Alex: When an artist I’ve found early in their career grows in popularity, I get this weird condition where I start seeing them as a Kanye level celebrity. The main symptoms of this are majorly fanboying when I see the artist live and imagining that they’d be constantly surrounded by a foreign dignitary-sized entourage. That made it all the weirder that after her gig as part of Live at Leeds I saw Australian slacker-troubadour, Courtney Barnett, perched on a wall outside of Flames. Our chat was short but great, and after I spluttered a few compliments I calmed down. We ended up having a picture together which would be one of my proudest moment ever had I not ended up looking like Chunk out of the Goonies in it.
Stasi: During my first weeks as a fresher, I was lucky enough to have secured an interview with Mercury-nominated, drop dead gorgeous, awe-inspiring Nick Mulvey. Talking to Nick before his gig at Brudenell, his music and persona really came alive. Unlike a lot of musicians, Nick is utterly and purely connected to the essence of his music. The small room filled with the sound of beautifully complex guitar scales and mesmerizing harmonies, created by his top class backing musicians. It was however, Nick’s humbleness and laid-back attitude to life that made this gig one of my favourites in Leeds.
Charlotte: At some point during my first year of university my housemate introduced me to American Football. As a person who’s wilfully ignorant about the majority of guitar based indie bands I was surprised and instantly enchanted by their sole and self titled album. Their show at Brudenell Social Club was part of their first tour in 15 years. This, coupled with the guaranteed good vibes provided by this gloriously unpretentious venue and the jubilant presence of the friend who’d introduced me to their music, ensured a truly magical atmosphere – the musicians clearly not quite believing their luck at being able to perform together again, and the audience equally pinching themselves at the honour of witnessing it.
Catherine: It’s been almost a year since legendary venue The Cockpit closed, so it’s rather fitting that my favourite music moment in Leeds took place there. It was in early June last year and one of my favourite bands at the time, The Family Rain, were playing in the second room. During the last song, the band invited the crowd up on stage so I thought I’d join them. However, I managed to trip up the stairs in front of the whole audience and fell to the floor as the last song finished and the lights went down. I definitely won’t forget that one any time soon.