Gigging in Leeds

As Leeds builds it's new Arena, I'd considered Leeds pretty poor when it came to gigs.
Thinking about it further, I've probably been to more venues in Leeds than anywhere else.

One of my first gigs would have been Luigi anada boys when I went to Viva's Wine bar (York Place) to see a school  mate in the support band. Luigi's Feeling the Ceiling has remained one of my all time favourite albums. It's up in the loft somewhere and is apparently quite valuable these days.
Luigi Samples - FTC available on CD now, which is as good as ever.

2nd Leeds venue would've been the University, UFO supported by Liar. Not sure of the line-up but I think that would've been my first encounter with the Schenker. There were loads of gigs at the Uni but this was the only one that I went to.

Next up would be the cow shed on Sovereign Street. The Queens Hall, a former tramshed it held exhibitions and circus's, acoustically abysmal, but it was the best (only) venue Leeds had for bigger bands. Rush was the first band I saw there, no idea who the support was, as due to cricketing commitments only just got there for Rush.
Others bands seen at the Queens Hall, Hawkwind, Whitesnake, Saxon rehearsing there and a couple of others not readily springing to mind.

Trying to stick to a chronological order, Elland Road would be next. One of the best concerts that I've been to. Not a big fan of stadium/Park gigs, but the enclosed nature of the ground and the fact we were on the pitch were definite plus points. main attraction were Queen who were my favourite band at the time, though not really in their best era. They were fantastic live, though we had to wait quite a while after the support bands, until it was dark enough for the lighting to be effective, before they came on. The support were a strange mix, Teardrop Explodes, Joan Jett & Heart (but don't quote me on that, or the accuracy of anything else in this post)  Not sure if there were any other bands that played at Elland Road.

Squeezed in between the big gigs would've been the Fforde Greene, think that's how it was spelt, on Rounday Road. Think it was a supermarket last time I passed it. Saw a band called Dedringer there. They had a minor hit with 'Sunday Drivers' and should have gone on to bigger things......but didn't. They've even got a Wiki page

The Rolling Stones at Roundhay Park were OK but it was just like watching TV, there was no atmosphere, even though it was in a little bit of bowl, and we were at the bottom of the hill, still miles from the stage and there were plenty of people who would've been further away than us. Hence my apathy towards open air gigs. There were a few bands that I would have liked to have seen, but not at Roundhay Park.

I quite liked the Town & Country club on Cookridge Street, nice old building which I think was an old theatre or cinema, so pretty decent acoustically. Saw a few bands there, Toto, Black Sabbath & Squeeze, It seemed much larger when it was resurrected as the Academy then the O2 Academy. Don't know if it was extended or whether that's just my poor memory of it. Have only seen Squeeze there so far in its new guise, was disappointed to have been away when Frost* supported Dream Theatre a couple of years ago.

Quite a strange venue just around the corner from the old Queen's Hall was the Cockpit. Housed in one of the arches under the railway station. A long thin venue with an arched roof.
Another good event as I was there with some workmates. There may have been beer. Nearly forgot to mention that it was Joe Bonamassa there, just before he really kicked on.

Talking of Frost*, the Rios gig was probably the best event. Meeting up with the Frosties* pre-gig  and the band post-gig. Didn't see much of the Spocks but that wasn't the reason for being there.

I've never been to the Irish Centre which has had numerous decent bands on, not sure why I've never been there, probably due to work commitments.

There's been quite a few decent gigs in there, Rush would have been the first major band that I saw, Queen one of the best gigs I've seen and the Frost* gig as the best event. What will the Arena bring? Probably a boat load of dross at exorbitant prices.

Nearly forgot one from the early '80's - The poshest of venues, where I saw Nabucco, to give you a clue, Leeds Grand Theatre, saw Sky perform there.

I have been to the City Varieties, but I can't remember seeing any bands there. We saw a few pantos when we were young and Ken Dodd a few years ago. Focus did play there recently.

I'm actually surprised at the number of venues that I've been to in Leeds. It's only when you start to make a proper list that you find out how many there are..........and it wouldn't surprise me if I've missed one or two along the way.