Leeds has a thriving musical scene, and has produced many notable artists. These include both national chart topping bands such as Kaiser Chiefs, but also smaller, more local bands who play small venues around the city and make up the majority of the music scene.

Bands

The Herman's Hermits Guitarist Derek Leckenby was born in Leeds. Hermans Hermits were an English rock band in the 1960s, formed in Manchester in 1963. ... Derek Lek Leckenby was born on 14 May 1943, in Leeds, West Yorkshire. ...

The Mekons and the influential Gang of Four came out of the 1970s punk movement, with the early eighties the punk/oi! groups Abrasive Wheels, The Underdogs and The Expelled who all shared the same record label, Bristol's Riot City. The Mekons are a British rock band. ... Gang of Four is an English post-punk group from Leeds. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... Oi! is a working class street-level subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1970s. ... The Abrasive Wheels were one of the most successful punk rock bands of their time. ... The Expelled are a punk rock band first formed in July 1981 in Leeds, Great Britain. ... This article is about the English city. ... Riot City was a British record label set up by the Bristol punk band, Vice Squad, and Heartbeat Records in 1980. ...

In the early to mid-eighties the city was home to a large goth scene and many local bands who went on to have some degree of success nationally and internationally including The March Violets, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, The Sisters of Mercy and Salvation (who were formed by Sisters of Mercy roadies) and Athletes Foot. This article is about the late 20th / early 21st century subculture. ... The March Violets were an English goth rock band in the 1980s, incorporating singers of both sexes, drum machine rhythms and echoey electric guitar, much in the way of scene mates The Sisters Of Mercy. ... Red Lorry Yellow Lorry is a rock band that was formed in Leeds, England in early 1981 by guitarist/songwriter Chris Reed and vocalist Mark Sweeney, along with bassist Steve Smith and drummer Mick Brown (who would later join The Mission UK). ... For the religious organisation of this name, see Sisters of Mercy. ... The road crew (or roadies) are the technicians who travel on tour, usually in sleeper buses, with musicians and who handle every part of the production except actually playing the music. ...

The avant-garde art scene centred around Leeds Metropolitan University's (then Leeds Polytechnic) Fine Art course led to the formation of early 80s electronic pioneers Soft Cell. Leeds Metropolitan University Leeds Metropolitan University is a university with campuses in Leeds and Harrogate, Yorkshire, England. ... Soft Cell is a Synth-Pop duo formed during the early 1980s. ...

The Late eighties and early nineties saw success for John Peel favourites, and regular Festive 50 botherers, The Wedding Present, agitprop band Chumbawumba and indie rock group Cud. “Peel Sessions” redirects here. ... The Festive Fifty is an annual list of the years fifty (though the exact figure has varied above and below this number) best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peels BBC Radio 1 show. ... The Wedding Present is a rock group based in Leeds, England, that was formed in 1985 from the ashes of the Lost Pandas. ... Agitprop poster by Vladimir Mayakovsky. ... Chumbawamba are a band from the UK who use their music to promote anarchist ideas. ... Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that arent on labels at all. ... Cud are a British indie band formed in Leeds, England in 1987, consisting of vocalist Carl Puttnam (b. ...

In more recent times Leeds has caught up to cities such as Manchester and Sheffield both in terms of quality and the number of bands originating from the city, and Leeds based bands such as Kaiser Chiefs, The Music, Black Wire, The Pigeon Detectives,The Rumour Duels, The Little Blackhearts, ¡Forward, Russia!, Shut Your Eyes And You'll Burst Into Flames, Buen Chico, The Research, Parisman, This Et Al, The Wild Beasts and singer Corinne Bailey Rae have achieved varying degrees of success - some in the national charts, others by gathering small but devoted followings in the area. The NME named Leeds as it's number 1 musical hot - spot in 2004. This article is about the band. ... The Music are a rock band from England, originally formed in Kippax, Leeds in 1999. ... Black Wire were an English indie rock band from Leeds, UK. // Daniel Wilson (vocals) Si McCabe (guitars, backing vocals, and other noise) Tom Greatorex (bass) Danny Prescott (drums) Black Wire formed in January 2003 and played their first gig within a month of forming, at the Leeds club night Pigs. ... The Pigeon Detectives are an English band from Rothwell, Leeds, who formed in 2002. ... Duels are an English band from Leeds. ... ¡Forward, Russia! are an English alternative band from Leeds, formed in Spring 2004. ... Buen Chico are an indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 2003. ... The Research is a pop band from Wakefield, United Kingdom. ... This Et Al are an alternative rock band formed in Leeds near the end of 2002. ... Wild Beasts are a new age pop band that originated in Kendal, England in 2002. ... Corinne Bailey Rae (born February 26, 1979) is an English singer-songwriter from Leeds who released her eponymous debut album Corinne Bailey Rae in February 2006. ...

