Was gonna try and dig out that Tribune article that’s just been posted, it’s a really good summary of it all and shows it’s definitely not quite as simple as it seemed when the news of its impending closure a couple of years ago broke. Main guy doesn’t come out of it brilliantly either.
It’s a pretty iconic live venue and club night, but its bookings have been in the toilet for years now sadly, it’s pretty rare to see anything other than a tribute act or at best a fairly mediocre past their best indie band there, compared to 10-15 years ago when I was living there and there was a fair amount on. There’s wider issues there about Sheffield struggling to mark itself out as a touring city compared to Leeds (Liverpool seems to suffer similarly with proximity to Manchester) and tours increasingly being smaller and stopping in the same city that aren’t the fault of the Leadmill of course, and it’s still a bit sad to see it go. No idea if it holds the same importance as a student night out as it did when I was studying there.
Probably loads of factors why they just don’t get the gig traffic - increased touring costs etc, having Leeds and Manc be more attractive offerings. Really feel they could/should have been able to trade on their name/reputation though. It’s a great gig venue, bang next to the train st, with wonderful sound. They really should have built it into an iconic venue Brudenell Style (i.e where bands come and play based on its history/reputation). I dunno. Just sucks that Sheffield constantly misses out.
Losing Queens and The Harley was a bigger blow tbh. Think Sheffield has recently got better at realising it won’t be Manchester or Leeds and getting more good smaller scale stuff. Booking at Foundry, Yellow Arch and Sidney & Matilda has been much better in the last couple of years, and there’s a few properly great DIY venues (hatch, Lughole, delicious clam). Think generally live music here’s in a better state than it’s been for 10-15 years
Sadly, it was never iconic as it thought. I’ve met several musicians who have played there and hated it - largely due to the venue admitting loud disinterested people for the club night before the band had finished on stage.
Was devastated to go to The Harley a couple of years back and find it had transitioned into a sports bar showing fucking NFL of all things. Was always my favourite place, and yeah a great gig venue. Hadn’t realised Queens had gone too, good that there’s still stuff happening though - do notice stuff at Foundry and Sidney which i guess have taken that mid-sized booking from there
Worked at the Leadmill for a few years and still know a few people working there, very sad for them to be under threat of losing jobs - hopefully some get offered to TUPE across if they want to
The Tribune article posted up thread gives a good view on the whole legal side of things - it really wasn’t as clear as presented by the venue
I did not once meet Phil (the owner) in my two years working there full time, never once visited the venue, had a weekly meeting with the general manager off site - the only interaction I had with him was his request for me to scan a picture of my hand and email it to him before I was offered the job so he could read the lines on my palm to understand what kind of person I was (much easier than meetings someone I’m sure you agree)
Think there were a few different things that tried to set up in the Harley and each lasted a few months before shutting. No idea if there’s currently someone trying to do something with it or not.
Sidney & Matilda has become a really good spot. Got 3 different rooms so can put on a pretty big range of stuff without ever feeling too big for the act. Guy who owns it is a sound tech so generally everything sounds good too
I was out of work, young and stupid so happily went along with the whole thing - had to go into my mums work to scan my hand as we didn’t have a scanner at home
Edinburgh feels similar to me. Can’t compete with Glasgow generally, so leaning into the good small venues we have or making more use of non-trad venues (rooms next to/above pubs, churches) to grab small bands on the rise. Also we now do quite a lot of smaller gigs for bands doing big shows in Glasgow e.g. they play a 1500 cap show in Glasgow and a 500 one in Edinburgh on the same tour
the scene(/world for culture generally) was probably better 15 years back when it was peak Scottish indie, but as you said - feels like it’s the best its been since then
To hell with it…My 10 best Leadmill gigs:
Belly supported by Pavement
Flaming Lips supported by Bob Mould
Elliot Smith with Quasi
Galaxie 500
Arcade Fire circa ‘Funeral’
Decemberists
Babes in Toyland
Anastasia Screamed
American Music Club
Grandaddy
(I also saw Sparklehorse there twice who were pretty special).
Yeah I went to much better gigs at plug, the Harley, and queens.
it’s sad that the Leadmill is shutting as its iconic but I don’t think it negatively impacts the music scene as there are good venues in town and trying not to compete with Manc and Leeds is sensible
And this one. Great gig. Some other memorable Leadmill shows for me over the many years I’ve been in Sheffield:
Courtney Barnett
80s Matchbox B-line Disaster
Jimmy Cliff
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Half Man Half Biscuit
The Coral
The Charlatans
The Vaselines
Sea Power
Ben Folds Five
The Delays
Divine Comedy
Steve Mason
The Raveonettes
The Dears
Stereolab
Belly
Nadine Shah
Joy Formidable
Billy Bragg
Warpaint
Public Service Broadcasting
Porridge Radio
Travis
Camera Obscura
Wannadies
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
And I still regret the three that got away in the early 00s:
General slack-arsedness meant that The Strokes had sold out before I got myself together to go to the box office. I also missed out on The White Stripes cos of a Leadmill eff-up (they oversold or something went wrong at their end which meant I had a ticket until I didn’t). And then I was away when The Yeah Yeah Yeahs played so I missed that one too.
I’m surprised that The Octagon doesn’t get more touring mid-range sized bands, i.e. the type of bookings that Leadmill used to make. I think it’s a pretty good venue…what else is left of that size except Corp? Best gigs I’ve seen recently in Shef have been at Foundry or Yellow Arch.
I came over from N.Wales for that Belly/Pavement gig……
Kept the dog biscuit that Gary Young gave Me for many years…
Remember having to sleep outside the station for first train back the following morning….