Vibe & Thrive

Planning Diary

7/04/2025 – Today, I contacted Andy, the organiser of The Brickyard, via email to inquire about the possibility of hiring the venue for the upcoming Vibe & Thrive gig. In the email, I specified the week during which I would like to host the event, providing him with the proposed dates to check availability.

11/04/2025 – Today, I sent a follow-up email to Andy with a few important questions regarding the Vibe & Thrive gig at The Brickyard. Specifically, I asked:

What is the cost of hiring the venue?
Will the tickets be available through The Brickyard’s official website, or will they be sold via a different platform?
What is the venue’s total audience capacity?

I need this information in order to finalise the design and details for the promotional poster and to begin putting together a financial spreadsheet for the event. Having clarity on these aspects will help me plan more effectively and ensure everything is ready for the next stage of promotion and budgeting.

11/04/2025 – Today, I reached out to Andy again via email with several important questions concerning the upcoming Vibe & Thrive gig. I asked for clarification on the cost of hiring The Brickyard venue, as this information is crucial for budgeting and financial planing. Additionally, I inquired whether the tickets for the event would be sold through The Brickyard’s official website or via another platform, as this would affect how I direct potential attendees. Finally, I requested details about the venue’s maximum capacity to ensure the event planning stays within safety and logistical limits. Having this information is essential for me to finalise the promotional poster design and to create an accurate financial spreadsheet, which will help in managing the event’s budget and resources effectively.

18/04/2025 – Today, I spoke with my tutor, Anna, regarding the status of the Vibe & Thrive gig promotion. I asked her if there was any update on when the arrangements between the college and The Brickyard would be finalised so that I could begin promoting the event officially. Anna kindly called The Brickyard on my behalf, but I am still waiting to receive confirmation on when everything will be sorted. In addition to this, I worked on the administrative side of the project by drafting contracts for all the musicians participating in the gig. I successfully got the contracts signed by the following performers and bands: Autumn’s Hummingbirds, Dead Trend, Borderline, Mitchell Hill, Dan Goodman, Ross McNally, and Represent. This was an important step in formalising their involvement and ensuring everyone is clear on the terms. After college that day, I prepared a contract for the technical crew who will be assisting with the event. I plan to distribute these contracts and have them signed tomorrow, completing the formal agreements needed to move forward with the event planning.

4/04/2025 – Today, I successfully obtained signatures on the remaining two contracts for the technical crew members, completing all the necessary agreements with the tech team for the Vibe & Thrive gig. In addition, I spoke with another band called Indigo Static, who expressed interest in performing at the event since they were looking for a gig opportunity. To formalise their participation, I prepared and printed out a new contract for them to review and sign. This helps ensure that all performers and crew members are officially committed and clear on their responsibilities moving forward.

01/05/2025 – Today, I spoke with my tutor, Anna, to find out when I would be able to start promoting the Vibe & Thrive event officially. She informed me that I would be able to begin promotion on Friday. In preparation for this, I sent a message via Instagram to all the bands involved, asking them to meet me outside so we could take a group photo together. My plan was to use this photo as part of the promotional material as soon as I received final confirmation of the event. Up until now, I hadn’t posted the official event poster because I was not completely certain where the tickets would be sold. I was waiting for confirmation from Andy regarding the ticket sales platform before sharing any detailed promotional content to avoid confusion.

03/05/2025 – Today, I uploaded the official Vibe & Thrive poster onto the event’s Instagram account to begin the promotion phase. Along with the poster, I added a caption that read, “Tickets on sale at 7 PM tonight!” to inform followers about the exact time ticket sales would open that evening. This was an important step in generating excitement and ensuring that potential attendees knew when and where to purchase their tickets.

07/05/2025 – Today, I emailed Andy to check on the ticket sales for the Vibe & Thrive gig. Unfortunately, I was informed that only two tickets had been sold so far, which was concerning given the upcoming event. I discussed this with my tutor to understand the potential consequences if I couldn’t generate enough profit. She explained that if ticket sales remained low and I couldn’t cover costs, the performance might have to be cancelled. However, if enough tickets were sold, the event could go ahead without issues. Another challenge arose when the college informed me that there would be a charge of £100 to use the minibus and to borrow two Nord keyboards, a drum kit, and amplifiers. This fee was later reduced to £50, but it meant I needed to generate at least £445 in ticket sales to cover the venue hire, the PRS fee, and the college charges.

Additionally, I noticed an issue with the reel I created for the band Indigo Static. When I added audio to the poster picture at the end of the video, it removed the original audio from the video footage. To fix this, I remade the reel without altering the original sound and reposted it to ensure the band’s content was accurately represented.

11/05/2025 – Today, I reposted the official Vibe & Thrive event poster on Instagram as a reminder for people to purchase their tickets. With just a few days left before the gig, I felt it was crucial to ramp up the promotion and encourage as many ticket sales as possible. This post was part of a focused effort to create urgency and boost last-minute interest in the event.

