Leeds

Leeds four-piece Yard Act made one of 2022’s most assured debuts in The Overload, although its debt to the Fall was hard to ignore, in terms of both its post-punk dynamics and frontman James Smith’s delivery. His sprechgesang vocals still take centre stage, but this time his lyrics are more self-reflective, most notably on Down By the Stream, an arresting rumination on his past as a school bully: “I was young, but more so I was wrong.” Elsewhere, The Undertow examines the trade-off between time spent with his band and…

By 2013, the career of British producer Floating Points was reaching new heights: he was regularly DJing at huge nightlife institutions such as Warehouse Project and Fabric and was travelling overseas. But when he was invited to play at Cosmic Slop, a 200-capacity party tucked away in a former brass and iron works in Leeds, he knew he had to go. “Word was circulating: ‘you’ve gotta go and check out the system’,” he recalls, referencing the now-legendary hand-built speaker rig, revered by underground heroes such as Theo…

Reading and Leeds festivals have announced their headline acts for 2024, with Fred Again, Lana Del Rey and Gerry Cinnamon all headlining for the first time.Fred Again’s booking continues his journey from backroom pop producer to underground dance star to bona fide mainstream name, having headlined Parklife festival this summer and secured one of the biggest crowds of Glastonbury 2023 for his performance on the Other stage. He – alongside sparring partners Four Tet and Skrillex – was also last-minute replacement for Frank…

Anne-Marie has announced a huge headline show for summer 2024 at Leeds Millennium Square. The show will take place on Thursday 4th July 2024 and fans can expect to see the singer performing her hits such as ‘2002’, ‘Friends’ and ‘Psycho’ featuring rapper Aitch. Anne-Marie is an artist known for her playful songs, stunning vocals and infectious personality as showcased during her time as a coach on singing competition ‘The Voice’. Now with 3 albums in tow comprising of 2018 debut album ‘Speak Your Mind’ which…

The first song I remember hearing I remember making my mum watch me creep around to the quiet bits, then stomp around to the chorus of It’s Oh So Quiet by Björk. The first single I boughtI’d heard Bad Babysitter by Princess Superstar and the High & Mighty on the radio, but I didn’t know who sang it. So Mum took me to Virgin Megastore in Leeds, flagged down this spotty teenager and sang: “And I’m bad babysitter, got my boyfriend in your shower / Woo! I’m makin’ six buck an hour.” I was mortified.The song that I do at…

Imagine if a woman such as the Dowager Countess from “Downton Abbey” was one of your grandmothers. And if the other -- the Hon. Olive, Lady Baillie -- owned the incredibly posh Leeds Castle, where Anthony Russell grew up. “I seldom saw her because she was always traveling or fox hunting or both,” Russell writes in his memoir, “Outrageous Fortune” (St. Martin’s Press, $26.99). Russell came of age listening to the Rolling Stones and learned to play guitar; when he moved to New York at age 24, he immediately fell in with…

In recent years, Reading festival has struggled to balance its history as a destination for rock fans with the wants of its target market. This weekend, it’s clear that the tides have definitively turned towards pop. The primarily teenage crowd – clad in novelty bucket hats, bikini tops and, bafflingly, “bollocks to Brexit” stickers – is 15 people deep outside the tent during garage-sampling TikTok sensation PinkPantheress’s half hour set, while R&B pop star Madison Beer’s impressive vocals are completely drowned out…

When considering Britain’s Windrush legacy, most people may think of London. The majority of the Jamaican immigrants who came to the UK in the 50s settled there – my own grandparents plumped for Stevenage, just north of the city. And yet, in the 2011 census, it was estimated that up to 5,000 of Britain’s then 160,000 Jamaican-born population – and plenty more West Indians besides – live in Leeds, the northern city I moved to as an adult. In celebration of Jamaica’s 60th anniversary of independence, the Leeds community…

Image: Sony We’ve had but a smidgen of symbiote madness in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with fans constantly wondering when it’ll properly show up, and now there’s a theory that Peter Parker’s best friend Ned Leeds could become Venom in future Spider-Man movies. Played by one of the internet’s favorites, Jacob Batalon, the “CEO of Sex” from memes himself, Ned Leeds has seemingly been geared up over several films to be a long-term character arc in Spider-Man’s Marvel Cinematic Universe stories. His best friend…

BBC Radio 2 Live is heading to Leeds’ Temple Newsom on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th September 2022. The Saturday will be headlined by Simple Minds with support from Tears For Fears, Craig David, Bananarama, Ella Henderson, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Kaiser Chiefs, while the Sunday will be headlined by Nile Rodgers & Chic with support from George Ezra, Melanie C, Emeli Sandé, Mark Owen, Heather Small and Olly Murs. BBC Radio 2 Live in Leeds will be hosted by some of the station’s best loved presenters and, for…