The tale of the 2021 Live at Leeds festival continues with us heading even farther away from the city up Headingley Lane to the Leeds Hyde Park Book Club. The previous function of the building was as an old disused petrol station alongside a fancy-dress shop. In 2015 the book club became another addition to the burgeoning Leeds scene with a creation of a bohemian hub space.
It morphed from the initial vegan café concept into a live music and arts venue alongside selling books and vinyl records. They encompass a plethora of events including music festivals, spoken word, yoga sessions, exhibitions and local club nights.
They also serve local beers, one of which we decide to partake of in the main room and took a seat awaiting the next band to hit the stage. The live room itself was a cellar room accessed via stairs in the corner of the room and probably had a capacity of around 200.
The act on stage was Deep Tan, a three piece from London with the seemingly obligatory slightly scary bassist who had mastered the thousand-yard stare. I would loosely label them as post-punk, but other infinitely more interesting descriptions of their sound that I have unearthed are ‘Primus and The Police had a baby’ or ‘Britney does Math Rock’!
Another ten-to-fifteen-minute walk skirting Hyde Park and through residential streets and past the Royal Park pub brings you to the infamous Brudenell Social Club. Now, many venues aspire to cult legendary status, and I have visited many that quite frankly do not live up their lofty reputation, but that is not the case here.
The name Brudenell is purported to have been derived from a chap who owned local Kirkstall Abbey in the 16th century. The club was formed in 1913 and was rescued from financial ruin to become a music venue in 1990. Beyond its obvious musical pedigree there is a lounge, large games room and they host photography and origami meetings, and they also serve pies. They also always endeavour to maintain cheap tickets and drinks prices, so what is not to love about the place!
Wire, Misfits and Tom Tom Club have graced the stage there and it has hosted secret gigs by Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs and has events on most nights of the week. There was also one famous night where Black Lace who penned Agadoo allegedly led 300 punters in a Hawaiian shirted conga! I was very fortunate recently to catch three Mogwai gigs on their latest tour, but unfortunately could not make the Leeds date as it would have been a fine venue at which to witness their sonic power.
As you enter the grounds there are a suite of picnic tables and upon entry to the left is Leeds Brudenell Social Club with a capacity of 400 which has a distinct relaxed vibe about it. The venue has a marginally lower dancefloor nearest to the stage and other viewing points nearer to the bar and elsewhere all reward you with a decent vantage point.
The vagaries of a multi band festival resulted in us only capturing the last couple of tracks of VC Pines, which is the stage name for Jack Mercer, a soul singer from London town. Post show we had a five-minute sit-down homage to the then empty room before heading to the second venue, Leeds Brudenell Community Room.
This area had an identical capacity of 400 but its layout was more in the traditional gig vein. My initial impression of the band playing was that they were very quirky, but I did warm to them as the set progressed. It turned out to be Hamish Hawk from Edinburgh with his baritone voice, who I always think resembles Divine Comedy. Over the last 12 months he has received considerably more attention and is now a staple on the 6 music airways.