13/05/2025 – Today, I had a meeting with my tutor, Anna, to discuss the overall progress and status of the Vibe & Thrive event. We focused particularly on ticket sales and whether friends and family of the bands had purchased tickets, as Anna emphasized that if ticket sales did not reach a sufficient level by Thursday, the event would unfortunately have to be cancelled. We also reviewed the readiness of the bands, checking if they were prepared for the performance and if there were any updates or changes to their equipment lists. This meeting was crucial to ensure that all aspects of the event were on track and to identify any areas that needed immediate attention.

8/04/2025 – Today, I received a response from Andy regarding my enquiry about hiring The Brickyard for the Vibe & Thrive gig. He offered me two potential dates for the event: 19th or 20th May. Andy mentioned that he could reserve my chosen date, but it would remain provisional until a clerical issue left over from a previous college event was resolved.

Later in the day, I replied to confirm that I would like to book 20th May for the event. In the same email, I asked whether The Brickyard would assist with promoting the gig or if I would be solely responsible for publicity through my own channels, such as social media.

Andy got back to me and confirmed that the venue would help promote the event. However, he also mentioned that if I wanted a professionally designed and printed poster, The Brickyard could put me in touch with their designer, though this service would come at an additional cost.

13/04/2025 – Today, I received a detailed response from Andy regarding the venue hire for the Vibe & Thrive gig. He informed me that the cost of hiring The Brickyard is £380, with an additional 4% PRS (Performing Right Society) fee, bringing the total cost to £395.20. He also confirmed that the venue’s capacity is 320 people. Andy explained that ticket sales would be managed by The Brickyard, and once the venue hire cost has been deducted, I would receive the remaining funds. These proceeds would then be distributed among the performers and the technical crew involved in the event. Later in the day, I followed up with another email to Andy asking when I would be able to begin promoting the gig officially and whether it would be alright to send him the poster I had created so far to get the promotional process started. Andy replied, explaining that the arrangements between the college and The Brickyard had not yet been fully finalised, so I would need to wait a little longer before commencing official promotion.

However, in the meantime, he requested that I prepare several promotional materials to be ready once approval was granted. Specifically, he asked for a high-resolution version of the poster, a brief paragraph of text outlining the event, banner-style artwork to be used on the ticket sales account, and an email confirmation of the advanced ticket price. This will allow the venue to set up their promotional channels efficiently once everything is sorted.

23/04/2025 – Today, I printed out the contracts for the technical crew members involved in the Vibe & Thrive gig. I was able to get one of the contracts signed by the lighting technician, as they were present in college. Unfortunately, the other techies were not in college today, so I wasn’t able to get their contracts signed yet. I plan to follow up with them soon to ensure all contracts are completed and everyone is officially on board.

29/04/2025 – Today, I gathered the set lists from all the bands and soloists participating in the Vibe & Thrive gig. I combined each set list with the corresponding equipment list for each performer, making it easier to keep track of their individual needs and ensure nothing is overlooked during setup. Additionally, I collected all the band logos, which allowed me to complete the banner-style artwork required for Andy and The Brickyard. Once finalized, I sent the artwork over to Andy to assist with the promotion and ticketing setup.

02/05/2025 – Today, I received official confirmation that I could use The Brickyard as the venue for the Vibe & Thrive event. Following this exciting news, I promptly messaged all the bands and soloists via Instagram to inform them that the venue had been secured and to keep them updated on the progress. Additionally, I began the promotion phase by using a photo I took yesterday as part of the visual materials to advertise the gig. This marked an important step forward in publicising the event and generating interest among potential attendees.

06/05/2025 – Today, I printed out promotional posters for the Vibe & Thrive gig and put them up in strategic locations, including the arts building and around the main college building, to help raise awareness among students and staff. I also took a photo of the sound and lighting technicians and posted it on the official Instagram account with the caption:
“The sound and lighting tech for the Vibe & Thrive gig — don’t forget to get your tickets at: https://fatso.ma/1JjE.”

This was a great way to showcase the team behind the scenes and encourage ticket sales.

Additionally, I spoke with my tutor, Anna, about the possibility of using the college minivan to transport equipment and gear to the venue on the day of the event. In case the minivan is unavailable, I have also started reaching out to students who will be attending or participating in the gig to see if they would be willing to lend their cars for transportation purposes. While taking the photo of two of the techies who will be working at the gig, I noted that our media team was busy and therefore could not be present for the shot. Later in the day, I visited several of the bands to record video clips and take band photos. This allowed me to gather a variety of content that I can post on social media to maintain consistent promotion, especially on days when I am not at college.

