Sheaf St. closure: “Thank you and Goodnight!”

Em O'Riley on 8 November 2023

Last week, independent bar, café and music venue Sheaf St. announced it was closing its doors.

The venue, which opened in 2017, was a core part of the vibrant music scene in Leeds.

The Gryphon spoke to Josh Igoe, an events manager for the University of Leeds BPM electronic music and DJ society. He said Sheaf St would be “dearly missed by all who went and all those they supported”.

Josh, who DJs under the name Anop, paid credit to the venue for facilitating society events so enthusiastically, “few clubs in Leeds supported the local scene as much as Sheaf”.

Despite the oft-repeated joke of the unavoidable number of aspiring DJs in Leeds, new talent can have a difficult time raising their profile.

It’s a competitive scene, and many clubs are unwilling to take the risk of new, less experienced DJs.

Instead, and with several key exceptions, much of the highly commercialised nightlife in the city exhibits a predictable, homogenous mix.

Conversely Sheaf St provided a place for up-and-coming artists, including students, hosting open deck nights with BPM as well as events including a workshop with DJ Adam Pits.

Image: Josh Igoe

Venues are facing disastrously perfect storm of conditions, outlined by the owners of Sheaf St. in a statement on their website, “low attendance, rising costs, increasing fees, significantly reduced spend per head, and skyrocketing utilities and stock costs”

The continuing Cost of Living Crisis, means millions in the UK are having to make incredibly difficult decisions about spending. Outdated perceptions of students living rich off of their maintenance loans hides the reality, as loan increases stagnate versus rising inflation.

According to Unipol, a housing charity, the average cost of rent in England is only £24 below the average maintenance loan. This means a majority of students have little to no excess maintenance loan left after they’ve paid for accommodation.

Data from the National Union of Students found that 96% of students are ‘cutting back’ on expenses, with a third of those in the study were living on less than £50 a month after rent and bills.

Nightlife is thus an expensive luxury, and one of the first things go.

However, the closure of Sheaf St draws in additional, more localised considerations.

Sheaf St. said: “The nightlife industry is a vital economic driver for our city…We believe Leeds doesn’t fully recognise this asset”.

Similarly to the Tetley building, the closure of which The Gryphon covered last month, Sheaf St cited the Aire Park Development as a significant factor in their closure.

Image: Leeds City Council

Aire Park, a 3-hectare development project in the Southbank area (across the river below Call Lane), aims to ‘regenerate’ a previously industrial area of Holbeck. It raises concerns about gentrification and the damage to pre-existing businesses and residents in the pursuit of constructed communities.

The Gryphon is awaiting a response from the developers and council in regards to these concerns around Aire Park.

Accompanying the announcement, Sheaf St. updated their website to say:

“THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT! YOU LOVELY PEOPLE!”.

Image: Sheaf St. website

Their upbeat farewell cements the underlying rallying cry of “Support your Local!”, passed down for decades. A prompt, for those who financially can, to ditch the Spoons and put your money where it matters.

Boomtown Fair breaks line-up silence and it was worth the wait!

Emie Grimwood on 31 July 2023

Whether you are an avid festival goer, attend occasionally or have never been, you will have heard of Boomtown. If you have not, then by the end of the week you will have done. This year’s line up encompasses everything I adore about the festival. As James Cousins, Head of Music at Boomtown said, “The line-up this year has been so carefully crafted to include artists that represent the unique personality of Boomtown. Whatever your flavour, you will find it at Boomtown, whether you are into the heavy-hitters or you want to explore new artists who are spreading through the underground. I am really proud of this line-up, we’ve secured artists that we’ve been trying to nail down for years, and there will be some really special moments.”

Last year was my first Boomtown. The experience was like no other, and that was at a time when they were operating at a lower capacity and a smaller set up post-covid. So, this year, with a 66,000 capacity, 12 main stages plus hundreds of smaller venues, I cannot quite comprehend what I am going to witness. What I am looking forward to is immersing myself in the stories Boomtown creates for festivalgoers. What sets this festival out from the rest, is how once you arrive, you are in an entirely new world. Nine districts, all with their own personalities and town trials and tribulations, audience members will be able to spend their days going back in time at Old Town or jumping to the future in the Betterverse, plus so much more. 

