Professional Documents
Culture Documents
(i) Forward
(ii) Gratitude
(iii) Definition
(iv) Introduction
(v) Begin Here
(vi) Planning
-Finance (Budget and Funding)
-Guest artists/ministers
-Rosters and staffing
-Performing Rights (Permits and Permissions)
-Publicity
-Timing and Location
-Venue
-Tickets sales and price
Am sure you have been hearing of the term „concert‟ and that doesn‟t
sound strange to you. You probably see a concert as a programme or
event that brings together people to watch a musical performance. Well
that is true, but let me elucidate a bit more on what a concert; a gospel
concert is.
A concert is a live performance (typically of music) before an audience.
The live performance may be by a single singer/musician, or by
a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band. The
former is often referred to as a recital. Unlike a lot of secular concerts
that are usually held in private houses and night clubs, Gospel concerts
are held in concert halls, entertainment centres, parks, multipurpose
buildings, and often times, our local churches. Regardless of the venue,
the performances are usually done on a stage. The reason why we can‟t
refer to a Gospel Concert as a show or a gig is because shows and gigs
are mainly entertainment events where people usually pay to get in and
get entertained by the performers. Hmm! This is definitely not the kind
of concert you want to organise.
Various types of concerts exist. The nature of a concert will vary by the
genre and the individual performances.
Theatrical Concerts
Just as the name implies, these concerts relate to the characteristics of a
theatre. Some performers or groups put on very elaborate and expensive
attire. In order to create a memorable and exciting atmosphere and
increase the spectacle, additional entertainment devices are usually
included within this category of concerts. Some of these entertainment
devices include elaborate stage lighting; an image magnification (IMAG)
system and/or pre-recorded video; inflatable‟s, artwork or other set
pieces; various special effects such as theatrical smoke and
fog and pyrotechnics; and unusual costumes or wardrobe.
Some singers/groups, especially in genres of popular music, augment
the sound of their concerts with pre-recorded accompaniment, back-up
dancers, and even broadcast vocal tracks of the singer's own voice.
Activities which may take place during these concerts include dancing
and sing-alongs.
Festivals
Concerts involving a greater number of artists, especially those that last
for multiple days, are known as festivals. Unlike other concerts, which
typically remain in a single genre of music or work of a particular artist,
festivals often cover a broad scope of music and arts. Due to their size,
festivals are almost exclusively held outdoors. A few examples of the
hundreds of festivals that exist include the JAM (Jesus And Me) mega
festival held annually in Abuja, Nigeria.
Concert Tour
A concert tour is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in
different cities or locations. Oftentimes concert tours are named, to
differentiate different tours by the same artist and associate a specific
tour with a particular album or product (for example: Kirk Franklin‟s Nu
Nation Tour). Especially in the popular music world, such tours can
become large-scale enterprises that last for several months or even years,
are seen by hundreds of thousands or millions of people, and bring in a
lot of cash especially when they are intended for profit purposes.
Different segments of longer concert tours are known as "legs". The
different legs of a tour are denoted in different ways, dependant on the
artist and type of tour, but the most common means of separating legs
are dates (especially if there is a long break at some point), countries
and/or continents, or different opening acts. In the largest concert tours
it is becoming more common for different legs to employ separate
touring production crews and equipment, local to each geographical
region. Concert tours are often administered on the local level by
concert promoters or by performing arts presenters.
INTRODUCTION
Looking back at the last six years, I can say that organizing a musical
concert is fun, energy-tasking, spiritually demanding and above all
vision-fulfilling. I said vision fulfilling because several people have
organized concerts for different reasons other than a God-given vision
to accomplish a specific mission. Apart from the MGP concert that I
and my crew, the PM crew put together every first day of the October
month, and a few other concerts that God instructs my company, SPY
entertainment to put together, I have had reason to organize some
concerts for the purpose of skill-showing. However, I thank God that
when such thoughts come, they are always conquered with the power of
vision that I have held on to for years now.
It‟s the vision that drives you into organising an event that would pull
people together to be blessed of God. If this is absent, any other thing is
sheer noise, and yes I have been to a lot of concerts that turned out to
be noise. “Weren‟t the performances „hot‟?” you would ask. Well, to be
honest with you, most of them were, but did they bless lives? “No”.
What then is the purpose of organising a gospel concert without a soul
being saved, being healed or being encouraged by your song. I thought
the word gospel means „good news‟?
