Returning to Leeds city centre for another instalment, Live at Leeds in the City will finish the north’s 2024 festival season in style on November 16. Known for bringing the best of British talent to Yorkshire, the one-day event is an occasion to look forward to every year, featuring hundreds of established and upcoming artists across fourteen of the city’s finest music venues. Live at Leeds launched in 2007 as a metropolitan festival to mark the city’s 800th birthday, and has subsequently expanded to the outdoor event Live at Leeds in the Park which began at Temple Newsam in 2022. Since then, the Park edition has been the perfect way to kick off the north’s festival season, while the City edition remains the perfect way to close it out.
Previous line-ups have included notable names such as Wolf Alice, Catfish and the Bottlemen, and Ed Sheeran at early stages in their careers, demonstrating how its organisers have an eye for new and emerging talent. This years’ headliners include Manchester’s own Everything Everything, who will bring their signature dystopian art-rock to the DIY Stage at Leeds Beckett Student Union, and Alfie Templeman, who will close out the Leeds University Union Stylus stage in support of his recent album Radiosoul. Joining them is Merseyside’s The Ks, who are quickly making a name for themselves in the world of indie rock after winning Breakthrough Act of the Year at the Northern Music Awards, and will accordingly perform a special guest afternoon headline set.
Across the two student union venues, which will host a total of four combined stages, acts as diverse as Marika Hackman, Willie J Healey, Basht., KOJ, Overpass and Somebody’s Child will make appearances, alongside Liverpool alt-rock heroes STONE, punk rock newcomers SOAPBOX, Greater Manchester’s Stanleys and Leeds-based six-piece Flat Moon. Following an impressive performance at Manchester’s Warehouse Project, rising rap star CASISDEAD will also perform on the DIY stage, before Mercury Prize winners and Leeds locals English Teacher will undoubtedly draw one of the biggest crowds of the day.
Indie labels Nice Swan and Dance to the Radio are set to take over Belgrave Music Hall, showcasing sets from Annie-Dog, Terra Twin, L’objectif, West Side Cowboy, Human Interest, Fuzz Lightyear, Kynsy and more. DORK’s takeover of Burley Park’s beloved Brudenell Social Club will see performances from Hang Linton, Pentire, The Kairos, Master Peace, Moonchild Sanelly, Slow Fiction, The Manatees and The Guest List amongst others, while Scruff of the Neck’s Lending Room stage will see performances from Ten Hands High, Aerial Salad, Shambolics, Phoebe Green and Manchester’s own Bayboards, who are set to headline their hometown’s Academy 2 later in the month.
Elsewhere, Doghouse Bar & Bagel Shop and Northern Guitars Café Bar will boast especially-curated line-ups featuring solo artists and singer-songwriters for those looking for something a little softer: venues such as these display the impressive diversity of Live at Leeds as a festival, and are ideal for grabbing a bite to eat and watching upcoming talent. Other popular Leeds bars hosting stages on the day include Santiago’s and Sela, as well as Oporto as hosted by BBC Introducing, with unmissable highlights across these venues including Joshua Epithet, Indoor Foxes, Aimeé Fatale and brother-sister duo Esme Emerson, who recently supported The Japanese House at Manchester’s Albert Hall.
Returning for another year of pop punk and rock, The Key Club will host performances from Soft Launch, Tough Cookie, ARXX and Swim School, before closing with a headline set from Leeds mega-star Abby Roberts. The Line of Best Fit are set to host a stage at The Wardrobe, with appearances from Cardinals, Daydreamers, Chloe Slater, Balancing Act, Freak Slug, Heartworms, Van Houten and Lime Garden. Two of the festival’s most exciting names can be found at this particular venue: Luvcat, Liverpool’s enigmatic five-piece featuring enigmatic and encapsulating frontwoman Sophie Morgan, and Alessi Rose, both of whom have been making waves on social media in recent times. If the night is still young when the final acts have finished, The Key Club and The Wardrobe are both also offering club night afterparties running until late.
As two of Leeds’ trendiest spaces, Hyde Park Book Club and Headrow House are also involved once again, with the former showcasing a range of artists of distinct genres and styles, and the latter providing softer-toned acts such as Gia Ford, Hana Lili and 49th & Main.
Live at Leeds in the City is guaranteed to be a brilliant day, showcasing a huge array of both established and emerging acts spanning genres, styles and demographics. With seventeen stages and hundreds of artists to choose from, there’s sure to be something for everyone regardless of taste, and it seems that the organisers have done well to avoid the clashes that everyone dreads when attending a festival: let’s just hope Oporto doesn’t reach its 120-person capacity too early in the day.