At no other festival am I able to interact with characters, play games, and create my own festival narrative, which might even feature in the daily festival newspaper! This year, for the first time ever, attendees are in complete control of the outcome of the closing show as we can interact with the storyline, voting via the Woov app. Festival apps can sometimes be known for their unreliability. However, Woov is a great app to make friends and join the communities, find your scene, and discover new artists. 

I were to mention every artist on this year’s line up, I would need my own magazine, rather than just a page. However, the highlights for me are Loyle Carner, who will take on Grand Central, alongside Frankie Stew and Harvey Gunn, Nia Archives, Cypress Hill and The Prodigy to name a few. Furthermore, the biggest DJ stage, Origin, will host huge names such as Dimension and Andy C. 

As a bisexual, ADHD journalist, I am especially excited about Spectrum 360. A new stage in district Area 404, created by incredible queer DJ pioneer Mandidextrous, will be displaying the full spectrum of the harder style of dance music and serve as a brave space for ravers. It is so important to create safe spaces for all and Boomtown does just that. Boomtown acknowledges that like itself, we are all unique. Matterley Estate serves as a place for Boomtown to come alive and Boomtown invites us to breathe its air and feel free, let ourselves go and dance all day and all night. So, this year, be prepared to make friends, memories and discover more music than you can imagine.  

Boomtown runs from 9th-13th August at the Matterley Estate, Winchester. The full line-up is available on Woov. Final tickets are available here.

Festival season 2023 kicks off with Live at Leeds: In the Park

Benjamin Forrest on 31 May 2023

The sun is out, the pasty white legs, bucket hats and vintage England shirts are back on the fields… it can mean only one thing: festival season is back! This bank holiday weekend saw the triumphant return of Live at Leeds: In the Park, the sister festival to the long-running Live at Leeds: In the City (which is set to take place on October 14th this year). Admittedly, the line-up this year is somewhat lacklustre, and unfortunately dominated by white male acts, the Temple Newsham all-dayer still boasted the likes of The Hives, Two Door Cinema Club and a host of other acts sure to start off festival season 2023 with a bang!

One of the first acts at the festival were Brighton-based Opus Kink, who have gained notoriety for their explosive live shows – including previous sets at Live at Leeds: In the City 2022 and, more recently, at Belgrave’s Dark Arts Festival. In all honesty, Opus Kink did no favours for the rest of the bands set to play throughout the day; they are an incredibly hard band to follow! Masters of genre hybridity, the group rattled through a set of post-punk-meets-jazz bangers in the midday sunshine. Although the full extent of the raw energy and noise present within the Kink’s smaller shows was somewhat lost within a festival setting, the group still managed to connect with the crowd – which was unfairly sparce, owing to queues at the gates – and get people dancing early on. As was mentioned by frontman Angus Rogers during the set, the band had to shoot off to Bristol for a set at Dot-to-Dot Festival soon after, which likely explains why the band were billed so early at Live at Leeds! 

The Opus Kink set was played at Live at Leeds’s ‘Dork Presents’ stage; dual stages allowing for no gaps in-between sets. This dynamic staging allowed for maximum music consumption, but also some odd juxtaposition. Take, for instance, Belfast noise-punk group Enola Gay. The four-piece featured within their blistering set, the song ‘PTS.DUP’, the lead single taken from their upcoming album. The track is a furious, gut-wrenching indictment of sectarianism and the DUP in the North of Ireland, which was inspired following a sectarian attack on one of the band members. To go from the anger and heartbreak of that track immediately to the bubble-gum-punk of Panic Shack singing about ‘Meal Deals’ and ‘The Ick’ on the other Dork stage, without any time to process Enola’s set, was incredibly jarring – light and shade, I suppose. 

The rest of the day was characterised by dazzling sunshine, good food and a great atmosphere. It would be all too easy to spend all day laying on a bean bag, basking in the heat, were it not for the abundance of great live music occurring from all angles. Notable sets included YouTuber James Marriott, Kate Nash, CMAT and Deadletter – the latter also appearing at the ‘Dork Presents’ stage for a mid-afternoon slot. Deadletter are often compared to Opus Kink, Rogers even introduced their set with ‘Hello, we are Deadletter’, much to the confusion of the audience. Although Deadletter’s set paled in comparison to that of Opus Kink, the group put on a fun, energetic and engaging show. Who knew that post-punk could be made noticeably better with the inclusion of a horn section? X-Ray Spex were ahead of their time. 

