On the 19th February 2026 myself and 5 of my peers hosted local talent TONIIs headline show at Hyde Park book club. Barreling out of the gate with ambitious goals, we set our sights on an electrifying night of electronic music spearheaded by TONII and supported by shotgungullet and Deff60. With a break even point at 50 tickets and a capacity of 150 we had a lot of room to play with and a high potential to hit. In this evaluation I will go over my key contributions to the group which allowed for its success alongside highlighting important moments and decisions that we made as a group.

Promotion

For us to ensure a streamlined promotion campaign first we required an aesthetic that was bold and stood out from its peers. Selling tickets to a small venue show is always difficult however due to the increased number of students putting on events for university assignments , we understood the monumental task which stood ahead of us. However, utilising TONIIS pre existing aesthetic gave us a massive head start in comparison to our competitors. Having a pre existing aesthetic allowed us to create a large amount of content which could be utilised on the day of the show or during the build up. Utilising an “on the door” and “in advance” pricing system allowed us to push ticket sales before the event, giving customers incentive to lock in their purchase early to ensure a cheaper ticket. I believe that this, alongside our reasonable in advance price of five pound , created a relatively simple sell and meant our job as promoters was made easier.

Alongside posters and ticket sales we got in contact with a graphics designer who offered to create backdrops for all three acts. Having him promote the event to his audience alongside the excitement of it not just being an ‘ordinary’ local small venue gig. This small addition transforms this event into an experience, creating exciting visuals for the audience to remember ensures the customer feels they made a worthy purchase.

On the build up to the night we posted about the array of merchandise which will be on offer. In doing this, we hoped to entice more people to come to the show.

Box Office

The box office is one of the most important parts of the event and I was running it on the night. It was a decision made beforehand for us to take both cash and card on the door, we didn’t want to lose out on any sale and risk not breaking even. To accomplish this I ensured I had a £30 cash float for change alongside a lockbox which I kept by me at all times. For card purchases we used an app called SumUp which allows for your smartphone to take card payments. To ensure the event was secure the only entrance and exit was manned at all times. Not only was the top door staffed by me but the second door to the basement was also staffed by the team. This meant that we had a two check system where I on the top would check tickets and draw a mark on an individuals hand and my teammate downstairs will ensure nobody has gotten past without one on the bottom. This system worked very well for the whole of the night and also allowed for us to make extra money selling over 10 tickets on the door. The decision to have me on the door was made due to my people skills and my ability to remain friendly and welcoming under any circumstance. This proved to be the correct choice as on the night I had multiple people coming up asking about the event and in these cases I had to sell it. Although not all of them bought a ticket there was one party who I managed to sell the idea to. Alongside this, I explained to all audience members that it will be a loud volume and ear protection is recommended.

Security

The venue did not provide security for this event so between us we devised a plan to ensure the gig room was secure for all audience members and personnel we have allowed inside the venue. To begin we needed a way to mark people that have had their tickets scanned and want to come and go from the venue. Using a sharpie I created an identifiable symbol on every audience members hand. This gave me a quick and easy way to recognise who has had access to the venue. Alongside this we had a second person guarding the downstairs door, double checking all who came in had been marked by myself upstairs.

We never left either post unattended and rotated the bottom door to allow for artists. However for consistency and the fact that I will see every face come in and out, I stayed on the top door for the entire show.

Alongside this we ensured nothing was blocking the fire exit so in the case of a fire a quick and easy exit is available. The venue also supplied a green room which worked a perfect safe space for equipment storage before, during and after the show. Having a safe space with a locked

All fire exits were checked beforehand and clearly made out to all participants of the event, we also considered our cable management throughout the show. Ensuring all cables are stuck down and will not be a trip hazard for the performers was a high priority.

Organisation of the event

The responsibility to organise fell to everyone in the group however we did divided certain roles to certain people. For example, Lucas has access to a car and therefore did a lot of the heavy lifting when it came to moving equipment to and from the venue. Keeping this in mind, Lucas was entrusted to maintain and organise equipment renting and movement to and from the venue. To accomplish this me and Lucas organised an extensive equipment checklist which took into account all instruments which need to be rented alongside all instruments that artists are supplying. Consistently checking this list in reference to what we have at the venue, ensured that we had no issues during changeover and load in.

