Artists: Jay Chakravorty / Ruben & Alana / Tom Blankenberg
Venue: Left Bank, Leeds
Date: 22.5.22
There are so many ways to use a piano; from its purest classical form to a tool for experimentation. At these regular sessions curator and host, Simeon Walker, invites a selection of musical contemporaries to perform and showcase the versatility of the instrument whilst making such events accessible to all. Always beautiful, often surprising.
Artist: The Belgrave House Band
Support: Laura Kindelan
Venue: Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds
Date: 20.5.22
So much more than a covers band; The Belgrave House Band are an incredibly talented collective who carefully consider the albums that they perform, and clearly put their heart and soul into doing so. If you’re gonna do ‘Ziggy’ you’ve gotta do it right. They nailed it!
Artists: Secret Affair / The Truth / The Vapors / Squire
Venue: Old Woollen, Farsley, Leeds
Date: 14.5.22
The old guard met the dawn of a new era as mods and modettes young and old filled the Old Woollen for a Mods Mayday gathering. The ageing fellas with feather cuts mingled with a new generation of the ‘in crowd’ who appreciate the past but bring a contemporary twist to the mod scene. Isn’t that what it was originally all about?
Performances varied in quality with Secret Affair being notably disappointing compared to when I’d recently seen them at Brudenell Social Club.. The Vapours played the standout set, still having the sound and energy of their era.
Artist: Gary Numan
Support: Divine Shade
Venue: O2 Academy, Leeds
Date: 12.5.22
The Numan renaissance continued with the Intruder tour. Songs from the newly released album and its predecessor (Savage) strongly held their own against a back catalogue of pioneering synth sounds and electronic anthems.
Setlist: Intruder / Me! I Disconnect From You / Halo / The Gift / Metal / Here in the Black / Is This World Not Enough / Films / Pure / Resurrection / Down in the Park / Everyday I Die / Dead Sun Rising / Cars / My Name Is Ruin / Love Hurt / Bleed / The Chosen / I Die: You Die // A Prayer for the Unborn / Are ‘Friends’ Electric?
Artist: Mattiel
Support: Le Ren
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 9.5.22
The über cool and ever stylish songstress returned to Brudenell Social Club on her Georgia Gothic tour.
Artist: Stereo MC’s
Support: Clint Boon [DJ Set]
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 6.5.22
Gettin’ Deep Down & Dirty with the Stereo MC’s at ‘The Brude’. Timeless tunes took the roof off a full house.
Artist: Blondie
Support: Johnny Marr
Venue: First Direct Arena, Leeds
Date: 4.5.22
Originally planned for 21.11.21 with Garbage as the support band but rescheduled to 4.5.22 with Johnny Marr supporting (an equally welcome substitution).
Johnny Marr Setlist: Armatopia / Panic / Night and Day / Spirit Power and Soul / This Charming Man / Getting Away With It / Walk Into the Sea / Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want / How Soon Is Now? / Easy Money / There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
An evening of pop art and rock royalty. Blondie toured without Chris Stein (due to a heart condition) but with the addition of Glen Matlock replacing Leigh Foxx on bass. Debbie Harry lacked the moves and vocals that she once had but was still a formidable and focal front woman at 76 years old.
Blondie Setlist: X Offender / Hanging on the Telephone / Sunday Girl / Picture This / Mother / Fade Away and Radiate / The Tide is High / What I Heard / Atomic / (I’m Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear / Shayla / Union City Blue / Long Time / My Monster / Rapture / Maria / Dreaming / Heart of Glass // Fragments / Call Me / One Way or Another
Artist: Gaz Coombes
Support: Piney Gir
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 23.4.22
I saw Supergrass play live a few times during their britpop heyday but somehow I’d managed to neglect Gaz Coombes’ solo career. I was pleasantly surprised and slightly entranced by his beautiful vocals and melodic music at this stripped down performance.
