Music in Leeds
[5] Age of Chance formed in Leeds in 1983,[6] their single "Don't Get Mad… Get Even" reached number 8 on the US Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play chart.
In the 2000s, the city's University students began making music influenced by Ital Rockers and Iration Steppas, forming groups like Submotion Orchestra and Gentleman's Dub Club.
The groups would often perform by putting on parties in their student houses in Woodhouse, Hyde Park and Burley, with sofas and beds place upright against the walls for soundproofing.
[5] In the late-1970s, Leeds was home to influential punk rock groups such as The Mekons, Gang of Four and Delta 5, who helped to shape the sound of post-punk.
In an article for The Guardian, Mob Rules drummer Conor Rickford described the scene's nihilistic tendencies as being due to how "If you're living in Leeds you're not going to make music that says that the world is a wonderful place and the sun is always shining"[21] In 2010, Eagulls formed in the city, influenced by the sound of earlier Leeds post-punk band, namely Gang of Four and the Mekons.
into the sound of hardcore, the NWOBHC continued to grow in the city, where groups like the Flex, Regiment, True Vision and Shrapnel became prominent practitioners.
[30] In 2016, Vice described Leeds bands like Rapture, Shrapnel, True Vision and Regiment as "the Second Coming of UK Straight Edge Hardcore".
[34] From the city's post-punk scene emerged a number of darker groups, who would come to define the sound of gothic rock, beginning in the 1980s.
[35] The scene was primarily based around the F Club, which in Karl and Beverley Spracklen's book The Evolution of Goth Culture was described as the space "where gothic rock was born in the form it is now".
[37] Bradford goth band the March Violets, relocated to Leeds early on, due to its members' fascinations with groups like Gang of Four and the Mekons.
While attending the University of Leeds, the band's vocalist Simon Denbigh, founded the Music for the Masses Society, beginning to book concerts and club nights throughout the city.
Other groups like Southern Death Cult, The Danse Society, Salvation and Skeletal Family also formed in the area during this period.
[38] In the Mission: Names Are for Tombstones, Baby, Jon Langford stated that "there was a joke about the Faversham Arms that you could draw a map around all the bands in their little corners in there".
For a period in the mid-2000s, the Wendy House club night at University of Leeds became the city's most frequented, however lost its popularity as the decade continued.
Their 1990 single Honesty gained significant traction from publications such as NME, however its music video was eventually banned from MTV due to its depiction of the band members committing theft.
[9] In the mid-2000s, a scene of pop-centric indie rock groups gained prominence in Leeds through bands such as the Kaiser Chiefs and the Pigeon Detectives.
[62][63] Between 1979 and 1984 Leeds was host to the Futurama Festival, an all-day event organised by John Keenan (agent and promoter) at the Queens Hall.
Over the years numerous acts played e.g.: Public Image Limited, Joy Division,[64] Siouxsie and the Banshees, Soft Cell, Gang of Four amongst many others.
[65] The Moor Music Festival takes place yearly in July on Addingham Moorside near Ilkley, and regularly plays host to artists from the city.
[citation needed] Leeds initially played host to the northern leg of the V festival between 1996 and 1998 before the event moved to Weston Park, Staffordshire.
The event was initially held at Temple Newsam (the venue for the Leeds V Festival) before protests from residents[citation needed] forced a move to Bramham Park.
[citation needed] West Yorkshire Playhouse (along with several other smaller venues) holds the annual Fuseleeds festival showcasing an eclectic mix of more left-field music.
The Duchess of York was situated at 71 Vicar Lane in the city centre of Leeds, arguably the busiest music venue during its tenure, was not mentioned with honour.
Bands/acts such as Nick Harper, U2, Nirvana, Oasis, Cud, Blur, Radiohead, Manic Street Preachers, Green Day, Chumbawamba, Steve Marriott, the Grandmothers of Invention, Barrie Gledden, Bleach, Pavement, Isaac Guillory, Dumpy's Rusty Nuts, Pulp, Coldplay, Little Chief, Mick Taylor of The Rolling Stones, Ship of Fools, Stereophonics, The Wedding Present and many more.
While called the Common Place, focused on radical left wing activism and anti-Capitalist politics and held free English lessons for refugees and asylum seekers.
In 2019, it was brought in parliament, being described as "an irreplaceable jewel in the crown of Leeds music and cultural scene", which gained it 26 signatures to avoid its possible eviction from the premises.
[82] Oporto is a bar and music venue specialising in indie rock, located on Call Lane[83] that has hosted acts such as Viola Beach, Dutch Uncles.
