How I Launched My First Gig With No Audience
2 May 2026
Marcus had never run an event before. Six weeks later he had a confirmed gig, a full room and a mailing list worth keeping.
What made you decide to organise your first event?
We realised there was a community looking for somewhere to hear new songwriters, and nobody local was programming it. It felt less risky to test that than to keep assuming it.
What was the scariest part?
Money. I did not have a few thousand pounds to lose. Running it as a campaign meant the venue deposit only happened once the tickets were actually there.
What would you do differently?
Start the waiting list two weeks earlier. The first 48 hours decide the mood of the whole campaign and I launched cold.
“I stopped thinking of it as a gamble and started thinking of it as a question I was asking the city.”
The numbers
- 120 — Capacity
- 9 days — To reach goal
- 100% — Campaign funded
Organiser
Marcus Idowu
Independent promoter running small-room shows for emerging songwriters. Started with one gig and a spreadsheet.
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