Setlist: Matador / Wounded Egos / Salamander / Oscillate / Sonny the Strong / Deep Pockets / White Noise / The Oaks / Hot Fruit / Oxygen Mask / The Girl Who Fell to Earth / 20/20 / Detroit // This Love / Walk the Walk
Artist: Royal Blood
Support: The Amazons
Venue: First Direct Arena, Leeds
Date: 12.4.22
Back with the rescheduled ‘Typhoons’ tour. Just two men but enough rock to fill an arena. Grrrr!
Setlist: Typhoons / Boilermaker / Lights Out / Come on Over / Trouble’s Coming / Hook, Line & Sinker / Honeybrains / Little Monster / How Did We Get So Dark? / Blood Hands / Million and One / Limbo / Loose Change / Figure It Out // All We Have Is Now / Ten Tonne Skeleton / Out of the Black
Artist: Wolfgang Flür
Support: Peter Duggal
Venue: Old Woollen, Farsley, Leeds
Date: 9.4.22
An apt industrial setting for the ex-Kraftwerk percussionist to perform contemporary techno with a nod to his past.
I briefly met the ‘Man Machine’ himself after the gig and came away with a signed Magazine tour poster.
Artists: Adult Cat / Mangorata / Blackson
Venue: Left Bank, Leeds
Date: 29.3.22
Support for a country and community rocked by Russian aggression.
Every cloud has a silver lining. In this case it was the discovery of Mangorata who instantly became a favourite band on the local jazz scene.
Artist: Curtis Harding
Venue: Brudenell Social Club
Date: 26.3.22 [Cancelled]
The last of my postponed/cancelled COVID gigs. Let’s hope that we never return to such dark and devastating days. Thankfully many live music venues survived lockdown and the aftermath of COVID complications but some simply couldn’t carry on. Hard times lead to hard decisions.
Artists: The Ukrainians / From East to East / Brigadistas
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 6.3.22
An evening of sorrow, solidarity and defiant celebration as the Ukrainian community of Leeds came together to raise awareness of Russian atrocities and the invasion of their homeland.
Artist: Yard Act
Support: Baba Ali
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 26.2.22
Yard Act – again! The 4th time I’d seen them in a month. Perhaps you can have too much of a good thing? Worth it one more time though to see the magnificent Babi Ali supporting and collaborating on the encore.
Setlist: Strip / Payday / The Overload / Witness (Can I Get A?) / The Trapper’s Pelts / Fixer Upper / Peanuts / Dark Days / Tall Poppies / Pour Another // Rich / Dead Horse / Daft Punk Is Playing at My House (with Baba Ali)
Artist: Sons of Kemet
Support: Algernon Cornelius
Venue: Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds
Date: 22.2.22
A tour de force of contemporary / nu jazz, ferocious funk and blusy beats.
Setlist:
Artist: Dry Cleaning
Support: PVA
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 20.2.22
Wordy Rockinghood.
Setlist: Leafy / Unsmart Lady / Strong Feelings / Her Hippo / Sit Down Meal / Viking Hair / More Big Birds / Traditional Fish / New Long Leg / Magic of Meghan / Scratchcard Lanyard // TBC
Artist: Secret Affair
Support: The Deep Six
Venue: Brudenell Social Club
Date: 3.2.22
The mods march again, albeit at a slightly slower pace – but the beat goes on . . .
Artist: Yard Act
Support: Cheap Teeth
Venue: Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds
Date: 1.2.22
BBC Radio 6 Music’s band of the moment take to the stage at Belgrave Music Hall to promote Independent Venue Week. Having done his live broadcast and compère duties, it was great to see Steve Lamacq in amongst the crowd from the support band onwards.
Setlist: Dark Days / Witness (Can I Get A?) / Dead Horse / Fixer Upper / The Incident / Pour Another / Rich / The Trapper’s Pelts / Human Sacrifice / 100% Endurance / Payday / The Overload
Artist: GoGo Penguin
Venue: Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds
Date: 28.1.22
Blue Note x breakbeat at Belgrave. The epitome of cool.
