Stay completely up-to-date with what’s on and where with the Leeds Gig Guide, Leeds Music Scene or Itchy Leeds.
And The Leeds Guide is a brilliant way to find something to do ‘tonight, tomorrow or this weekend’: click on the yellow box to the left of the homepage, and tell it what kind of thing you’re after—or it’ll suggest something some random ideas.
Gig venues
There are just too many to mention, but the other colleges and universities are a great place to start. Leeds Metropolitan University is very close to the College and puts on loads of gigs. Leeds University’s The Refectory is another venue (recently they’ve featured The Strokes, Basement Jaxx, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, James Brown, Muse (recorded live for MTV), The Streets and Franz Ferdinand). And if you fancy a bit of jazz or classical, Leeds College of Music offers a varied mix.
The Cockpit is a hugely popular city-centre gig venue: Friday night is The Session (indie/electro/guitar); Saturday is The Garage (grunge, goth, classic rock, and alternative ‘80s); Slam Dunk’s on a Tuesday (covering everything from emo to punk, ska and metal); Panic, on a Wednesday, is a DJ-led mix of just about everything; and Ice Cream, on Thursdays, is the ‘queer alternative’ (“fags, hags, dykes, trannies and the curious”). Exhausting!
The Irish Centre is about a mile out of Leeds on the York Road: they’ve had everyone from Oasis to Elastica and Joe Strummer to The Beautiful South.
Joseph’s Well has gigs every night, from local unsigned bands to international tours. Anyone who’s going to be famous will have played here first!
Clubs
The HiFi Club is open every night for brilliant DJ-led jazz, soul, funk, hip-hop—and even comedy.
The Mint Club is in the city centre (but can be hard to find). It’s small, so people often spill out onto the terrace. Mint often pulls in big-name DJs; it guests at Majestyk; and has tents at all the major dance festivals. Very friendly, but be warned—the loos are unisex!
Mission has great décor, three rooms, plasma screens, laser displays… and crystal-clear sound systems. Late nights, guest bands and reasonably priced drinks.
Wire is a popular club just by the Corn Exchange: indie, rock, electro, break beat, drum & bass and alternative music.