By God‟s grace, the MGP concert has really been a blessing to all those
who have attended with an intention of being transformed by God. I
remember vividly major testimonies I got from one of the concerts we
organised in 2007. An elderly youth who was a music director in his
church walked up to me after the concert and told me how much he was
inspired by seeing little teenagers putting together a successful concert
like that. He thanked me so much for opening his eyes to see what he
had failed to do as a music minister and by December that same year, he
and the choir in his church started hosting a very powerful annual
musical concert. I also by God‟s mercies was privileged to meet a young
youth who was probably about three or four years older than me. He
narrated to me how he got saved during the concert. He reminded me of
the altar call that was made after a short message that was given by my
mom, and told me how he had made a final decision of making Christ
his role model. In all of our concerts, we make an altar call during or
after our performances and to the glory of God, we have always had
people repent of their sins and turn back to God.
Even within the team, we have had reason to celebrate with crew and
choir members, who got delivered from an addiction, miraculously got
admission into schools of their choice, and had God meet them at
particular points of their needs. You see, you cannot serve God and be
tormented by the devil. You can‟t win souls over to his kingdom and
struggle on a daily basis with sin.
Beloved, I am sharing a few of these testimonies with you to encourage
you to have in mind, the most important thing in organising a gospel
musical concert - SALVATION. Whatever type of concert you have in
mind, even if it is a fund-raising concert for a building project in your
church, make Jesus the centre of it.
I and my crew have been privileged to minister at a dance that concert
that changed the lives of so many people for good. Every dance step and
every word they spoke was about putting godly dance steps on the
screens of our televisions. You could see the passion they had and that
reflected in their performance. I almost even shed tears in one of their
dance that talked about a lost girl trying to find her way back home to
her father (Jesus).
In as much as this book will help those organising secular concerts, I
didn‟t write it for them. I wrote this book to inspire as many as have a
clear passion to do something for the sake of the gospel. Think of
organising a concert as organising a crusade. Now you see what I‟m
talking of. Don‟t take with levity and flippancy a musical event that can
tell a lot about Jesus and the kingdom of heaven. Don‟t take for granted
an event that can make the blind eyes to see and the supernatural to take
place. Most of the songs we sing as ministers of the gospel talk about
thanksgiving, our love for Christ, his love for us, peace, joy, fulfilment,
blessings, healing, and salvation. They contradict the world‟s songs that
preach money, fame, girls, romance and sex.
It is often said that “what is worth doing is worth doing well”. So don‟t
start something that won‟t be a blessing to yourself and those that are
part of it. Infact, you can organise a concert that will end up bringing a
curse on you and your generation. Imagine squandering funds given to
you by sponsors on your own personal needs when the sole purpose for
which they where disbursed are starving and suffering.
You need to also make sure that you are physically and medically fit for
the task ahead of you. There are so many run around and mental jobs
you will be doing.
You need to also be financially prepared. So many times we start
projects of this kind with faith that God would provide. Read this:
......................................................................................
God would only multiply what you already have. So make sure you have
something.
One major question you also need to ask yourself if this: “am I
organising this concert for profit?” Well, you can organise a gospel
concert (am not talking of a fund raising concert) that causes a
transformation in the lives of people and yes, still make profit, or at least
raise up a substantial amount for what you have spent. This is very
necessary when you are planning a very large concert that would be
running into hundreds of thousands or millions of your local currency.
Often time, a lot of borrowing is done to meet demands. Once the
concert is over, the people retire to their homes blessed and saturated
with God‟s anointing, and you are left with the heartache of paying back
the debts. So when you can‟t get adequate funds from sponsors to
organise your concert, you can put up tickets for sale or collect a
token/fee at the venue of the concert from those attending. So how do
you know if you are breaking even? Well, that very simple. Make a
budget of your expenses. Get a few artists that the people love to listen
to. The kind of crowd I would pull together would be different from
that an already established artist would do. That‟s what makes for the
difference in our charging fees. With your budget in hand and the
number of people you are expecting in mind, you can do a simple math
to calculate the price you‟ll be charging for the concert tickets or gate
fee. However, when God has already provided all you need, why charge
people to be blessed of him? We never read anywhere in the bible that
talked about Jesus selling tickets for his crusades or that he collected
gate fees at the entrance of the temple. Nonetheless, I had to talk about
the issue of finance because that‟s the reason why Gospel music is
lacking behind. According to Pastor Aniekan Essien, the CEO of
NAGOC (National Gospel Concerts and Awards) “inadequate
recognition and low motivation” are the major problems confronting
gospel music especially in African countries. According to him, a lot of
gospel artistes are delving into secular songs because they are not well
compensated and motivated by Christians, hence they go secular. In the
secular world, musicians are flourishing because they are making money
from their passion. This is not the case in Christendom. When we are
called to minister in churches, we do not get any honorarium; rather they
tell us “bless you.” If you by chance, ask for it, you are considered
„carnal‟.
Personally, what has encouraged me has been my vision and passion;
and then when I see other ministers who have every reason to go secular
still doing gospel, I just tell myself “what‟s the excuse?” I guess the
testimonies I get and the joy on the faces of people I minister to, keeps
me going. Because God has always provided, I and my crew have not
had reason to organise a concert where we had to collect a gate fee or
print tickets; and profit? I strongly believe that the business of God is
not a profit-making business. It is one that that when you do whole-
heatedly, God preserves and blesses you.
Hezekiah did God‟s business without care for profit, but when he
needed an intervention from the throne of mercy, the seed he had sown
in God‟s vineyard, paid-up for him.
So which ever, you desire, make that choice now.
Now, I want you to get a sheet of paper and a pen. Make sure you do
not continue reading this book until you have done just that. With your
pen and paper in your hand, I want you to honestly answer the questions
below. It‟s now a matter of you and your self, so be as honest as you
can. My mom would always say that “you can deceive people but you
cannot deceive yourself.” Only a fool will. So truthfully answer these:
Whatever you are doing, all events need lots of hard work and people
power. Putting together your concert is no different. What I tried to do
in the chapter that contained my introduction was to open your
understanding about following your vision to gather together a group of
people and deliver to them a message given to you by God and sent to
them by him. You can never be sent on a mission that you have not
been given a clear and defined vision. It is obedience to this mission that
causes an abundant provision for the fulfilment of the vision.
After you‟ve successfully written what you want to achieve before and
after the concert, what you need is to put together a team. I won't be
talking much on this because I have said so much on team building in
my book „building a worship team‟.
I remember that my uncle would always say to me, “no one can carry
your vision like you until they see what you see”. That true! They can‟t
be loyal and committed until they catch the passion and fire that drives
you. So in putting together a team, make sure that they are people who
see what you see. Am sure you know just what I mean by that. If it‟s a
concert you are organising with your local church choir, make sure that
the people heading the planning team are those that understand you are
pressing towards a mark. This does not affect the positions already held
in the choir.
You can never do without people. Even the people we celebrate today
are where they are because of some few people who support and pray
for them. The vision God gave me years back is flourishing today
because of the few and godly friends I have around me. I tell you, there
is no MGP concert without the whole Anointed Praise team. Let me just
pause here and say a big thank you to all the team members because,
without you guys, the PM crew alone cannot carry the demanding task
of her concerts.
Moses needed Aaron and ...... to hold his hands for the Israelites to win
their battle against.......
Nobody knows you yet or at least, only a very few people. Probably,
there are still a lot of your friends and family members that are yet to
know you are into organising events like concerts, and hmm!, a gospel
concert for that matter. It‟s very important that a lot of time is
maximised to develop the skills of the band. People all over the world
want to hear good music, and they don‟t have to be musicians
themselves for them to know one when they hear it. Your first
impression matters a lot. It will create a lot of awareness and respect for
you and by the time you need to organise a second concert, you
wouldn‟t need to „shout‟ so much before you get an audience who are
eagerly waiting to hear the good and quality music you have given to
them before.
You know, for a very long time, I kept asking myself so many questions.
I listen to good music a lot and I wanted to produce and sing such but
that wasn‟t just possible. I had on so many occasions made my crew
members go out of their way to be able to produce the kind of sound
they did.
I knew I had what it took to sing like so many of the artists I loved
listening to but why wasn‟t I able to sound like them?
If we are musically good, why doesn't our music sound like the tape?
Why don't we sound as good as the special groups and choir that come
in and minster as guests in our concerts?
We have good musicians amongst ourselves, but why does the standard
of our music not reflect that?
The things I had to look for, to answer the above questions were as
follows:
2. When you are changing styles in a song but wanting to keep the
same meter, make sure that the meter doesn't change even
though the rhythm may change. This is important especially
when moving from half time to double time and vice versa. Eg.
“God is Great” (Hillsongs) (Chorus into Bridge then back to
Chorus) or going from “God is Great” into “All Of My Days”
(Hillsongs).
8. Try accenting the 2nd and 4th in ballads. The guitar should
play a different thing to what the keys are doing, not the same
thing.
9. When you have two keyboards and a guitar you have three
strings instruments and a more difficult task of achieving
balance. So that they don't all get in the way of each other,
each of the instrument should be doing something different
or one of them drop out for part of the song. With two
keyboards you should try to aim for 2 different sounds i.e.
Not 2 piano sounds or 2 pad sound. Let‟s say piano &
strings or piano & brass etc. or a single string line over the
top.
11. Beware of the style of song and adjust your sound to suit.
E.g. Change of guitar from a rock number to a jazz number or
a hard attacking sound on keys for rock to a soft Rhodes sound
for jazz. You must have an appreciation for what sound your
favourite guitar or keyboard player would use in that particular
situation (listening is important).
12. With more than one keyboard, set up a sound with higher
frequency so that the bass doesn't conflict. Lay off playing too
heavily in the left hand.
13. When guitar & piano are both playing depending on the
style of the song (whether suiting guitar or piano) one
instrument will play a stronger part and the other a lesser part.
That way they don't feel as if they are fighting against each
other.
18. Know your songs, know the way the song works and where
you can bring in changes. Try to learn songs (including all the
chord changes) so that you can play them by ear. If you are caught
up with reading chords, you won't be able to feel the song as well
or flow with the other musicians.
19. Listen to what the others in the band are playing. If too
much is happening cut out until there is a bit more space. Do not
feel as if you should play in every song ( keys especially). Make
sure too as a keyboard player that you don't fill every available
space or don't play too much in the mid range when there is say, a
piano player and a guitarist.
In a worship service when the anointing comes, one of the dangers
is that we explode in notes. Leave plenty of space especially for
the vocals. Play together with unity, passion & colour.
21. The sound man can make or break the music. He needs to
know what you are trying to achieve in the music. He needs to be
sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
22. Don't feel that because you are playing a rock song that it
needs to be loud. You can still achieve the same energy without
volume. This is where it is important that you communicate with
your sound man and have good feedback. In many situations the
problem comes when one band member can't hear and turns up
his volume. Before long everyone turns up to hear themselves.
Other considerations will be likely audience size. This will help you
determine how large your venue should be, the parking space available
for vehicles and motorcycles, etc.
Sponsors want to get their organisation's name out there. What you
offer them in return for their financial or in-kind support depends on
the level of their sponsorship. You can thank your sponsors in a speech
at the event and acknowledge them in event advertisements and
publications. If they are a major sponsor you may also consider giving
them naming rights to the event or listing them as a partner in your
event. Get creative, think of new ways to promote your sponsors and
they will be more likely to support your future events.
GUEST ARTISTS/MINISTERS
Except when you are planning a solo concert where only you or your
choir/group get to do all the act, it very paramount that you carefully
select one or a few persons/groups that perform along side with you on
stage. Your guest artist(s) goes a long way to determine the success of
your concert. They will either bring more fun, excitement and anointing
to it or bore the whole thing and leave the stage without blessing
anyone‟s life. What I did when I first started was this: because I knew
that I and my team were not musically skilled, I had very skilful artists as
my guest, while I and my team would focus more on praying and
allowing God to have his way during the event. But as I grew in my
musical skills as well as knowledge, I sought after men who were not
only skilful but sprit-filled. Infact that prompted my inspiration into
writing the book I called „Sprit and Skill‟.
Never give your guest a treatment that you would not want to receive
from others. Saying “thank you” is a must before (when your invitation
has been accepted) and after the concert. If feeding and accommodating
him or them, whichever case, is part of the parameters you are working
with, ensure that the food is of good quality and quantity. Get a nice
hotel or guest house with functioning and state of the art facilities to
accommodate your guest(s). If you are accommodating them at your
place or at the house of one of your team members, ensure that the
guest(s) are aware of that. Guests are meant to be treated well.
Draw out the menu of your program and send your guest artist(s) a
copy. This would help them to have an idea how the program would be
like, and prepare in that direction. They should know the time allocated
to them to minister, as well as the number times they are appearing on
the stage. Other details of your concert that your guest artist(s) is
supposed to know include: the venue of the concert, time it begins and
ends, other guest ministering at the concert (if any), and the theme of
the concert. The artist should not rehearse a song on authoritarianism
when your theme is about transformation; or rehearse a song on
salvation when they are going to be attending a fund raising concert to is
raising money to help send children to school.
PUBLICITY
The size of the task of your publicity will depend on whether the
targeted audience is mainly registered or known supporters of your
organisation (in which case you may well have a newsletter and other
communication channels already available), or whether you are mainly
aiming at the general public, in which case you will need to produce
posters and flyers and notify the local media of the event. I strongly
recommend that the design of your posters should be eye-catching and
„uncluttered‟, with just the basic information - choir name, your name,
date, time, venue, ticket price / gate fee (if you are demanding that) and
source - prominently displayed. A 'template' and a little but very
important advice on your design will be discussed later.
Where posters are being displayed or flyers handed out make sure that
you have any necessary permission to do so. Don‟t paste your posters in
front of people‟s gates without their consent or walk into a church
service and begin to share your flyers. Protocols need to be observed.
For the local churches in your area, discuss your concert with the
resident pastor before time. Let him introduce you to the music director,
the youth pastor and the chief usher. Once these three people have
fallen in love with your vision, you can be sure that the whole church
would be sited at your venue when the day finally arrives.
Attend other concerts and gatherings, especially where the youths are
involved. If it is possible, ask the organisers to put you and your team on
the list of performing guests. Do a very powerful and suspense filled
performance that will leave the people wanting for more. Then tell the
organisers to announce that your own event is just around the corner,
with the right details of when and how it is happening.
If your venue is located in an area or city that you are not yet familiar
with, be sure to have on your planning /organising team, a few person(s)
who have an in-depth knowledge of that area.
VENUE
The ideal venue for a choral concert, of course, would be a high-
ceilinged , un-curtained and un-carpeted hall to provide a splendidly
„live‟ acoustic, with a raised, tiered performance platform for a choir of
40 -50 singers so that the audience can see them all and they can all see
their conductor; comfortable seats for the audience; and a foyer area for
ticket sales/collection(if attendance/invitations are by tickets); an
adjacent assembly and changing area for the choir (sometimes this can
be a room located backstage); separate refreshment and toilet facilities
for choir and audience and adequate parking for all!
In reality these high ideals are unlikely to be achieved with the choice of
public venues available for most local Gospel concerts. A lot of our local
churches even lack most of these facilities. However, it is helpful to
bear them in mind when thinking about a venue for your event. The
choice is often between public, school or church halls, or churches
themselves. Most halls tend to have a flat, relatively low ceiling (although
there are notable exceptions) which results in a rather dead choral
sound, and a curtained „proscenium arch‟ style stage which, unless large
enough to accommodate tiered staging, tends to restrict the projection
of the music – and makes it very hard work for the choir!
Ok! I‟m sure most of what I just said sounded strange to you. Don‟t get
discouraged. If you have very little idea of sound engineering, then you
definitely need a sound engineer around you whenever you are making
venue and sound-related decisions. As I told you earlier, I didn‟t even
know what it took to produce a good sound even for a small gathering
of fifty people. Not until my experience began to grow through close
contact with other sound engineers and my uncle who was a sound
engineer and a lot of books and video clips on sound that I studied, I
myself knew very little on sound engineering.
(iii) A separate room or hall for your crew to assemble and line up
and in most cases, rehearse.
(iv) Adjacent access for your vehicle for unloading and loading
equipments.
TICKET PRICE/SALES
If you are selling tickets to the public, tickets should be available for sale
as soon as publicity commences. Make sure that the venue (make sure
that a concise, precise, and well detailed description of the address is
given.), date, time and admission price are all included on the tickets.
They should be printed on card preferably, and of reasonable size – no
more than eight to an A4 sheet before cutting – to prevent them being
mislaid before the event once sold and also to allow for easier handling
at the door on the d-day.
You should aim to sell (and receive payment for!) as many tickets in
advance as possible so that you have a reasonable idea of committed
audience size before the concert. Unless you are hiring a venue with an
advance Box Office facility (in which case you will probably be charged
commission on sales) the best method of sale is by face-to-face
transaction, e.g. in a shop, at a church, or at your organisation‟s normal
meeting place if you have one. If the only possible avenue of sale is by
telephone or surface mail/email order, remember to budget for the cost
of posting out purchased tickets. Alternatively you could leave them for
collection on the door on the concert night, provided this does not over-
complicate the task of your front-of-house personnel. Incidentally,
don‟t forget to give them a reasonable „float‟ of change for tickets sold
to „on spec‟ customers on the night.
Ticket price will need to be determined by the size and quality of the
venue, likely achievable audience size, whether any refreshments are
included, the total costs to be covered and the target surplus to be
achieved.
[projector,do tins that are suspence filled and really enteratianing]