Location | Swinegate, Leeds, England |
---|---|
Coordinates | 53°47′41″N01°32′40″W / 53.79472°N 1.54444°W Coordinates: 53°47′41″N01°32′40″W / 53.79472°N 1.54444°W |
Owner | Futuresound |
Capacity | 500 (main room), 250 (second room), 125 (third room) |
Opened | c. 1994 |
Closed | 2014 |
Website | |
www.thecockpit.co.uk [no longer active] |
The Cockpit was a club and music venue in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Formerly the Cock of the North pub, the venue was located on Swinegate, close to Leeds station. [1] It hosted small to medium-sized touring artists as well as occasional showcases for local acts. The venue's main room held 500, whilst the second room held 250, and the small upstairs room held 125.
A regular competition run by promoters Futuresound (and sharing their name) gave unsigned bands from Yorkshire the chance to win a spot on the bill at the Leeds Festival.
The Cockpit was split into three live gig rooms with individual stages in each: The Cockpit (The Pit), Cockpit 2 (The Venue) and Cockpit 3 (The Upstairs). The venue had the ability to host 2 gigs on the same night, with a band in the main room using the second room as a bar, and a band in the upstairs using the main bar. [2]
The venue played host to a variety of bands playing a wide range of musical styles including rock, metal, hardcore, emo, punk, indie, alternative and folk. Four weekly club nights ran at the Cockpit - Slam Dunk on a Tuesday, Southern Fried on a Wednesday, Heavy Soul on a Friday and Garage on a Saturday. Gay night Poptastic ran at the Cockpit on Thursday nights from the late 90s to early 2000s. [3]
In November 1997 the club was one of three venues spotlighted in the Club City documentary about Leeds nightlife, screened as part of the BBC North Close Up North strand. [4]
Nick Hodgson introduced Ricky Wilson to the other members of the Kaiser Chiefs at the Cockpit in the mid-nineties, when they attended Brighton Beach, the club's then weekly indie night. The group formed Runston Parva, later shortened to Parva, before changing their name to the Kaiser Chiefs in 2004. [5]
On 10 September 2014 the Cockpit's owners, promoters Futuresound, announced that they were to close the venue after 20 years due to the dwindling number of people prepared to go to club nights during the week and the poor condition of the building. [1] [6] As a "direct result" of the Cockpit closing, [7] Futuresound's sister company Slam Dunk opened a new venue, the Key Club, in the Merrion Centre. [8] Slam Dunk director Ben Ray has described the new venue as the first "pure rock" venue in Leeds. [8] The Garage and Slam Dunk club nights, which were previously held at the Cockpit, [7] along with several rock gigs which had been booked for the Cockpit, moved to the Key Club on its opening. [9]
Jazz Standard was a jazz club located at 116 East 27th Street in the Rose Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It frequently hosted well-known bands and musicians. The club was owned by restaurateur Danny Meyer and was located in the basement of one of his Blue Smoke restaurants.
Rock City is a music venue and nightclub located in Nottingham, England. It is owned by venue operator and concert promoter DHP Family.
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 2000 as Parva, releasing one studio album, 22, in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their current name that same year. Since their formation the band has consisted of lead vocalist Ricky Wilson, guitarist Andrew "Whitey" White, bassist Simon Rix, keyboardist Nick "Peanut" Baines and since 2013 drummer Vijay Mistry, who replaced founding drummer Nick Hodgson following his departure from the band in late 2012.
The Guvernment, formerly known as RPM, was a nightclub complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was also the name of one of the two main performance venues within the complex. The other venue was Kool Haus. Other smaller rooms within the complex included: The Drink, D'Luxe Lounge, The Orange Room, SkyBar, Charlies, Tanja and Acid Lounge. The Guvernment opened in 1996 and closed in early 2015.
NX Newcastle, formerly known as the O2 Academy Newcastle, is a music venue in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It opened in the former Majestic Ballroom building on 14 October 2005 as the Carling Academy, and was renamed for Telefónica Europe's O2 mobile network brand in 2008. The venue was managed by Academy Music Group until early 2022, when Electric Group took over the operation of the site. Following a complete refurbishment, it reopened as NX Newcastle in September 2022.