10/05/2025 – Today, I posted a promotional video along with a band picture of Borderline on the event’s Instagram account. To make the post visually cohesive and appealing, I added a title to the cover picture using a font style and colour closely matching Borderline’s official logo. This helped maintain the band’s branding and made the post more professional and engaging. In addition, I followed up with Andy via email to check on the current status of ticket sales. Keeping track of ticket numbers is essential as the event date approaches, so I can adjust my promotional efforts accordingly.

12/05/2025 – Today, I received a response from Andy regarding the ticket sales for the Vibe & Thrive gig. He informed me that as of today, only 8 tickets have been sold. This means I still owe The Brickyard £333.20 for the venue hire and associated fees. In order to cover the remaining costs, I need to sell approximately 42 more tickets. Determined to increase awareness and ticket sales, I took the initiative to visit several nearby villages and put up posters on their community noticeboards. This grassroots promotion strategy aims to attract more local attendees and boost ticket sales in the remaining weeks leading up to the event.

14/05/2025 – Today, I sent another email to Andy to check on the current status of ticket sales for the Vibe & Thrive gig, as the event date is rapidly approaching and it’s important to monitor progress closely. Additionally, I messaged the band Indigo Static in our Instagram group chat to request their final equipment list, which I need to ensure smooth logistics for the event. They responded that they would be unable to provide this information until after their meeting with my tutor tomorrow.

15/05/2025 – Today, I received an email from Andy with an update on ticket sales, confirming that a total of 37 tickets had been sold so far. This was encouraging news as it meant the event was moving closer to being financially viable. Later that day, when we arrived at college, we held a brief meeting with all the performers and tech crew to officially confirm that the Vibe & Thrive gig would take place at The Brickyard as planned. This meeting was important for ensuring everyone was informed and prepared for the upcoming event.

Gig Day

20/05/2025 - Today is the day of the gig I had a lot of organising to do. The first thing I did was make sure that all the bands that were playing at the gig had a rehearsal room or at least have time to rehearse at some point in the day before the show, once that was done I finished of writing the itinerary for the day, the final running order and the final set lists. After all the bands began rehearsing I sent Andy a text message saying "Hi Andy is it alright if we can have a call just to discuss some more questions about tonight, thank you". about a minuet later Andy called me and I asked him the following questions: "Do we need to bring microphones for the amps and drum kit or just vocal microphones?" Andy respond by saying that we did not need to bring any microphones as they would provide them, "Do we need to bring any jack to jacks or XLR's?" Andy responded by saying that we only needed to bring jack to jacks for the amps and the pedal boards that we were going to be bringing, "Do we need to bring a DI box for an acoustic guitar?" Andy responded by saying that again they would provide ourselves with one but again we would need to bring our own jack to jack to from the DI box into the guitar. While on the phone Andy and I discussed what would happen with the equipment as I had no way of getting the equipment back into the college building after the gig as it would be locked so Andy said once the gig was over if myself and some other students helped pack up all the we could keep it by the fire escape door then we could pick it up again in at 11:00 Am the next day. Once we finished our phone call I completed the equipment list, to do this I put everything we would need for the gig on it but then put in brackets next to all the equipment that we did not need to bring with us but still needed on stage. After that was completed I asked every band for a meeting at 11:00 Am, the reason for this was to discuss the itinerary so that everyone knew where they needed to be and when, during the meeting I had a few people ask questions one of the questions was: "which bands will be doing the sound check?" my response to this was "as many bands as we have time for but this depends on how long it takes for everyone to complete the setup. Another question I was asked was: "Can I come and help set up as I am going to have my pedal board for my bass" I answered "yes, if you are okay with it we can leave it there for the whole performance as there is only yourself and one other bassist on for the whole gig" and they were content with us doing that. Not everyone came to this meeting even though I posted on the Instagram group chat about it but I also reminded people face to face that they needed to be there, so what I did was post what I discussed in the meeting onto the group chat this also gave the people who were there for the meeting a reminder of what was going to happen. At the end I said thank you to all the bands that were there and allowed them to continue rehearsing, after that I emailed my tutor the itinerary and the equipment list so that they were aware of what was going to be used from college and what time they also needed to be there as they were going to be playing for the band that was opening the gig (Indigo Static). I then went to go talk to the students who cars we were going to be using to transport all the equipment to the Brickyard, we used 3 student cars as they were only small and had a lot of equipment to carry in them. Just before lunch I talked to our lighting techie called Heather, in the morning she was helping set up for a performing arts show that was happening later that day this was going to be a slight problem as they were having tech and dress runs all throughout the day and the drum kit that we would be taking was kept in a cupboard in the theatre so I discussed with Heather when we would be able to have access to the cupboard so we wouldn't be interrupting their rehearsal time, she said that the best time to get it would be between 13:00 Pm and 13:30 Pm before they began rehearsing again. At 13:00 Pm myself and one of the drummers called Lukas began to get all the equipment out that we needed for the drum kit. When we had gathered all the drums we needed to get all the stands for the different cymbals, as I am not a drummer I did not know what stands were needed so I left the task of getting all the stands to Lukas and he got another drummer to help him. Once that was done we put all the equipment by the doors so that when it was time it was easier to move it all to the cars. When it came to 15:10 Pm I had gathered about 8 students that were performing at the gig to help move the equipment into cars then all the students that were on the list to help set up the stage went to the Brickyard to wait for the equipment, once all the equipment was driven to the Brickyard the students unloaded the equipment through the fire door and placed it in a pile. As soon as I got to the Brickyard I began making sure everyone was working together and had all the right gear, I was notified by the sound tech Aaron that the drummers had forgotten to get felts for the cymbals and legs for the floor tom. We resolved this issue by Aaron going back to college to get equipment that had been forgotten, when Aaron returned with the gear the drummers started putting it all together they had realised that the legs for the floor tom were not the correct size so this time one of the vocalists went back to get the correct ones but once they got back to college they called me and said that there were no other floor tom legs so I told them to get another floor tom from one of the drum kits in a rehearsal room as we needed them to get back from college as quick as possible to begin the sound check. Whilst that was happening the rest of the equipment was set up so that the techies from the brickyard could begin micing up the stage and i told the rest of the students that they could leave but the had to be back for 17:45 Pm, 15 minuets later the students came back with the equipment and we finish setting up and get the sound check completed. The doors opened at 18:00 Pm and Andy began scanning the tickets and at 18:30 Pm the show began. The whole show ran very smoothly with a small break between each band and soloist and no complications.