Electronic music and the clubbing scene

House music had a big impact on Leeds when it arrived in the late 1980s. Early house nights included Downbeat at the Warehouse, Meltdown at the Astoria in Roundhay, and Joy and Kaos at various temporary venues, along with a thriving Shebeen or "Blues" scene in Chapeltown. House music is a style of electronic dance music that was developed by dance club DJs in Chicago in the early to mid-1980s. ... , Roundhay is one of the better known of Leedss suburbs. ... Chiefly in Ireland and Scotland, a shebeen is an illicit bar or club where excisable alcoholic beverages are sold without a licence. ... For other uses, see Chapeltown. ...

Along with Sheffield and Bradford, Leeds was a centre for the Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass scene in 1989-1990, with influential local bands such as LFO, Nightmares on Wax, Ital Rockers, Unit 93 and Juno on Sheffield's Warp Records and Leeds' Bassic Records. For other uses, see Sheffield (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Bradford (disambiguation). ... Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass or Yorkshire Techno was a short-lived and very localised musical movement centred on the northern English cities of Bradford & Leeds in West Yorkshire and Sheffield in South Yorkshire in 1989-1991. ... LFO is an English techno group on the Warp Records label. ... Nightmares on Wax is DJ and musician George Evelyn (born c. ... Warp Records is a pioneering independent UK record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the most enduring artists in electronic music. ... Bassic records was a short-lived Leeds techno record label set up in 1990 and folded in 1991. ...

Dance band Utah Saints hit the top ten several times between 1991 and 1993. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Utah Saints are a dance band from Leeds, England. ...

The earlier underground house scene developed into the Leeds club scene of the 1990s, when for a while Leeds held the title of Britain's clubbing capital. Both Back to Basics and mixed gay night Vague enjoyed the title of best club in Britain at different points in the decade, whilst The Orbit in Morley was an internationally recognised techno mecca (Orbit closed in the late nineties and was replaced by a restaurant). This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Morleys Coat of Arms Morley is a town in the county of Yorkshire (since 1974, West Yorkshire), England, in the Metropolitan Borough of Leeds and is situated five miles south-west of Leeds City Centre. ... Techno is a form of electronic dance music that became prominent in Detroit, Michigan during the mid-1980s with influences from electro, New Wave, Funk and futuristic fiction themes that were prevalent and relative to modern culture during the end of the Cold War in industrial America at that time. ...

In 2007, Leeds is emerging as a city with one of the most creative and diverse electronic music scenes in the UK. Club nights and collectives such as Gonzo[1] and Room 237 hold regular events in the city and have been the catalyst for a rapidly growing electronic music scene which follows a more forward thinking, eclectic and sometimes experimental path. Artists such as Headcleaner, Kubex, Gwylo, Micoland and Ant Orange are current leading lights in the scene, with local D.I.Y record labels such as Gonzo run Dirtload Records and breakcore label Marionette providing an oulet for the wealth of electroncic music coming out of Leeds. Dirtyload Records has recently seen support from Radio One's Mary Anne Hobbs, who featured a number of the labels artists in a special breezeblock show about Leeds electronic music. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Gonzo journalism. ... Headcleaner is a compilation album from The Lime Spiders, released in 1988 through Virgin Records. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A marionette is a type of puppet with strings controlled by a puppeteer from above. ... Mary Anne Hobbs (born May 15) is a British DJ and music journalist from Garstang, Lancashire. ... The Breezeblock is also a show on BBC Radio 1. ...

DIY scene

Leeds is very well-known for its current DIY underground music scene, encompassing the genres of hardcore, post-hardcore, post-punk, noise rock, dub reggae, dubstep and electronic music among others. There is a vibrant and active community based around the DIY ethic, supported in part by Cops and Robbers, a monthly guide to DIY events in and around Leeds, and Leeds Music Scene, a guide to the city's DIY music scene. Underground music is music which has developed a cult following, independent of commercial success. ... Hardcore punk, now commonly known as hardcore, is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in North America in the late 1970s. ... Post-hardcore; this specific genre was created by others as a sourse to relaese the emotion that builds inside, making the music intimate and touching to listeners. ... Post punk generally refers to the particularly fertile and creative period following the initial punk rock explosion. During the first wave of punk, roughly spanning 1976-1983, bands such as The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Ramones and The Damned began to challenge the current styles and conventions of rock... Lightning Bolt Live at the Southgate House 2005. ... For other uses, see Electronic music (disambiguation). ... The DIY ethic (do it yourself ethic) refers to the ethic of being self-reliant and doing things yourself as opposed to paying others to do it. ...

Festivals

The Moor Music Festival[2] takes place yearly in July on Addingham Moorside near Leeds, and regularly plays host to artists from the city. The Moor Music Festival is an annual music festival held on a farm in Addingham Moorside, near the town of Ilkley, West Yorkshire. ... For other uses, see Leeds (disambiguation). ...