Corporation, often referred to as Corp by locals, is an independent live music venue and nightclub located in the city centre of Sheffield, England. In addition to hosting live music from touring bands, Corporation hosts club nights which play a variety of alternative, pop and rock music.
The Otley Run is a pub crawl in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The route shares much in common with the Headingley Mile but usually incorporating more pubs on the A660 road, typically those towards Leeds City Centre.
Dance To The Radio is a British independent record label, based in Leeds, England.
The Music in Leeds ecompasses a variety of styles and genres, including rock, pop and electronic. While groups like Soft Cell, the Kaiser Chiefs, the Wedding Present, Utah Saints and the Bridewell Taxis have gained success in the mainstream, Gang of Four, the Sisters of Mercy, Chumbawamba and the Mission have helped to define genres like punk rock, gothic rock and post-punk.
Nicholas Stephen Phillips is an English blues and country musician, as well as guitar maker and painter. He is mainly renowned for being part of the supergroup The Notting Hillbillies along with the Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler and Brendan Croker.
The following is a list of bands and musicians from the North East and Yorkshire of England, by town or city. Those to have a number one single are shown in bold.
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—a 400 capacity concert room, a bar area and games room section and a second 400 capacity concert area, known as the Community Room, which opened in 2017.
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 TPi Awards 2010 for the country's favourite venue.
Slam Dunk Records or Slam Dunk Music is a British independent record label, promoter and concert organising company, founded in Leeds, England, in 2007. Some notable signees include You Me at Six and Decade. The label evolved from "Slam Dunk", a weekly club night held at the city's Cockpit music venue, centered on emo, punk, ska and metal music. They have organised and promoted concerts for Leeds venues such as the Key Club, Leeds University Stylus, Leeds Beckett University Student Union and the First Direct Arena, as well as venues in other cities such as The Dome Leisure Centre, National Exhibition Centre and Hatfield Forum.
Middleman are a 4-piece alternative rap rock band based in Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. They formed in 2006. They released singles Blah Blah Blah and Good To Be Back on Bad Sneakers records in 2007, and It’s not Over Yet on Blip Records on 5 September 2010. Their next single Chipping Away is due for release on 12 December 2010 on Blip Records. It's Not Over Yet is featured on the basketball game NBA 2K11 by 2K Sports along with tracks from artists such as Snoop Dogg and Two Door Cinema Club.
Don Broco are a British rock band formed in Bedford, England, in 2008. The band consists of Rob Damiani, Simon Delaney (guitar), Tom Doyle and Matt Donnelly. The band have released four studio albums, including Priorities (2012), Automatic (2015) and Technology (2018). Their most recent album Amazing Things (2021) was their first to reach No.1 in the UK Album Charts.
Mallory Knox were an English alternative rock band from Cambridge. In 2013, they released their debut album Signals which reached #33 in the UK album charts. Their second album Asymmetry was released on 27 October 2014 and reached #16 on UK Album Chart. They later released their third album Wired on 10 March 2017. Their fourth record, Mallory Knox, was released on 16 August 2019, after which they announced a farewell tour.
LGBT culture in Leeds, England, involves an active community of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender/transsexual. A BBC News Online article published in 2012 stated that, while Leeds City Council has not published statistics relating to the number of LGBT residents, the figure can be estimated at 10% of the overall population, which currently suggests a total of at least 77,000. The tenth year of the Leeds Pride march and celebration, held in 2016, was attended by over 40,000 people.
Le Phonographique was a gothic nightclub located underneath the Merrion Centre in Leeds. Founded under the name the WigWam club, the venue's 1979 rebranding led to it becoming a location frequented by members of both the local post-punk and New Romantic scenes. Here, the two scenes collided and created the earliest phase of the goth subculture. It was the first goth club in the world, opening in 1979 and eventually closing in 2005. Disc jockeys at the club, such as Marc Almond, DJ Mark M, Anni Hogan and Claire Shearsby, would play gothic rock and dark wave music. In 1985, the Clash played an impromptu gig at the venue while attending.