Artist: Yard Act
Support: John Moss [DJ Set]
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 27.1.22
A late night final push the get Yard Act’s debut album ‘The Overload’ to the top of the charts upon release week. Crew cajoled the crowd into buying additional copies of the album with cassettes being the only remaining format as the chart sales deadline loomed.
In the end the album entered the charts in the highly commendable no. 2 position with ‘Night Call’ by Years & Years claiming the top spot.
Setlist: The Overload / Witness (Can I Get A?) / Payday / Dark Days / Pour Another / Rich / Tall Poppies / Human Sacrifice / The Trapper’s Pelts / 100% Endurance / Land of the Blind
Artist: Yard Act
Venue: The Vinyl Whistle, Headingley, Leeds
Date: 25.1.22
And so it begins; the year of Yard Act and their assault on the charts with their debut album, ‘The Overload’. Cracking on with an afternoon appearance and signing session at The Vinyl Whistle as part of an intimate instore tour.
Setlist: Witness (Can I Get A?) / Rich / 100% Endurance / Pour Another
Artist: The Human League
Support: Tom Bailey / Altered Images
Venue: First Direct Arena, Leeds
Date: 3.12.24
Support sets from Tom Bailey (Thompson Twins) and Altered Images set the scene for a night of 80s nostalia. A decade of music that was cutting edge at the time but has aged remarkably well.
It’s Christmas party season and most of the glittered-up gathering want to wave their arms and shake their sequins to ‘Don’t You Want Me’. It was Christmas no.1 when released in 1981 but the single’s b-side, ‘Seconds’ has always been a better live track. You’ve got to give the masses what they want, so ‘Dare’ dominates the evening.
However, for me the darker / moodier ‘Being Boiled’ is The Human League at their best. An echo of the band’s industrial Sheffield roots and the early days of synth before it became blended with pop.
Setlist: Mirror Man / Tell Me When / (Keep Feeling) Fascination / Heart Like a Wheel / The Lebanon / One Man in My Heart / Human / The Things That Dreams Are Made Of / Open Your Heart / The Sound of the Crowd / Darkness / Do or Die / Get Carter Theme / I Am the Law / Seconds / Love Action (I Believe in Love) / Don’t You Want Me // Being Boiled / Together in Electric Dreams
Artist: James
Support: Happy Mondays
Venue: First Direct Arena, Leeds
Date: 25.11.21
Strange yet familar bedfellows. James and Happy Mondays both started their recording careers on Factory Records and became stalwart members of the ‘Madchester’ movement. Almost 40 years later, both bands are still going strong and filling arenas.
Happy Mondays are on form with their three-strong front team, Shaun, Bez & Rowetta batting banter back and forth. It’s a ‘best of’ support slot and the perfect way to warm-up the arena. Although they do seem to be in it for the money as Shaun continually asks the band how long they’ve been on stage and how many songs they’ve got left to play.
Happy Mondays Setlist: Kinky Afro / God’s Cop / Loose Fit / Bob’s Yer Uncle / Dennis and Lois / 24 Hour Party People / Hallelujah / He’s Gonna Step on You Again / Wrote for Luck
James Setlist: Zero / Isabella / She’s a Star / Born of Frustration / Five-O / All the Colours of You / Gold Mother / Curse Curse / Come Home / Miss America / Attention / Hymn from a Village / Beautiful Beaches / Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) / Sound // Wherever It Takes Us / Sit Down / Laid
Artist: Shame
Support: The Goa Express
Venue: Leeds Beckett Students’ Union
Date: 19.11.21
Another hot ‘n’ sweaty night at Leeds Becket SU (the venue that I still refer to as ‘Leeds Poly’) for the Drunk Tank Pink tour. A mosh pit to behold; savoured from the safety of the gantry.
Quality and practical merch; I couldn’t resist the Shame work shirt.
