Brudenell Social Club

This iconic Leeds venue, located slap bang in the middle of Hyde Park, has incredible gig bookings almost every night of the week. One thing new students may not know is that Brudenell occasionally transforms its games room into a gig space, putting on gigs either free of charge or at a very low price. Although they’re not always big names, it gives you the opportunity to discover your new favourite band at a fraction of the price of their future headline tour.

Dice

This app acts as a gig filter for events happening around your city, from big names to start-out acts. Aside from offering exclusive presale tickets for certain acts, you can book tickets for free gigs and more underground bands. The current offerings in this category are Catholic Action at Belgrave and Weirds at Headrow House. The benefit of Dice for any music lover is that it pushes you out of your comfort zone and into the great musical unknown.

Indie club nights

As fun as some of the classic big nights out are, let’s admit it, they set you back a large amount of money for the sake of a banging headache and whole heaps of regret the next day. However, there are plenty of small independent club nights that are a fraction of the cost of Canal Mills and are just as much fun. Look out for Come Thru at Chunk and nights like Sub Dub or Triple Cooked.