Alongside this, on the day we arranged to meet at the venue at 3. This is an hour before load in on the show advance. Giving ourselves extra time to prepare until artists arrive allowed us to organise, visuals for the stage and confirm load in and entry points for the artists.

Communication

In the build up and all the way throughout this event I was the point of communication between the venue and the team. With a constant stream of communication, I ensured the venue was aware of any changes or things we required on the night. Utilising folders I collected all of the teams work in one place to make it easily accessible and viable to work from for the venue.

Creating a show advance which aligned with the venues guidelines was imperative for our success on the night. Highlighting the venues ideal load in times and timings for when their staff arrive and then using that to create our own show advance for our artist allowed for us to have zero confusion on the day regarding logistics and timings.

Although communication between all parties have been clear and effective there have been certain areas where it could be improved. For example, when it came to posters and promotional material, it took us too long on our part to get this content to the venue. Although we made the deadline, I understand how important it is to get this information to the venue as fast as possible so they can arrange their own socials and help promote the event.

Artist Liaison

Liaising with artists is of the utmost importance on the day. Understanding their headspace and what they require to perform is imperative for the show to go forward. Knowing this, we asked all artists for riders and fulfilled them to the best of our ability. Although most artists did not have an intense list of requirements, we made sure that on the day there will be one member of the team consistently checking on and looking after the artists. We made sure all artists were aware of the timings on the show advance and understood how to stick to it. Also helping artists with merch stands and other responsibilities is also the job of artist liaison.

Alongside this to make acts as comfortable as possible, we provided throat sweets for all acts. Understanding the time of year and how prone to illness people are in the colder months, we thought it was a good idea to offer throat sweets. In the hopes to mitigate the chance of singers voices falling on the night.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere of the event is in my opinion our most successful part of the night. With specially designed visuals on a projector for each artist, over 80 tickets sold and three artists bursting with energy, we had created a formula where we believe every audience member could let go and really feel the night. After undergoing research into TONIIS other live shows and her brand, I noticed she consistently has not only hired dancers on stage but audience members. I believe this tears down the divide between audience and artist, breaking down the conceptual wall which usually halts audience members from truly experiencing the show.

The unique visuals for each artists gave the audience another layer for them to dissect and pick apart during the show. I believe covering up the “HPBC” sign behind the acts should allow all audience members to forget that they are at a local venue in Leeds. Having everything the audience can see be stylised and related to the artist allowed for a completed experience for the audience to enjoy.

Finances

Financially this event was a success. We had a perceived notion that we will end up around 50 tickets sold, this is our break even point so although we won’t make profit, it is not a massive failure. Getting all of our money back that we spent on the gig was already enough of a success for me and the team. However due to last minute promotion we ended up selling over 30 tickets the day of the gig. We knew that we would have a spike in ticket sales closer to the date however we did not expect it to take us that far over the finish line.

This extra boost of ticket sales have allowed us to earn a minimum of £20 each and all artists were paid their fair share. In the current climate of small venues and money hungry promoters who insist of sucking every penny out of artists they can, this is a monumental success. For 6 students to put on a show, make profit and pay all artists a fair wage was a dream come true for our group.

Conclusion

In conclusion , I believe our event was a huge success. Our group dynamic and ability to work as a team was a huge asset to us during this project. Being able to rely on my peers and them be able to rely on me is a huge reason why the event went as well as it did. Since the start of this process we have had a shared vision of what we wanted the event to be and have communicated and worked out solutions for things we disagreed with.

Problems arose throughout the process however were quickly resolved due to open communication between the group. For example we started late on the night due to technical issues however after diving up roles and rearranging the show advance slightly , we managed to get back on track and start the show at the correct time.

Looking back on the show and the entire process that has gone into making it a reality , im proud of the distance we have come as a team and I believe the true cause of our success was our ability to dig in for each other. There was not a single point in the entire process where people were avoiding jobs. Due to our care for each other and this event any slack that began to arise was quickly picked up by another member of the team.