Ultimately, however good any other band at the festival were, they were playing for second. As soon as legendary Swedish rock ‘n’ roll band The Hives took to the Rolling Stone big top for a headline set, all other sets fell by the wayside. After their rise to fame in the garage rock revival of the early 00s, The Hives quickly grew a reputation as being one of the finest live bands around. In contrast to their live shows, however, the band have been fairly quiet since the release of their 2012 album, Lex Hives. Although there have been sporadic signs of life within the past eleven years, including the release of the Third Man-released single ‘I’m Alive’ in 2019 and a ‘Live at Third Man Records’ album in 2020, the group are now back on the scene and set to release their sixth studio album, The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons, in August of this year. Launching in to their first song of the set, The Hives demolished any sense of apprehension about their return. They were as loud, chaotic and wonderfully energetic as they have ever been! Their incredible set featured ‘golden hits’ like ‘Main Offender’ and their much beloved single ‘Hate to Say I Told You So’ as well as more recent tracks and a handful of songs from the aforementioned new album. The tunes were interspersed with the chaotic ramblings of frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist, whose stage presence is night and day from his usual personality; as those who attended the group’s signing at the Crash Records tent were able to witness first-hand. With more festival dates planned for the rest of the year, as well as an arena tour with Arctic Monkeys, The Hives are well and truly back! Let us all hope they never leave us again. 

Although the festival officially ended with a main stage headline from Two Door Cinema Club, their set felt more like a cool-down after the rock ‘n’ roll epiphany of The Hives’ set. Overall, though, this year’s Live at Leeds: In the Park was a fantastic success, with the majority of problems which arose at their inaugural festival last year rectified. The festival season is upon us, it is sure to be long and prosperous and, for many, it started at Temple Newsham with Live at Leeds. Roll on next year!

Fortunately, there is not long to wait until the next Live at Leeds festival, with the ‘In the City’ counterpart set to take place on October 14th. Tickets for Live at Leeds: In the City are available now, and the initial line-up announcement includes the likes of Wunderhorse, The Last Dinner Party and The Mysterines.

Yard Act conquer Manchester Albert Hall

Benjamin Forrest on 10 May 2023

Leeds post-punk titans Yard Act have been unavoidable on both a local and national scale since they first started releasing music in September 2020. Their initial singles ‘Fixer Upper’, ‘The Trapper’s Pelts’, ‘Peanuts’ and ‘Dark Days’ received critical acclaim from the likes of BBC 6Music – and the legions of 6Music dads who flocked to Brudenell Social Club like flies around an up-and-coming post-punk outfit. The release of their Mercury-nominated debut album, The Overload, propelled them to a number two spot in the album charts, extensive tours of the UK, Europe and the US (with a quick stop off to perform live on Jimmy Fallon), and even a collaboration with rock royalty Elton John. It has been over a year since the release of The Overload, and its twenty-five different vinyl variants, and the band are working hard on new material. In an interview conducted with The Gryphon last year, bassist Ryan Needham (previously of incredible Leeds-based psych outfit Menace Beach) and guitarist Sam Shipstone (who is also making music with Holodrum) affirmed their commitment to recording new music – also suggesting that these new tracks have more no-wave and disco influences, owing to the influence of a lot of ESG. 

Before this new era of Yard Act begins, though, The Overload deserved a grand send off. After all the countless mosh pits, festivals, Brudenell appearances, fifty pence pieces collected from the audience, and with the infamous golden Rover in the garage; the final Overload gigs were announced. These were five dates in some of the most beautiful and well-regarded independent venues that the UK and Ireland have to offer, accompanied by a stellar line-up of support acts including old friends Baba Ali, rising groups Deadletter and Fat Dog, and Leeds contemporaries English Teacher and Thank. Kicking off at Vicar Street in Dublin on the 26th April, then to Glasgow’s Barrowlands, the Albert Hall in Manchester and finishing with two dates at The Troxy in London. It was at Manchester Albert Hall that I caught the band. It was the eighth time I had seen the band and it was undoubtedly one of their finest performances to date. 

