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Molly Doyle

Being introduced to the industry from both sides of the bar at The Garage in London and after various management roles in other sectors, Molly joined Ghostwriter in October 2021. Originally employed in a ticketing role and quickly becoming a key part of the team, Molly rapidly progressed to become Promoters Assistant. She provides support to all the Promoters in the department and works on the delivery of shows across the UK for Pink Dot, Live After Racing, our in-house and partner brands.

Top Five Albums

Kate Bush – Hounds Of Love The Cadillac Three – Bury Me In My Boots Tyler Childers – Purgatory Missy Elliot – Miss E … So Addictive Daft Punk – Alive 2007

Karen Lillycrop

The real “boss” of the company, Karen worked in theatre for Live Nation and the Ambassador Theatre Group for 12 years across various roles in Box Office, Front of House, Administration and Venue Management and then for a multi-site operator as Finance and Data Officer. As Office Manager and PA to the Directors, she oversees the administrative and HR functions of the business as well as supporting the Ticketing and Finance Departments. The glue that binds us together and keeps us in-line, Karen is an invaluable member of the team.

Top Five Albums

The Beatles – Help! The Killers – Hot Fuss Savage Garden – Affirmation Abba – Gold Josh Groban – Closer

Joe Roberts

Looking for a reason not to attend lectures whilst at University, Joe entered the industry as a member of the old skool Entertainments Committee. Taking full advantage and still not wanting to go to lectures, he immersed fully in the entertainment industry becoming Technical Manager, Assistant Manager and then Entertainments Manager of Liverpool Guild of Students. From there Joe joined Academy Music Group following the same path from Technical Manager to General Manager of Oxford Academy. He also has comprehensive experience of tour management, promoter repping, and makes a great coffee and bacon butty. Focussing on his love of all things tech, Joe became Production Manager for a national venue and outdoor event operator advancing and producing shows from 200 – 20,000 capacity. Joe now heads up our Production Department working closely with Gemma and Richard to deliver all events across Live After Racing, Pink Dot, our partner venues and large-scale outdoor events. He enjoys drawing site plans, loves his van and drives a mean telehandler!

Top Five Albums

Ben Folds – Ben Folds Live Counting Crows – This Desert Life Neil Diamond – Greatest Hits Garth Brooks – Double Live The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses

Gemma Shamah

Our most recently appointed Director, Gemma really left us no choice! An excellent communicator with a genuine and detailed knowledge of all facets of the industry Gemma has proven herself to be an extremely capable individual. Her professional history is a rich tapestry of experience of both indoor and outdoor events. A former manager of many established venues including The Forum (London) along with outdoor experience as varied as bar management to being in overall control of large-scale events. Gemma was DPS & Operational and Events Manager for the 15,000 capacity classic rock camping festival Ramblin’ Man Fair and designed and delivered 5 on the Farm Festival in partnership with Viacom CBS and Channel 5. With specialisms in large-scale outdoor events across feasibility, site design, health & safety, supplier procurement and supplier diligence, she leads on our speciality projects as well as the onsite delivery of the Live After Racing series and Royal Holloway Students’ Union Summer Ball.

Top Five Albums

Incubus – S.C.I.E.N.C.E Creedence Clearwater Revival – Best of Gil Scott-Heron – Pieces of a Man Hatebreed – The Rise of Brutality American Head Charge – The War of Art

Craig McVeigh

A former founder and owner of the established independent promoter I Love Live, Craig played a key role in the development of several artists who are now household names from Catfish and the Bottlemen, Phoebe Bridgers to KSI and The Reytons. Acting as Head Programmer for Liverpool Sound City he worked alongside the festival team to remodel the event from a greenfield site to become one the best independent metropolitan showcase events in the UK. Craig now heads up Pink Dot promoting UK wide, whilst delivering talent for our partner venues and our inhouse outdoor large-scale events. A firm believer in helping emerging artists along their chosen path Craig has a passion, understanding and empathetic approach that only those who have toured in a band can truly offer.

Top Five Albums

Turnover – Peripheral Vision Frank Ocean – Blonde Khruangbin – Mordechai Oasis – (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? Title Fight – Shed

Carl Bathgate

With extensive experience at a senior level in both the independent and corporate sector, Carl oversee the commercial aspects of the company. Having a well-rounded pedigree including roles such as Head of Academy Events (Academy Music Group’s promoters division) senior venue management positions and Commercial Director of a multi venue and outdoor large-scale events company he is equally comfortable with indoor and outdoor activity. Carl enjoys working closely with our clients and partners on areas from strategic and concept development to content procurement and delivery. He is an established promoter in his own right working with a wide variety of artists including Ed Sheeran, Snow Patrol, Alice Cooper, Kasabian, Jess Glynne, Madness, James, McFly, The Wombats, Flaming Lips, Nile Rodgers, Paloma Faith, Katherine Jenkins, Gary Numan, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, Keane, Blondie, Kaiser Chiefs, Rita Ora and Tom Jones to name but a few. He likes nothing more than an innovative solution or the development of a new model that offers our promoters, operators, partners and clients a viable and commercially sound approach to any given project or event. Oh yes and Diet Coke (and chocolate!).

Top Five Albums

Arctic Monkeys – Whatever you say I am, I’m not Fleetwood Mac – Rumours Sam Fender – Seventeen Going Under Radiohead – The Bends Stone Roses – Stones Roses

Ghostwriter announces new appointment to bolster its expanding venue and events portfolio

Ghostwriter Consultancy & Events are delighted to announce the appointment of a General Venue Business Manager to support the company’s growth of its venue partnerships, events and consultancy business.