Leeds initially played host to the northern leg of the V festival between 1996 and 1998 before the event moved to Weston Park, Staffordshire. For the North American spin-off of the rock festival, see Virgin Festival For the Australian spin-off, see V Festival (Australia) The V Festival is an annual pop festival in England, the first to be held simultaneously at two sites - currently Hylands Park in Chelmsford, Essex and Weston Park... Weston Park is a country house 10 miles north-west of Wolverhampton, in Weston-under-Lizard, Stafford, Staffordshire, England, set in more than 1,000 acres (4 km²) of park landscaped by Capability Brown. ... Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. ...

In 2000, Leeds played host to the first ever Radio 1 Love Parade at Roundhay Park.

Since 1999 the Leeds Festival, a northern leg of the well established Reading Festival, has taken place on August bank holiday weekend. The event was initially held at Temple Newsam (the venue for the Leeds V Festival) before protests from residents forced a move to Bramham Park. The Reading and Leeds Festivals, officially called the Carling Weekend, are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Temple Newsam is an estate in the county in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. ... Bramham is a historic house in West Yorkshire, England, currently owned by Nicholas Lane Fox. ...

Leeds is also home to the International Pianoforte Competition which is regarded highly. It was established in 1963 by Fanny Waterman with the 15th competition starting in September 2006. Fanny Waterman, DBE (Born in Leeds 22/3/1920) her father, Myer Waterman, a Russian Jew, had emigrated to England to work as a jeweller. ...

West Yorkshire Playhouse (along with several other smaller venues) plays host to the annual Fuseleeds festival showcasing an eclectic mix of more left-field music. Since opening in March 1990, West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds has established a reputation both nationally and internationally as one of Britains most exciting producing theatres, winning awards for everything from its productions to its customer service. ...

2006 saw the two-day Wireless Festival take place at Harewood House. The O2 Wireless Festival is a music festival in England that takes place every year in both Hyde Park, London and at Harewood House, Leeds. ... Harewood House as of 2005, seen from the garden Harewood House from A Complete History of the County of York by Thomas Allen (1828–30), showing the house before Barry altered the facades and added an extra storey to the pavilions. ...

Venues

Leeds plays host to many venues, currently including Leeds University refectory [3] (where The Who recorded their 1970 live album Live at Leeds), Leeds Metropolitan University [4], The Cockpit, Brudenell Social Club [5], The Faversham [6], The Hi-Fi club [7], The Wardrobe, Irish Centre, Joseph's Well [8], New Roscoe [9], The Vine and Mixing Tin among others. The University of Leeds is a major teaching and research university, one of the largest in the United Kingdom with over 32,000 full-time students. ... The Who are an English rock band that first formed in 1964, and grew to be considered one of the greatest[1] and most influential[2] bands in the world. ... Live at Leeds (1970) is The Whos first live album, and indeed is their only live album that was released while the band was still recording and performing regularly. ... Leeds Metropolitan University Leeds Metropolitan University is a university with campuses in Leeds and Harrogate, Yorkshire, England. ... Formerly the Cock of the North pub, The Cockpit opened in 1994. ...

Occasional gigs are held in Millennium Square in the city centre (including the Kaiser Chiefs in 2006), Roundhay Park (which was home to Love Parade in 2000 and has hosted gigs by Madonna, U2, Robbie Williams and The Rolling Stones), Harewood House, Leeds Town Hall and Leeds Parish Church. This article is about the band. ... // Introduction Roundhay Park in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is one of the biggest inner-city parks in Europe. ... Siegessäule, Love Parade 2001 Dancer, Love Parade 2001 The Love Parade is a popular festival and parade that originated in 1989 in Berlin, Germany, and has now spread throughout the world. ... This article is about the American entertainer. ... This article is about the Irish rock band. ... For other people with the same name, see Robbie Williams (disambiguation). ... Rolling Stones redirects here. ... Harewood House as of 2005, seen from the garden Harewood House from A Complete History of the County of York by Thomas Allen (1828–30), showing the house before Barry altered the facades and added an extra storey to the pavilions. ... Leeds Town Hall Leeds Town Hall was built in 1858, on a site in Park Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. ...

Recently attempts have been made to build an arena in the city (currently larger touring acts tend to play either Manchester or Sheffield owing to the relatively small capacity of the refectory, Leeds's biggest permanent venue). [10]

See also

• List of bands originating in Leeds
• New Yorkshire

The following is a list of bands originating from Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK. ...prints. ... New Yorkshire is a musical movement identified by UK music magazine NME in 2005, in response to the success of Yorkshire bands such as Arctic Monkeys, The Cribs and Kaiser Chiefs. ...

External links

• Leeds Music Scene - profiles on over 1,000 current Leeds bands.
• Leeds Gig Guide - free Leeds gig listings and venue guide.
• Leeds Hip Hop Scene - free Leeds gig listings and music reviews.
• Leeds Festival Chorus - info on concerts and events
• "New York, eat your heart out" - article about the Leeds music scene, The Guardian, August 31 2005
• Gonzo - Leeds electronic music collective Gonzo and home of Dirtyload Records.