Setlist: Alphabet / 6/1 / Concrete / This Side of the Sun / The Lick / Nigel Hitter / Tasteless / Born in Luton / March Day / Dust on Trial / Harsh Degrees / Angie / Water in the Well / Snow Day / One Rizla / Station Wagon
Artist: Mark Radcliffe
Venue: Old Woollen, Farsley, Leeds
Date: 18.11.21
My 400th gig and I couldn’t think of a nicer northern bloke to spend it in the company of.
Loser? Not at all.
Artist: A Certain Ratio
Venue: Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds
Date: 16.11.21
As one of the original bands signed to Factory Records (and favourites of Tony Wilson), A Certain Ratio were often understated but never underrated. Over 40 years later they’re still going from strength to strength and remain relevant.
Artist: Snapped Ankles
Support: Mermaid Chunky
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 13.11.21
I missed the first three bands but did arrive in time to discover the marvellous Mermaid Chunky setting the experimental electronic tone for the main act. Snapped Ankles gigs are always a sight to behold; from shamanistic costumes to ‘log synth’ instruments. If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise.
Setlist: Rhythm is Our Business / Letter from Hampi Mountain / The Evidence / Shifting Basslines of the Cornucopians / Undilated Lovers / Forest of Your Problems / Rechargeable / I Want My Minutes Back / Jonny Guitar Calling Gosta Berlin
Artist: Jumbo Chords
Venue: The Primrose, Leeds
Date: 6.11.21
An unsigned band playing in an independent family owned pub. This is the essence of grass roots live music. Such gigs matter.
I’ve been photographing Andy and Nick’s various bands for over 30 years. One of the shots from this gig was used on the inner artwork of Saturday Night, Sunday Morning – Jumbo Chords’ debut album.
Artist: Public Service Boradcasting
Support: EERA
Venue: O2 Academy, Leeds
Date: 1.11.21
Sophisticated sampling and so much more from the PSB sound bite boffins on their Bight Magic tour, accompanied by EERA.
Setlist: Der Sumpf (Sinfonie der Großstadt) / Im Licht / Der Rhythmus Der Maschinen / Progress / People Will Always Need Coal / Sputnik / Korolev / Gib Mir Das Licht / Blue Heaven / Spitfire / All Out / Lichtspiel I: Opus / Lichtspiel II: Schwarz Weiss Grau / Lichtspiel III: Symphonie Diagonale / The Other Side / Go! // They Gave Me a Lamp / People, Let’s Dance / Gagarin / Everest
Artist: Greame Park [DJ Set]
Venue: Old Woollen, Farsley, Leeds
Date: 30.10.21
You can travel the world but post industrial northern England does this the best. Less Factory, more Farsley as legendary DJ Greame Park follows the M62 to the happening side of the Pennines.
Artist: Squarepusher
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 26.10.21
An audio-visual mindfuck. If you know, you know (or maybe you couldn’t process it).
Artist: Sinead O’Brien
Support: Spaceacre
Venue: Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds
Date: 24.10.21
Post punk, funk, electronica, rock, spoken word. A tricky gig to summarise but there was a cool vibe in the basement at the book club.
Artist: Fontaines D.C.
Support: The Altered Hours
Venue: O2 Academy, Leeds
Date: 23.10.21
I was lucky enought to have first seen Fontaines D.C. live at Brudenell Social Club a couple of months prior to this gig. As a result the soulless, corporate surroundings of the O2 Academy, Leeds simply didn’t compare. The band were on form but the view from the seats in the overfilled balcony was appalling, making it a somewhat unmemorable event. Shame.
Setlist: A Hero’s Death / A Ludid Dream / Sha Sha Sha / Chequeless Reckless / I Don’t Belong / The Lotts / Living in America / Hurricane Laughter / Too Real / Big / Televised Mind / Boys in the Better Land // Roy’s Tune / Liberty Bell
Artist: The Spitfires
Support: The Theives
Venue: The Constitutional, Farsley
Date: 14.10.21
A mod influenced power-pop frenzy with Acid Jazz favourites The Spitfires in danger of having their thunder stolen by the suppport band.
