Independent Venue Week: won’t you take me to Regtown ’25?

It was born out of the blessed poetry of Lipps Inc. Had they known when they wrote ‘Funkytown’ back in 1970, that they actually proposed a culturally, spiritually, enlightened definitive question in their pulsating chorus: ‘oh won’t you take me to Regtown 2025?’ Little did they know of their influence on independent Leeds based record label Private Regcords, taking on their grandest gesture yet and booking out the entirety of Hyde Park Book Club to celebrate DIY small festivals and local talent galore.

Mr James Vardy, CEO of Private Regcords, and the puppeteer behind the 15 acts on his lineup proposed such a musical coup on the beloved student hotspot this past Independent Venue Week, in effort to celebrate a variation of local experimental, indie, art-pop, jazz and everything in between. This special day of collaboration could not have been met with a more sanctimonious response, selling out on general admission tickets and flogging T-shirts like evangelical pedlars in the freezing cold to raise funds for an awesome night. These days not many startup festivals can financially upkeep themselves, and the struggle to meet the nail biting margin for a necessary profit to continue consumes most creative projects with inaccessibility, bankruptcy and the fearful reminder of the state live music is in. So the fact that we have events like this means that our community has struck gold on its legacy for culture. 

It’s within these third spaces that musicians are not only playing to one another, but praising each other’s work in recognition of being equals on a lineup, curated by people who love local music. And not only did they party until Leeds’ City Councils temporary 2am curfew extension – oh no. If you want to get involved and continue spreading the message of DIY events, head on down every Sunday at 10am to the new Hangover Sessions in the Snug Room of Hyde Park Book Club, where the record label hosts stripped back performances as cures for your post-Saturday shenanigans. I know it cured my post-Regtown festival blues.

Written by Eszter Vida