Led by legendary Leeds club founder Suzy Mason, Club Culture in Leeds will take you back to the heady days of 90s clubs. From the dark days of the so-called Yorkshire Ripper to a student boom town, Leeds became a vital destination on the house music circuit. With a key focus on LGBTQ+ and women in Leeds nightlife, Suzy brings her personal experiences to tell the story of Club Culture in Leeds.
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Leeds had a very special part to play in the evolution of punk and post-punk in the late 1970s/early 1980s. On the Punk and Post-Punk walk you’ll visit key sites from the University to the legendary F Club. The walk brings to life the very particular circumstances of Leeds at the time – the shadow of the so-called Yorkshire Ripper, The National Front and football violence, the arts courses at the city’s universities – that contributed to the sound and politics of Leeds’ own interpretation of punk and post-punk, and explores the music’s ongoing legacy in the city.
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‘If you see Mami Wata, oh, never never you run away.’
Join Megan for a workshop on Mami Wata, the Mother of Waters, to discover how the water goddess queers art, history and spiritual practice.
Women | Music | Leeds takes you on a journey to explore women’s relationship with music in the city. We’ll learn about Leeds’s influential women musicians, like Big Band leader Ivy Benson, punk rockers Delta Five and Girls At Our Best, and Star Wars composer Angela Morley. We’ll revisit the places where women have danced the night away and the clubs that have put women’s needs first. And we’ll find out about some of the community-based projects that have supported and championed women to fulfil their musical dreams.
Leeds was living the indie highlife at the turn of the 20th/21st century: Kaiser Chiefs, Sky Larkin and ¡Forward Russia! were among the city’s bands reaching national and international acclaim. Now with the 20th anniversary of Kaiser Chief’s Employment coming up, join the musicians who were there to explore key venues of the New Yorkshire scene, to hear the inside story of ‘I Predict a Riot’ and understand what made – and continues to make – Leeds especially supportive for birthing new music.
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Local folk-rock favourites return for their annual show!
Jon Palmer Acoustic Band are an award winning, high energy, 6-piece folk, roots and rock & roll band based in West Yorkshire, where they have built a strong reputation as an exciting live act. Jon Palmer, who writes all the band's songs, is a prolific songwriter who draws on his folk roots as well as more contemporary themes. The band are accomplished musicians and no strangers to the intimacy of a club setting, the warmth of a theatre, or performing on a full-blown festival stage.
Join us for a special evening of remembrance and celebration.
Watch Mark Currie’s film “Memories of Wartime” and celebrate the re-launch of Dr Jason Knowles’ book “Otley - Memories of World War Two”.
The evening will feature guest speakers and live music from a brass quintet and singer, all honouring the enduring spirit of VE Day.
Soprano: Debbie Scherer
Alto: Molly Austen
Tenor: Alison Owen-Morley
Baritone: Sarah Jobson
SaxShades was formed in 2001 by Debbie Scherer and Sarah Jobson and has existed in our current line up since 2016. With a standard saxophone quartet instrumentation of soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, SaxShades plays a wide range of music from Baroque to Rock and just about everything in between.
The Secret Life of a Sleepless Anaesthetist
NHS anaesthetist, comedian and author (oooooh check him) Ed Patrick injects Otley with a gut-punch hilarious show about becoming a junior doctor, the NHS, the pitfalls of modern medicine and the power of questioning it.
There’s plenty of laughing gas to go round.
‘Brilliantly funny’ Matt Lucas
‘Extremely funny’ The Telegraph
‘Packed with hilarious anecdotes’ The Guardian
‘Masterful, playfully provocative writing’ Chortle
Critically acclaimed storyteller James Rowland returns with his captivating mix of theatre, comedy and music.
“Joyful” ★★★★★ The Guardian
LEARNING TO FLY sees James tell the story of a remarkable friendship he made when he was a lonely, unhappy teenager with the scary old lady who lived in the spooky house on his street.
It's about connection, no matter what the obstacles; about love’s eternal struggle with time; about music and its ability to heal.
It's also about her last wish: to get high once before she died.
Uplifting, big hearted and hilarious.