Live at Leeds is a

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

that takes place across various venues in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, on the weekend of the May Day

bank holiday A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...

. The festival began in 2007 to mark the city of Leeds's 800th birthday and was jointly hosted by

Leeds City Council Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of l ...

and music promotion company Futuresound. This initial event took place at the end of May and featured around 50 bands playing live in and around Leeds city centre along with film screenings and a music industry seminar. The 2008 event took place over the weekend of the May Day bank holiday and featured two concerts by Leeds band

The Pigeon Detectives The Pigeon Detectives are an English indie rock band from Rothwell in Leeds, West Yorkshire, who formed in 2004. The band have released five albums from 2007 to present. They performed at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2006, where they we ...

Millennium Square Millennium Square may refer to: * Millennium Square, Bristol * Millennium Square, Leeds *Millennium Square, Sheffield Millennium Square is a modern city square in Sheffield, England. It was created as part of the Heart of the City project that b ...

as its centrepiece.

1990s File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War ...

and White Lies were among the groups who played the 2009 festival, while 2010 saw sets by the likes of

Lightspeed Champion Devonté Hynes (born David Joseph Michael Hynes, 23 December 1985), also known as Blood Orange and formerly Lightspeed Champion, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and director based in New York City. From 2004 to 2006, Hynes was ...

British Sea Power Command of the sea (also called control of the sea or sea control) is a naval military concept regarding the strength of a particular navy to a specific naval area it controls. A navy has command of the sea when it is so strong that its rivals ...

and

The Twilight Sad The Twilight Sad are a Scottish post-punk/indie rock band, comprising James Graham (vocals), Andy MacFarlane (guitar), Johnny Docherty (bass), Brendan Smith (keyboards) and Grant Hutchison (drums). They have released five studio albums, as well ...

. Live at Leeds 2011 took place at venues including

Brudenell Social Club The Brudenell Social Club is a live music venue and social club in Hyde Park, Leeds, England. While being a social enterprise, it retains the "community atmosphere of its origins as a working men's club". The club is split into three areas— ...

O2 Academy Leeds The O2 Academy Leeds (formerly known as the Town and Country Club) is a music venue situated in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is run by the Academy Music Group, which has other music venues around the UK. The Academy was nominated for the T ...

and

The Cockpit The Cockpit can refer to: * Cockpit Theatre, a 17th-century theatre in London (also known as the Phoenix) that opened in 1616 * The Cockpit Theatre (Marylebone), Cockpit, a theatre in London, England that opened in 1970 * The Cockpit (OVA), ''The C ...

, and was headlined by James Blake,

Anna Calvi Anna Margaret Michelle Calvi (born 24 September 1980) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her accolades include three Mercury Prize nominations, one Brit Award nomination, and a European Border Breakers Award. She has been noted by ...

The Futureheads The Futureheads are an English post-punk band from Sunderland, formed in 2000. The band consists of Ross Millard (vocals and guitar), David "Jaff" Craig (vocals and bass guitar) and brothers Barry Hyde (vocals and guitar) and Dave Hyde (drums). ...

Frightened Rabbit Frightened Rabbit were a Scottish indie rock band from Selkirk, formed in 2003. Initially a solo project for vocalist and guitarist Scott Hutchison, the final lineup of the band consisted of Hutchison, his brother Grant (drums), Billy Kennedy ...

Pulled Apart by Horses Pulled Apart by Horses are an English alternative rock band from Leeds. They formed in early 2008. The band were signed by Transgressive Records in 2009, and released their debut self-titled album ''Pulled Apart by Horses'' on 21 June 2010. In ...

Young Knives Young Knives are an English indie rock band from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. The name is based on a misunderstanding of "young knaves", which was found by the band when rummaging through a book. The band was originally named Simple Past ...

and

The Duke Spirit The Duke Spirit are an English rock band based in London. Their sound has been seen as a melding of influences ranging from alternative rock bands such as The Jesus and Mary Chain and Spiritualized, the tremulous rock'n'roll of bands such as The ...

. In January 2012 it was announced that

Example Example may refer to: * '' exempli gratia'' (e.g.), usually read out in English as "for example" * .example, reserved as a domain name that may not be installed as a top-level domain of the Internet ** example.com, example.net, example.org, ex ...

Marina and the Diamonds Marina Lambrini Diamandis (; el, Μαρίνα-Λαμπρινή Διαμάντη; born 10 October 1985), known mononymously as Marina (often stylised in all caps), and previously by the stage name Marina and the Diamonds, is a Welsh singer and ...

and

The Subways The Subways is an English rock band from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Formed in 2002, the band consists of Billy Lunn (lead vocals, guitar), Charlotte Cooper (bass guitar, lead vocals), and Camille Phillips (drums). Founding-drummer Josh ...

would headline that year's event. 2013, in the seventh year, Live at Leeds will welcome over hundred bands on twelve stages. The annual football tournament returns for its third year along with the Unconference. The event is sponsored by Fosters, Marriott Hotels, Blacks Solicitors with media partners are Hebe and Enjoy digital. * Live at Leeds was shortlisted for 'Best Metropolitan Festival' for three years (2011, 2012 and 2014). *Live at Leeds won 'Best Metropolitan Festival' at the UK Festival Awards in 2014 Previous Line-ups for Live at Leeds. * 2007 – Wild Beasts/Slow Club/Grammatics/Shut Your Eyes/Wintermute/Blackwire * 2008 – Metronomy/The Dykeenies/The Rascals/This Et Al/Vessels/Pulled Apart By Horses * 2009 – The Maccabees/Marina and the Diamonds/Mumford and Sons/Bombay Bicycle Club * 2010 – Ed Sheeran/Everything Everything/Hurts/Darwin Deez/Eliza Doolittle/The Sunshine Underground/65daysofstatic/The Bronx/Lightspeed Champion/Hadouken * 2011 – Young Knives/Tribes/Aloe Blacc/Anna Calvi/The Futureheads/Dinosaur Pile Up/James Blake/Frightened Rabbit * 2012 – The Enemy/Ladyhawke/The Subways/Los Campesinos/Ghostpoet/Jake Bugg/Alt-J/Lucy Rose/Lianne La Havas/Jessie Ware/Spector/Scroobius Pip/Savages/ I Like Trains * 2013 – Everything Everything, AlunaGeorge, Rudimental, Laura Mvula, Pigeon Detectives, Peace, The Staves, Savages + more * 2014 – Albert Hammond Jr, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Clean Bandit, Courtney Barnett, George Ezra, Royal Blood + more * 2015 – Carl Barat & the Jackals, Dry the River, Dutch Uncles, Eagulls, Emmy the Great, Gaz Coombes, George the Poet, Hookworms, Lauren Aquilina, Lawson, Lucy Rose, MNEK, Palma Violets, Raleigh Ritchie, Rhodes, Saint Raymond, Slaves, Spector, Stormzy, Stornoway, Sunset Sons, Swim Deep, The Cribs, The Strypes, Thurston Moore Band, We Were Promised Jetpacks & more

References

{{reflist, 2 Music festivals in Leeds Rock festivals in England