Ade Dovey has been appointed as General Venue Business Manager with direct responsibility for Marble Factory (1,350) in Bristol and to support the company’s venue estate and wider projects.

ABOUT ADE DOVEY

Director of Events Richard Maides said, “We are delighted to announce that Ade Dovey will be joining us at Ghostwriter. He brings considerable experience from his previous key operational and programming roles in the industry. Being a respected promoter and a first-class creative venue manager Ade is a welcome addition to our team. His success evolving unique venue spaces such as The Deaf Institute, Gorilla and The Albert Hall in Manchester demonstrated to us that he was the perfect fit for our aims in Bristol.

Dovey will lead on the Marble Factory whilst also contributing to the wider business.

The Marble Factory has enjoyed significant success since the inception of our partnership with the venue owners in 2020, quickly establishing itself as a regular stop off on the UK touring circuit. Moving forward our focus is to diversify the venue’s programme with exciting new events and client partnerships, whilst continuing to improve our support for promoters and artists who choose to utilise the venue.

Following significant investment in the venue with enhanced production and backstage facilities we will now adopt a flexible approach in terms of rentals and use of space. We believe that the appointment of Ade will help us move the business forward in a number of areas.”

Brand new national concert promoter announced

Ghostwriter Consultancy and Events continue their expansion with the launch of Pink Dot; a new independent national promoting division.

Pink Dot launches with 16 shows already confirmed in five regions, with expansion nationwide coming throughout summer and beyond.

Pink Dot are fully committed to their goals of promoting concerts nationally, alongside large‐scale outdoor events and annual bespoke festivals.

Carl Bathgate, Commercial Director of Ghostwriter comments, “We are extremely excited to announce the launch of Pink Dot. Our team continues to expand with the recent appointments of Craig McVeigh and Molly Doyle joining Richard Maides and myself as we seek to develop emerging artists while continuing to work with household names. We aim to deliver a wide and diverse variety of events scaling from 100 to 25,000 capacity. We recognise the challenges presented by the current economic climate but feel that there will always be a place for well marketed and delivered events as Live Music continues to be a significant part of the UK’s social life and is deeply ingrained in our culture.”

Craig McVeigh, Promoter, added, “In a career spanning over a decade as an independent promoter, I have always taken pride in providing a supportive and inclusive environment for our artists to develop, and very much enjoy working closely with their teams to provide a custom strategy to enable them to grow and succeed. Within the Ghostwriter family, I have the support to continue this journey and match the ambition of the artists aided by our innovative marketing, PR and digital strategy development.”

“We have an extremely experienced team who will ensure all our events are delivered to a high standard whether they be established artists performing at our Live After Racing series, 100 capacity shows in a grassroots venue, new annual metropolitan festivals or large‐scale outdoor events.”

About Pink Dot

Website: https://www.pinkdotlive.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pinkdotlive
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pinkdotlive
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pinkdotlive/

Ghostwriter Confirms Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival 2023 ‘Spring Gathering’

Back in black and before you know it…TOMORROW’S GHOSTS FESTIVAL has confirmed its Spring Gathering for Whitby

Following an exceptional demand for tickets for the upcoming Halloween event in 2022, Whitby’s premier Goth music led festival is delighted to confirm the return of its ‘Spring Gathering’. Taking over the Whitby Pavilion – Friday 28th & Saturday 29th April 2023 – it will be the first such seasonal offering for over 4 years.

A true celebration of all things Gothic, Tomorrow’s Ghosts invites you back to the home of Dracula for a darkly exhilarating weekend of alternative music and culture. With an international line-up that caters to a broad range of sub-genres and tastes, today the festival is very pleased to announce its 2023 programme – and there’s plenty to get your teeth into…

In its first announcement, Tomorrow’s Ghost’s is over the moon to lock-in an exclusive Friday headline appearance from the cult darkwave visionaries Cold Cave, who fifteen years into their career have established themselves as long-running luminaries of the underground and worthy headliners for any connoisseur of sonic carnage. Sublime supporting sets across the evening will also come from Leeds’ legendary goth-rock originals The Rose of Avalanche and UK-Irish post/punk acolytes Siberia. Fans should keep their eyes peeled for the announcement of some Very Special Guests to be confirmed in the coming weeks too…

Following up on the Saturday night, Yorkshire-formed titans New Model Army will be continuing the celebrations for their 40th Anniversary in seismic style. Earlier in the night, expect a *very special guest* slot from Lebanon Hanover, with the shadowy British-German duo bringing their evocative darkwave sounds out to play for this very rare UK appearance. Adding to what is an excellent bill the Saturday night is stacked with sizable supporting slots from Mancunian industrialists in ascendance IST IST, plus a theatrical set from revived gothic rock devotees The Nosferatu, who will perform as *Special Guests* and open the Saturday night event.

As in previous years, Tomorrow’s Ghosts will also be offering choice club nights into the early hours. No strangers to the Whitby crowds, Leeds living legends Carpe Noctum and the supernaturally talented scousers Planet X will be resurrecting goth classics for the afterdark masses on Friday & Saturday respectively.

As with the 2022 edition, the Tomorrow’s Ghosts festival will be partnering with the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. A charity committed to stamping out prejudice, hatred and intolerance everywhere, the ideals of the Sophie Lancaster Foundation and Tomorrow’s Ghosts couldn’t be any closer aligned.