Before Yard Act took to the stage, though, it was the turn of fellow Leeds band, Thank. Those who have been lucky enough to see Thank in action should already be aware that they represent one of the most interesting, innovative and exciting bands to have come out of Leeds in a very long time. Their experimental influences of Theo Gowans – who you may recognise from his experimental projects under the name Territorial Gobbings, or the ‘Heinous Whining’ experimental music nights he hosts at Wharf Chambers – are complimented by the dark yet often humorous lyrics of frontman Freddy Vinehill-Cliffe and the intense, violent performance of drummer Steve Myles, who often appears to be beating the drums into submission, to great effect. Although the group’s unique brand of noise rock is perhaps more well-suited to the small, sweaty rooms of Wharf Chambers of Mabgate Bleach, seeing them shout “Tonight Matthew, I will shit in my own hands and clap” inside a stunning Grade II listed building, was certainly a sight to behold and it seemed to go down well with the sold-out crowd. 

At nine o’clock, it was time for Yard Act to take to the stage. Flanked on either side of the room by huge stained-glass windows and an ornate baroque-inspired ceiling above them, the band entered onto the stage to rapturous applause and cheers before erupting into ‘Rich’. It was immediately apparent that the four-piece was on top form and the audience at the sold-out Albert Hall seemed to be instantaneously enthralled in the performance. Though this was billed as an Overload show, the audience was further treated to some extra tracks, including the early single ‘Dark Days’ as well as two brand new songs early on in the setlist. The new songs, ‘Petroleum’ and ‘The Trenchcoat Museum’ sounded immense, particularly the latter. The Overload will certainly be a difficult album to follow up, but these new tracks seem to confirm that Yard Act are more than up to the task. Frontman James Smith, by this point in the setlist, had the crowd in the palm of his hand and seemed to be controlling them effectively throughout the performance of ‘Tall Poppies’ and into the latter half of the set. Although notable Overload tracks The Incident and Quarantine the Sticks (which featured Billy Nomates) were absent from the setlist, the crowd was not really in a place to complain – the band rattled through a sterling setlist ending with an encore of ‘100% Endurance’ (a version of which was recently released on Record Store Day as a 7”, featuring Elton John) and their first single, ‘The Trapper’s Pelts’ to finish the night off. 

The only remaining 2023 gigs for Yard Act, aside from a handful of festival appearances, comes in the form of their five-day residency as Brudenell Social Club – a venue close to the heart of the band. Afterall, one of their first ever shows took place at Brudenell, supporting fellow Leeds band Mush, the band played there the night before it was announced that their album had reached number two in the charts, and their golden Rover was parked there for months before being moved. Their residency starts on the 8th May and will feature incredible special guests such as Rose Matafeo, Nish Kumar, Lole Adefope, and Harry Hill. Tickets for these dates have long since sold out but, if their Albert Hall performance is anything to go by, they are certain to be unforgettable! 

Wakefield DIY Festival Long Division to go out with a bang!

Benjamin Forrest on 2 May 2023

If you have been a fan of live music in West Yorkshire for a few years, you should already know the score when it comes to Long Division, the award-winning metropolitan festival has been bringing incredible performances to Wakefield for over a decade. Festival alumni include the likes of The Cribs, Fat White Family, The Fall, Big Joanie and The Lovely Eggs among countless others. Unfortunately, Long Division 2023 is said to be the last. One thing that is for sure, though, is that it’s going out with a band! The line-up for this year boasts The Orielles, BDRMM , Opus Kink, Thank, The Lovely Eggs, Folly Group…I could go on! There will be no shortage of incredible bands to see at this year’s festival and, with cheap and quick transport links from Leeds by train or bus, it is surely an excellent way to celebrate the end of the academic year in style!

Long Division are operating a flexible ticket system this year with general sale available at £40 or reduced £30 tickets are available for those unable to cover the whole cost with no proof required and a third tier priced at £50 is available to help the festival cover the cost of reduced ticket sales. Cheap tickets, cheap transport and – as those who have been lucky enough to experience a night-out in Wakefield can attest to – cheap drinks, what’s the best festival in Wakey?