a) Proposal
Canadian band Seaway are playing a slot at Slam Dunk Festival on May 27th, 28th, and 29th. I will plan a concert for them to play just before this event probably a few days before. Gigs like these are often called 'warm-up shows' as they are usually put on for before a big festival for the band to practise their set and see a response to their setlist from fans to let them know if anything should be changed. This is a useful thing to do as it is likely that they wont have a huge amount of fans at Slam Dunk so they need to make sure that their set is good enough to bring in a bigger audience. In terms of audience at this show, it isn't strictly for promotional purposes so it is expected that mostly already existing fans will attend however there could potentially be some people that are going to Slam Dunk that might attend to check out Seaway ahead of the festival.
b) Event Planner
Key Dates - Thursday 25th May. This is 2 days before Slam Dunk begins giving the band enough time to alter their set if needed and also travel up to Birmingham for the the first date of the festival. All advertising and ticket sales will start on may 2nd, although fairly short notice, I am still confident that tickets will sell out prior to the event.
Possible Location(s) - Camden Underworld. This is a favoured venue amongst fans of this genre, its relatively small capacity 500 and there being no barrier between the stage and floor makes for fairly intimate shows. All 3 bands on the line up have played sold out shows here before meaning fans know it and will be willing to travel to it. I imagine the audience will primarily made up of fans from London and surrounding areas, however there will be some people that have traveled from far away to come to the festival so they will potentially also come to the show.
Potential bands/artists - With Seaway being the headline act, artists of a similar style and preferably who have played with Seaway before would be best for to support this show. Some appropriate bands would include Homebound who are also playing Slam Dunk and Trash Boat who often play shows with Seaway in the UK. I think this would be a good lineup and help maximise ticket sales. It would also be a good promotional move for Seaway as Trash Boat have more fans in the UK so anyone who attends the show for Trash Boat could potentially become a Seaway fan too.
Running order - Doors: 7:00pm, Homebound: 7:20-7:50, Trash Boat 8:10-8:40, Seaway: 9:00-9:45, Curfew: 10:00.
Personnel, equipment, materials - Any production personnel needed (including security, sound engineer etc) are provided by the venue with the hire price. At one-off shows like this bands will usually help the production team in setting up their instruments and equipment for their set. Below is a list of equipment that is available at the Underworld and is also including including with the venue at no extra cost.
The Underworld have already got a contact with ticket distributors Music Glue, tickets will be sold via this website as well as from the box office from the venue, and on the door of the event should there be any left by that point. Tickets will be promoted via Music Glue and The Underworld website (mailing lists, social media etc), posters will be up around the Underworld in weeks leading up to the event. There is a budget of £50 for promotion on social media so any posts by the venue or artists will be promoted in order to reach more potential guests. Tickets are non refundable (unless event is cancelled).
As a contingency plan, in the event of support bands pulling out the concert will still go ahead and if given enough notice, a replacement will be found. Should The Underworld be unsuitable to hold the gig, The Garage in Islington has a similar capacity and is not to far away from Camden so the event would be held there instead. The event will be cancelled should the headline bands be unavailable to play and full refunds will be given to ticket holders.
Relevant risk assessments -
Stage designs - For smaller scale concerts like these (particularly within this genre of music), stage designs aren't very important and it will usually just be a flag with the headline bands logo hung up on the back wall of the stage. This is a very low budget and easy option. The stage in the Underworld is very small and in a corner giving it pretty limited options for more complex stage designs so I will probably go for the flag. The Underworld has a fairly basic lighting setup, so in terms of lights and colours, there will be red and yellow lights towards the stage which will remain static for the entire event. All three bands playing have 5 members in, so the setup for each set will be very similar, drums, microphones and amps etc will be shared between them to save time. I've put together a rough design of where each member will be on stage, amps and pedal boards will be along the front and to the sides/back of the stage.
c) Budget, Funding
Since this event isn't strictly for promotional purposes, the budget will be kept to a minimum. I was unable to find a quote for hiring the underworld however I was recommended the External promoter 'Hash7' who offer slots to play in the Underworld at no cost to the artist. As long as the artist can guarantee a minimum of 45 attendees. Below is a summary of how it works and the terms of agreements. (All production personnel and equipment are included with this deal.)
Seaway have sold out this venue before and with added support from Trash Boat and Homebound, tickets are almost certainly going to sell out. Therefore I think an appropriate price for the tickets would be around £12, doubling the profits already. I would say a guest list of about 30 people would be ok for this event is really for promotional purpose so getting a lot of industry professionals in isn't too important.
In terms of splitting ticket sales with Trash Boat and Homebound, I have been told that (varying on popularity of the artist) usually around £150-£200 is paid towards an artist for an event like this. So paying all 3 artists to perform here would cost probably around £500
Another cost would be the hire of a Merchandise seller and possibly a photographer. Artists like these usually have people that they use for these jobs at every show they do (they are usually just good friends of the artist). I've been told an expected price for these jobs would be around £50-£80 for the night.
On top of the ticket sales, we would hope to make profit from merchandise sale too. Since Seaway would already have merchandise lined up to sell at Slam Dunk, we probably wouldn't have to print a lot more garments if any. As an estimate I have sourced some prices of a minimal printing service for some hoodies t-shirts.
20 Hoodies for £225 - sell at £20 each = £175 profit
50 T-shirts for £230 - sell at £10 each = £270 profit
CD's & Vinyls of recent album to also be for sale.
A rough profit that Pure Noise Records would be expected to make on this event would be around £3,800.
d) legal and/or ethical issues
Ethical
- The Underworld follows an age policy of 14+ only, any under 16's MUST be accompanied by an adult. I think this suits the nature of the music being played at the event as it does contain swearing but nothing too offensive.
- First Aid will be on site for any minor injuries, multiple hospitals are very close by.
- Crowdsurfing/Stage Diving/Mosh pits are very likely, audience take part at their own risk. Anyone that does not want to be involved are advised to stand towards the back of the crowd or not on the dance floor.
Legal (see risk assessment)
- The Underworld are fully insured for these events including public liability cover.
- Any contracts will be signed by the artists (or a representative) prior to the event. Contracts regarding security and other staff will have been already agreed.
-Standard advertising such as posters, flyers etc will be covered by the venue. Any extra such as promoted post on social media will be at the expense of the label.
- The event will be photographed and possibly filmed. audience agree for photos of them to be used on social media by buying the ticket.
-Filming/Photography is allowed by the audience.
-Support bands, timings and venue are subject to change. No ticket refunds will be given unless headline band are unable to play or for whatever ease the event cannot be held. There will not be a rescheduling of the event.
Justification
Live music events in the UK increased by 35% last year and are expected to keep rising. However due to there being a greater choice in everything (food, travel, entertainment) it is expected that fans will be more demanding in what they want regarding concerts. Therefore I think that my event is a good option for the current trends as a majority of fans prefer smaller, more intimate gigs. For the genre of music my event is based around, you will often get 2-4 support bands before the main artist. Obviously people would prefer to get the most out of their money so I've chosen just 2 support bands due to time restrictions and early curfews.
Due to streaming websites and illegal downloads becoming more common, it is predicted that artists will turn to touring to make most of their money, and promoters are beginning to hybrid their events with other events to try and maximise ticket sales. This concert is in association with Slam Dunk Festival, so we will hopefully reach as many potential fans as possible with advertising.
