Tag: The Hold Steady

Leeds Venues 12 and 13

The University of Leeds has a long history traversing all the way back to 1874. It was once part of the combined federal Victoria University which subsequently splintered into the universities in Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. It is also the 5th largest establishment in the UK with over 36k students and the previous distinguished alumni include Keir Starmer, Jack Straw, Mark Knopfler, Corinne Bailey Rae, Little Boots and six other Noble laureates.  

At the 2014 Live at Leeds event, Leeds University Stylus was our final venue visited and was always designed to be the culmination of the evening as one of my all-time favourite bands Hold Steady were on stage. The Stylus is the 1000 capacity venue buried in the heart of the campus. In 2011 they installed a L’Acoustics KARA Sound System (apparently the only system of its kind in the UK) and have followed that up with regular gig and club nights.

Bars at either side surrounded the lower pit and dance floor in front of the stage and the set up was not wholly unreminiscent of the old Preston 53 Degrees Main Hall venue. Hold Steady came on about 10.30pm and opened with ‘Stuck Between Stations’, they were in good form as ever though arguably Craig Finn was perhaps a tad more wired than normal. ‘Your Little Hoodrat Friend’ was outstanding and they finished with aplomb with ‘ Massive Nights’ and ‘Stay Positive’. 

The Hold Steady on stage. Image Credit Grantland.

It was Gill’s first sighting of Hold Steady and she was fascinated by the devotion of the crowd towards the band, generated in my view by their evangelical interactive performances and the fact that Craig is a modern-day poet.

There was a further venue called the Refectory in the establishment where Albert Hammond Jr was still playing, but we had been on our feet for eight hours already, so we vetoed that one. There was an epic taxi queue outside, but we eventually made it back our digs in the outskirts of town.

We decide to make a return visit to Live at Leeds in 2021, delayed to October that year due to Covid, and there were still restrictions in place that made a multi gig event more challenging than it normally would be.

It was a chaotic start to the day as Northern trains excelled themselves again by cancelling our initial train to Piccadilly necessitating a No 50 bus ride and a walk across town. Refuelled by a healthy snack at the Pasty Shop we then boarded train to Leeds.

We found our hotel and then headed to the ticket exchange point at Leeds City College at Quarry Hill. So, finally wristband and clash finder had been obtained and a quick review of the listings revealed where we would go first to watch some music.

I wanted to grab the opportunity to visit some of the more outer based venues, so we headed up the A660 (Woodhouse Lane) beyond the universities to the edge of Hyde Park where we found the Leeds Lending Room @ The Library.    

The Grade 1 listed building is an impressive structure and has in a previous life been a fire station before its present guise as a library where the 200-capacity upstairs room was opened up as a music venue in 2009. Alt-J and Allusondrugs amongst others have graced the stage there.    

It was an intimate venue room and I liked it and on our visit The Blondes were playing. The band are a five-piece who got together at college and became housemates in London during the pandemic.

The Blondes. Image Credit pcnmagazine.uk

Despite the Covid restrictions they gained some traction and acclaim via their single ‘Coming of Age’ going viral on Tik-Tok resulting in two million streams. In the live setting they produced a likeable slab of indie pop.  

Connect Festival 2007

Alongside my favourite ever festival, which were always the Wickerman events, I have always endeavoured to attend other festivals in Scotland so was intrigued to hear of a new one called Connect in 2007. We decided to attend the debut event as for us it had a dream bill of four of my favourite ever bands, (if Carlsberg did festivals!) and three of which appropriately were Scottish. Unfortunately, the festival only lasted one more year and was scrapped thereafter due to high running costs, which was a shame as it turned out to be a belting event. 

The setting was the idyllic Inverary Castle, located on the banks of Loch Fyne in Argyll and was badged as the first ever ‘boutique’ festival and was aimed at a more mature audience with the bonus of a real ale tent saving you from the ‘delights’ of Tennents Lager!  

Inverary Castle. Image credit johansens.com

The first conundrum was bagging accommodation and Uncle George played a blinder by finding us some digs above a pub on the main drag in Arrochar. We then decided to undertake the trip by train as we always like to avoid driving if there is a viable alternative. The Preston to Glasgow leg was easy but the second part needing planning as there were very sparse trains onwards to Arrochar.

So, on the Friday, we arrived in good time for the 12.22 from Queen Street to Oban, because the next train was not for another four hours. Once the train traversed through the industrial area north of Glasgow it turned into a very scenic route with a steep uphill section bringing us into our destination of Arrochar and Tarbet. 

The pub owners very graciously picked us from the station as it was a good mile walk into the town. We grabbed some hearty food and a couple of cold ones and then headed to the nearby bus stop for the ‘regular’ buses to the site…

An hour later we were still stood there and there was a small group of us now gathered but no sign of any transport. One of the brethren rang up to complain and astonishingly a taxi arrived which I think was free to take us to our destination.

As we walked up to the entrance, we encountered a young lass with the heaviest most overladen backpack I have ever seen replete with pots and pans (literally the kitchen sink!) who it transpired had travelled in from Manchester. Chivalry kicked in and we took in turns to carry the lead weight into the site, joking afterwards that we could have been inadvertent drug mules!

We watched Aerogramme’s last ever show on the Guitars and Other Machines stage, they were a very decent post-rock band from Glasgow. We also saw Vector Lovers, Baillie and the Fault, Numbers DJ’s and an enjoyable set from electro band Cansei de Ser Sexy (CSS). 

The first of the big hitters on the main stage was Jesus and Mary Chain, who I was seeing for the sixth time, but for first time for nine years since a chaotic Liverpool show on their final tour in 1998. Despite the inclement weather, they were excellent. We also witnessed a little of the headliners Beastie Boys before an infinitely smoother return journey to our digs where we were allowed to take a ‘one for the ditch’ Guinness upstairs at last orders.       

On the Saturday, we managed to pick up a standard bus that dropped us in the small town of Inverary with its two pubs, the George Hotel, and the Anchor Inn. The George particularly was a lovely establishment with lodgings that Gill and I utilised a few years later whilst travelling to Mull. On the way to catching the ferry at Oban, you pass Loch Awe which lives up to its moniker. Mull itself was a beautiful island and we had one of our best meals ever at Café Fish in Tobermory. The restaurant looked like a transport café from the outside, but the food was astoundingly good.

Back to the festival, we arrived early specially to see my new favourite band the Hold Steady who I only caught for the first time a month early in Manchester and they did not disappoint. This time, we only got a truncated thirty-five-minute set, but they were still compelling viewing. We also witnessed Rilo Kiley and a segment of Primal Scream’s headline set.

The two acts prior to the headliners were of infinitely more interest to us, the initial one being the hardy perennials Teenage Fanclub and the latter the ever-magnificent Mogwai. More chaos then ensued at the coach pick up point, but we made it back eventually.

Arrochar and Tarbet station. Image credit geography.org.uk

The Sunday consisted of a leisurely walk back to the station to await the opening train of the day back to Glasgow which landed at 14.09. In the interim we began to hear the distinct sound of a steam train hauling itself up the hill into the station which is always a sight to behold. It then sat on the platform for a spell, and we could see many contented punters being treated to a fine Sunday lunch and accompanying wine.