Feedback

At the end of the evening I went around and saw some members of the audience and asked for their opinions on the show:

Feedback 1

Feedback 2

Feedback 3

Feedback 4

To receive some more feedback about the gig I sent out a Microsoft form to everyone that I knew that was taking part of the gig or was there to watch it and these are some of the responses I received back an put into a excel spread sheet:

The responses I received from the feedback form were generally very positive, which was encouraging to see. However, there were a few specific areas where people suggested improvements for future events. One of the more commonly mentioned concerns was related to the seating arrangements at the venue. According to the information provided on The Brickyard’s official website, their current seating policy states: "At all gigs, there will be a minimum of 3 seats in a designated area at the back of the venue. These will be available on a first come, first served basis requested in advance of the event. Unfortunately, as we are not yet able to provide a raised viewing platform these seats may have restricted view. At a lot of our gigs we’re able to keep seating around the sides of the venue room, but at busy sell-out gigs we cannot allow seating at the front or sides due to health and safety risks." Given this policy, there wasn’t much I could do personally to improve this aspect for the event, as the limitations are set by the venue and are primarily in place for safety and logistical reasons. That said, The Brickyard is already aware that their current seating capacity may not meet the needs of all attendees, particularly those who require seating for accessibility reasons. From my personal point of view, I do believe that increasing the number of available seats — even by a small amount — would be a positive change. It would help make the venue more inclusive and accessible to a wider audience, especially those who may struggle to stand for long periods of time.

Another piece of feedback I received was regarding the event promotion. I must admit that this was an area I found quite challenging. Due to time constraints and the various other responsibilities involved in organising the gig, I wasn’t able to dedicate as much time to promotional efforts as I would have liked. Despite this, I made a conscious effort to post regularly on social media and encouraged the other bands and soloists involved to do the same. In hindsight, one thing I would definitely aim to do differently next time is to focus more on creating Instagram Reels. These short-form videos tend to be the most engaging type of content on the platform, and they consistently received the highest number of views and likes compared to my other posts. Leveraging this format more effectively could help boost engagement and visibility for future events.

Another valid concern that was raised was that the gig featured too many acts. I completely understand this point, as the overall length of the event ended up being over three hours. Originally, my plan did not include two of the bands that ultimately performed, and their addition extended the event by approximately an hour. However, it’s important to note that this gig was not solely my Final Major Project (FMP); it also served as the FMP for other students. Given that I had access to The Brickyard venue until 10:00 PM, I felt there was enough time and space to accommodate their performances as well. Nevertheless, I recognise that audience fatigue can be a factor, and it's something I would carefully consider when planning future events — possibly by limiting the number of acts or ensuring a more tightly managed schedule.

All things considered, I believe the feedback I received was largely constructive and overall quite positive. It provided me with a clearer understanding of which aspects of the project were successful and highlighted the areas in which I have room for improvement. I appreciate the responses and will definitely use them to guide my planning and execution in future projects.

This video is all the audio that was recorded by the sound tech Aaron on logic pro and I have changed it from an mp3 to an mp4 and posted it to Youtube:

This video is all the all the year 1 performances from the gig that I posted onto youtube: