The Glasgow-based Ticketmaster and TicketWeb teams recently helped students taking part in the Behind the Noise 2017/2018 music programme run the box office at two electric evenings of live performance from school pupils across Glasgow and Renfrewshire.
Gig at the Grand is the culmination of several months of hard work from the talented pupils and has involved participation in a series of industry-based workshops covering event management, poster design, video editing and online promotion as well as taking part in practical sessions, rehearsal days and recording sessions.
This year’s student recordings featured eight original tracks and seven innovative cover versions which achieved over 10,000 online plays on Soundcloud in their first week of release alone. Nerves and excitement were running high amongst the students each night and for the first time, both the Glasgow and Renfrewshire schools were mixed over both nights.
BBC presenters Vic Galloway and Nicola Meighan each hosted one of this year’s shows and the sheer volume of noise and excitement in the full-house Classic Grand venue was just incredible. Some ex Behind the Noise bands also played each night – notably CRYSTAL who recently opened for Paolo Nutini in Edinburgh, featured on producer Tony Visconti’s Unsigned Heroes programme for Sky Arts and have just been added to the bill at Electric Fields Festival 2018. Also making a return to the Gig at the Grand stage was The Josiah & Ludwig project, featuring ex-BTN student Andrew Herrington, and who have recently been nominated for a BBC Radio2 Young Folk Award.
We’ve had the privilege to work at lots of events over the years, and these gigs were up there with some of the very best gigs we’ve ever attended in terms of enthusiasm, talent and sheer energy levels. Roll on Behind the Noise 2019!
For further information on the project, go to Behind the Noise.
Words by Yvonne Morrison and photos by Colin Ross
