ate (see AL1)- we should have instead spent that money on a spread of accessible snacks that would’ve been more appreciated. In addition, artists had parking spaces, which were useful during load in and out, as seen in AL3.
AL1 AL2 AL3
AL4 AL5
AL6- Organising Dressing Room
Stage Management
Lanterns on stage provided a nice decoration for Romy’s set and remained unobstructive due to their strategic positioning. Changeovers, artist load-ins and soundchecks also stuck to schedule (within the allocated periods) and overall operations on stage were successful, with little to no issues.
The only problems we encountered were when people brought their own equipment, such as amps, which cluttered up the stage and storage areas, making load out harder and the backstage area more difficult to manage as there was little storage area.
When the headline band finished soundchecking, we were overrunning by just under an hour, however this was fine, as in the advance schedule, we had factored in an hour mitigation time in case things took longer than expected (which they did). Soundchecks finished around 7, and we were on time for doors to be opened at 7:30- our mitigations included in the advance helped us out a lot to stay on track during the evening. Load out was achieved promptly and within the venue’s desired timeframes and we were out of the venue by 11:30 (see SM4).
SM1- Load in
SM2- Romy Soundcheck
SM3 & 4 Load in and out
Promotion and Preparation
We began putting posters up around our university, other universities, local shops and venues for promotion after the gig’s announcement, and Brudenell promoted the gig via their usual forms of promotion, including posters inside the venue at various locations (P4).
Two weeks before the gig, we took over a table in the Cafe Bar at University between 11-4 on a Tuesday- a day we agreed would guarantee the most footfall. We decorated the table with our physical tickets, sweets and posters, and held a “spin the wheel” competition which could be entered by buying a ticket (see P8), which enticed many people to talk to us. Prizes included chocolate, flowers, free drinks at the venue and free merch, and those who won were noted down to receive their prize on the show day (see P7). Proving to be a very successful promotional method, we sold 13 tickets in 4 hours, raised more awareness for the show via our physical presence, and from talking to lots of people during the day, even if they didn’t buy a ticket.
Romy created physical tickets (see P1) to entice people to buy in person and also have a souvenir of the gig, which was one of the main methods of promotion and sales.
P1- Physical tickets
Posters and Promotion
P1 P2 P3
P4 P5
Cafe Bar Stall
P6 P7
P8
Social Media Promotion
The event was announced on Instagram on January 29th, allowing a month and a half for promotion. Romy posted twice a week to her socials to build hype and keep the gig in people’s minds. Her videos consisted of engaging content such as covers and previews of upcoming songs, or footage of previous gigs to build hype. Each member of the group also promoted the gig via their socials, which allowed for a wider range of people to be made aware of the gig. Brudenell promoted on their established social media with 50,000 followers (see SM5) helping reach a larger range of audience.
SM1 SM2 SM3
SM4
SM5
Financial Outcomes
The only negative to report was that we failed to break even, selling 147 tickets against 170 required to break even. Despite the venue looking full, we were 253 from capacity, and as a result, we’re £252 out of pocket. Due to Brudenell being a step up capacity wise from Romy’s usual venue, we were being ambitious in thinking we would be able to sell out, but not necessarily in thinking we’d be able to sell more tickets than Romy’s previous headliners, following the trajectory of sales increases per headliner that we worked out beforehand at 50% increase per show, creating an estimate of 225 tickets sold.
The physical tickets Romy created were a very smart idea, as it meant we avoided booking fees and VAT for this method of purchase, leading to increased income from this ticket medium.
Therefore, our biggest mistake in this whole process was being ambitious and selecting a venue that costs more to hire, and is more difficult to break even and make profit on. You could argue that we should have picked a smaller venue that would have been easier to sell out (which would give the artist a better image), however Leeds has a deficit of venues between the 150-300 capacity range, which would’ve been perfect for us; Romy has already sold out Oporto and Hyde Park Book Club, so it makes no sense to play a venue of that caliber again. However, I think it makes an artist look good to have held a show at Brudenell, a revered venue, filled out the room and held a successful show- overall the risk was worth it, and it has made Romy more established as an artist in Leeds, which was another aim of this assignment.
Venue Settlement
Final Settlement
Financial Records