Sadly one of the last gigs to take place at The Constitutional – a small but beautiful venue that would concede to bigger and better things just down the street at the Old Woollen.
Artist: Billy Nomates
Support: Straight Girl
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 5.10.21
One woman, a laptop, boundless energy and infectious enthusiasm. Sometimes less in more.
Artist: The Smyths
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 23.9.21
Meat is Murder, 35th Anniversary Tour. Once again, The Smyths ‘unite and take over’ Brudenell Social Club for their annual three night residency. This time performing my favourite album by The Smiths. A rare chance to hear this collection of songs performed with such panache and authenticity.
Artist: Johnny Marr
Venue: Leeds University Stylus
Date: 20.9.21
Johnny takes to the stage and tells the crowd that this is the first time he’s played live since before lockdown. Some of us have already braved the return to live music but for many others it’s also their first gig in a long time. But this is Johnny Fuckin’ Marr, masterfully delivering a set of solo sounds, The Smiths and Electronic classics, so everything is going to be alright.
Setlist: Hideaway Girl / Panic / Spirit Power and Soul / Tenemant Time / New Town Velocity / Rubicon / Night and Day / Get the Message / Getting Away with It / The Headmaster Ritual / Sensory Street / This Charming Man / Walk into the Sea / Hi Hello / How Soon is Now? / Armatopia / There is a Light that Never Goes Out / Easy Money // Counter Clock World / Some Girls are Bigger than Others / Bigmouth Strikes Again
Artist: Skylights
Support: Narrow Margin
Venue: Leeds University Stylus
Date: 11.9.21
It’s a sports casual cacophony as the Leeds lads and ladettes venture beyond Elland Road for an away fixture at the Uni. It’s unusual to hear the chants of the terraces bellowing around the students’ union.
Skylights are an accomplished band, somewhat eclipsed by their casual football following and Leodian leaning. This was the most laddish gig I’d been to since the demise of The Bridewell Taxis.
Setlist: Britannia / What You Are / Nothing Left to Say / Lifeline / Take Me Somewhere / Outlaw / Driving Me Away / YRA / Darkness Falls / Enemies
Artist: New Order
Support: DJ Tintin [DJ Set]
Venue: The Piece Hall, Halifax
Date: 8.9.21
A superheated summer’s evening, the music of New Order (and Joy Division), lights, lasers and the beautiful backdrop of the Piece Hall. The Haçienda meets the Happy Valley. My only regret was arriving too late to see Lonelady’s support set.
Setlist: Regret / Age of Consent / Restless / Ultraviolence / Ceremony / Your Silent Face / Tutti Frutti / Be a Rebel / Guilt is a Useless Emotion / Sub-culture / Bizarre Love Triangle / Vanishing Point / Plastic / True Faith / Blue Monday / Temptation // Atmosphere / Transmission / Love Will Tear Us Apart
Artist: IDLES
Venue: Leeds Beckett University
Date: 7.9.21
Through a combination of missed opportunites or COVID cancellations, IDLES had evaded me as a live act up untl this point. But it was worth the wait.
Hot, sweaty and intense; the long overdue ‘Ultra Mono’ album launch gig was all I had hoped it would be. As a frontman, Joe Talbot is menacing and mesmerising in equal measure – he looks like he’d blow your house down and then give you a hug.
Setlist: Colossus / Grounds / Mr. Motivator / Mother / Anxiety / 1049 Gotho / Samaritans / Divide and Conquer / War / Reigns / Faith in the City / Television / Kill Them with Kindness / Love Song / Never Fight a Man with a Perm / Danke
Artist: The Cribs
Venue: Brudenell Social Club
Date: 2.9 21 [Originally scheduled: 15.11.20]
Another much dealyed and belated album launch show for the band’s ‘Night Network’ album, which was released during the COVID lockdown. Originally planned as an acoustic set, The Cribs decided that a long awaited return to their spritual home should be a full-on gig, and rightly so!
