Students from the School of Business studying Sponsorship and Marketing with Sinead O’Keefe and students from the School of Humanities studying Professional Development for Musicians with Mark Graham are joining forces to run and promote a live event in Garter Lane Arts Centre.
Music and Business students and staff are proud to present The Scratch and special guests The SETU Guitar Ensemble in Garter Lane Arts Centre on 16 November at 7:30pm.
This project introduces music and business students to the world of event organisation and promotion, highlighting opportunities for employment available in the region, and building valuable links with external stakeholders. In one of many positive results for the project, students have already managed to get national coverage for the project from Hotpress Magazine. The students have managed to glean positive coverage for the event in a host of national, regional and local media outlets.
Sinead O’Keeffe has noted that “The opportunity for students from different disciplines to work together and to bring their different skill-sets to organise and promote a live event is challenging but extremely valuable for the students and will stand them in good stead in their future careers”. The real-world experience of promoting their own event, coupled with guidance from industry professionals, has proven to be an invaluable learning experience that is having a positive impact on the cultural and economic landscape of the region.
As noted in the University’s submission to Waterford City and Council Development Plan 2022 -2028, Waterford City is lacking a dedicated live music venue. As a result of this the city is often overlooked by touring acts. This project purposely brings artists to the southeast region that were otherwise omitting the region from their Irish tour schedules.
SETU Waterford has a rich tradition of promoting live independent Irish music; an up-and-coming band called U2 played in WRTC before the release of their first album.
As Mark Graham recently discussed with Oscar Murphy (SETU Waterford Student Union Vice President for Entertainment and Events), current student events tend to focus on DJs and MCs. Part of the reason for this is cost and convenience; live music performances are more difficult to run, accommodate and promote. This project is addressing a gap in the cultural experience of students, staff, and citizens of the region.
This project ran for the first time in 2021 when Mark Graham developed the structure and successfully secured funding from the Growth Hub Entrepreneurial Bursary. That inaugural project proved so successful that this year it can fund itself and run independently of any funding organisation. Music and business students did avail of the GrowthHub Room on the Cork Road Campus for their first collaborative project meeting in early October, and they’ll be back there again in November for their post-production meeting. Oscar and SETU Waterford Student Union were also kind enough to print posters for the event, helping reduce running costs.
The Scratch are a 4-piece acoustic act renowned for highly energetic live shows, insightful and sharp song writing, and virtuosic levels of musicianship. Formed in 2017 out of a shared love of acoustic guitar, traditional Irish music and heavy metal, The Scratch have fused the driving energy and intensity of rock music with the jigs and reels of trad. Footage of The Scratch can be seen performing Aerials with the RTE Concert Orchestra on RTE Television is worth seeking out on YouTube. This summer saw The Scratch play huge festival shows in the U.K., mainland Europe, and they blew away a capacity crowd at their biggest Electric Picnic performance to date. Their show in The Olympia Theatre Dublin, four nights before this gig in Garter Lane, has been sold out for weeks. It is expected that their debut Waterford performance, and their only performance in the Southeast on this tour, will sell out too. Get your tickets now! If you can’t get to the concert, please share the event, and tell your friends, foes and family about it. Another full house this year will ensure we can keep running this successful and beneficial collaborative student project into the future. Thank you for your consideration and support.
Tickets are €20 (€18 for students, seniors and unwaged) and are available from the Garter Box Office and garterlane.ie.