Setlist: Goodbye / Running Into You / I’m a Realist / Our Bovine Public / Never Thought I’d Feel Again / Diamond Girl / I Don’t Know Who I Am / Siren Sing-Along / My Life Flashed Before My Eyes / Come On, Be a No-One / Shoot the Poets / Screaming in Suburbia / Swinging at Shadows / Be Safe / Mirror Kissers / Men’s Needs / Pink Snow
Artist: Fontaines D.C.
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 1.8.21
Previously postponed by COVID, the long awaited album launch show for ‘A Hero’s Death’ was the first of two sets to take place at Brudenell Social Club that evening.
Many people hadn’t been to a gig for 18 months, so this was an incredible return to live music and a reminder of what we’d all been missing. It was over before we knew it but the whirlwind energy whet the appetite for things to come . . .
Setlist: A Lucid Dream / Televised Mind / Big / I Don’t Belong / Oh Such a Spring / Sha Sha Sha / Boys in the Better Land / Too Real / A Hero’s Death
Artist: Jumbo Chords
Venue: The Vinyl Whistle, Headingley, Leeds
Date: 24.7.21
The inaugral gig of Jumbo Chords (although not the full line-up).
Stripped back melodic sounds and thoughtful songwriting. A taste of things to come . . .
Gig poster designed by yours truly.
Artist: John Keenan
Interviewer: Amanda Burns
Venue: Leeds Kirkgate Market
Date: 23.7.21
The Duchess is back (in spirit and pop-up form).
Leeds Kirkgate Market temporarily played host to a mini ‘pop-up’ pub in tribute to the legendary Leeds venue; The Duchess.
Artist, Amanda Burns hosted a conversation with John Keenan – recollecting tales of his days as the band promoter for Leeds’ much loved and lost music venue.
The Duchess was at the heart of my formative gig-going years. Back in the late 80s and early 90s you rarely needed a ticket for a Duchess gig. We’d check out the monthly flyers which acted as a who’s who of up and coming bands, simply queue outside the venue on Vicar Lane and pay a few quid on the door to get in. If there was a buzz about a band it would be packed to the rafters and support acts often became superstars.
Shoppers in the Hugo Boss store that now occupies the site may be catwalk savvy but they’re probably oblivious of the footsteps in which they walk. One day there’ll be a blue heritage plaque to recognise the importance of what went before.
Artist: IDLES
Support: The Big Moon
Venue: Millennium Square, Leeds
Date: 8.7.21 [Cancelled]
With large public gatherings still banned at the time, another gig bit the dust. The knock-on effects of endless cancellations made rescheduling such large scale events an impossibility.
Artist: Don Letts
Interviewer: Dave Simpson
Venue: Old Woollen, Farsley, Leeds
Date: 25.6.21
The ‘Rebel Dread’ stalked the stage and roamed the room telling tales of his illustriously eclectic career. To his credit, after almost two hours of conversation and questions, he’d barely scraped the surface. I guess I’ll have to buy the accompanying book to find out more . . .
My first visit to the Old Woollen as an established venue, although I’d attended a few previous events in the same characterful mill space. A welcome addition to the Leeds gig scene and the sound of the suburbs.
Artist: The Smyths
Venue: Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Date: 23.5.21
Following a 14 month enforced hiatus, due to COVID restrictions, it was amazing and slightly emotional to return to Brudenell Social Club. A socially distanced (sit-down) Sunday afternoon saw the welcome return of The Smyths and live music.
Safety in small numbers required limited capacity and table service but it all felt very safe and civilised; like a band doing ‘a turn’ at an old school working men’s club. Perhaps matinee shows should become part of the new normal?
Gigs Are Back
Date: 23.5.21
Location: United Kingdom
It’s been a long, long time but gigs are back.
‘Access All Areas’ art print available from my Etsy shop: https://tinyurl.com/ykyh34ue
My Gigography 