Melodic mainstream rock

Getting to grips with genres and music styles is a ticklish business but another group of prominent bands provides music that is less indie than mainstream rock or possibly melodic rock, such as Haich, certainly stand out for their musical aptitude. Bands like Breek are more heavy rock and not always melodic but still capable of some exhilarating music offerings. De Sade don't seem to play locally very often but do have an a large following who love their classic, cock-rock shows. Project Notion is a melodic, folk rock band that has been reaping the accolades recently. Skam are a busy rock and roll band who often play to packed houses. Recently formed from ex freefall felix members heavy rock, hardcore band Arms of Atlas are without doubt ones to watch out for.

Metal and Hardcore

There are surprisingly few metal bands in Leicester/shire but Method in Madness and Internal Conflict have for a long time stood out as putting on superbly good shows. Sadly bands like Black River Project and the Apostacy are no more.

Black Fingers and Smoking Kills certainly stand out in this class. A promising young metal band is Slaine and they reached the regional finals of Surface Unsigned. Now they are well established and are being followed by Azidify.

In the hardcore area Arms of Atlas stand out as a particularly exicing band.

Pop Punk

Moving away from traditional hardcore punk, a number of bands have followed the popier route of Blink 182 such as Ictus and Skylight.

Jazz and Blues

Skating between rock and other genres, a number of bands offer musically excellent offers: The Jack of Hearts Band (now defunct) and Smokestacks fall into this category.

Well that's a load of bands - all worth seeing - but there are many more besides them and it's all a question of taste and what turns you on musically as to which bands you would be prepared to pay to see.

So, where do you go to see these bands when they play in Leicester?

Leicester's Live Music Venues

For addresses and telephone numbers of venues of all types, see our full venues listing

See our page on Leicester's music promoters

Two venues stand out as being the longest running permanent live music venues that are known nationally as destinations for bands from all over the country. The Shed and the Musician.

A visit to the Charlotte would have allowed you to read the posters from past gigs where every top band has played there at one time or another: Blur (1990), The Manic Street Preachers (1991), Suede (1992), Radiohead (1992), Supergrass (1995), Oasis (1995), Muse (1999), The Libertines (2002), Babyshambles (2004), Bloc Party (2004), The Arctic Monkeys (2005), The Enemy (2006) to name but a few. At 300 capacity at most, it was too small to interest the established middle range bands who want to play 400+ venues.

The Shed (cap 150) was the birthplace of Kasabian but now is largely confined to playing small, unsigned bands, particularly as an incubator for very young bands, many of whom played their first public gig at the Shed's 14+ matinees.

The Leicester O2 Academy is due to open in October 2010, offering a huge 1,200 cap arena and two small rooms.

The Musician (cap 220) established a reputation for Americana, Folk and blues/jazz type bands but also plays rock bands from time to time. It does however draw some very prestigious acts on its busy weekly programme.

Sumo (cap about 250) is the one out of centre venue that regularly plays rock bands and the Displacements played their home coming gig there. Ocean Colour Scene also played an acoustic set there. It can draw in some serious middle range bands from time to time.

The Firebug (cap 150) has an upstairs room with a stage and a reasonably good sound system. Gigs are often free entry and some respectable bands play there. The pub downstairs is a popular destination for band members and fans alike.

Bands do occasionally play at the Y Theatre in East Street, a 350 cap, proscenium arch theatre with a circle and an old-world feel to it. Nice place and a pleasent change from what we usually go to.

Walkabout on Granby Street is another addition to the live music scene playing host to a great line up of bands every tuesday with free entry.

Keep your eyes peeled for the emergence of Lock 42, a new live music venue announced to be opening on the new site of well known stayfree rehearsal rooms at Frog Island. This project certainly holds a lot of promise for the Leicester music scene!

Outside of Leicester, Loughborough University student's union has pulled in some seriously big bands. The Vic Bikers pub at Coalville regularly plays live bands, particularly metal and punk, but also other genres.

The Donkey on Welford Road offers a wide choice of live music each week but generally does not play rock bands as such. It goes in for the more acoustic end of the market but nevertheless attracts audiences and frequently offers acts with a solid reputation.

A variety of other pubs and small venues occasionally put on bands, live sets and acoustic nights, such as The Looking Glass in Braunstone Gate. Gigs are also played at the O Bar in Braunstone Gate and the Landsdowne on London Road from time to time.

Gigs for all these venues are included in our rock gigs daily diary.

Live Leicester - how good?

The bands are good, the venues ok but the audiences - they vary from terrible to superb and that usually depends on the lineup. The main permanent venues are struggling for audience figures at the moment. The squeeze on people's pockets has deterred fans from forking out the average £5 a night entry charge. With the price of a pint having gone up to £3 in most of these venues, it's little wonder that audiences have dwindled over the past two years. Some would say that the smoking ban hasn't helped but they nearly all have smoking areas.

Whether a band is excellent or just good, it's the audience that makes the gig into something special. Yes you can see really good bands playing in a nearly empty or half empty hall but that is far less fun than a packed house with a good mosh pit and some crowd surfers going over the heads. That does happen but, sadly, not that often these days. There have been some capacity gigs where the crowd has gone mad and its a joyful experience and it makes up for all the nights where the opposit has been the case.

Few venues around here have a 'walk in crowd' as far as gigs are concerned. Unlike other towns in the UK, there is not a community of rock fans who regularly turn up to see bands play. The few regular fans that do exist are spread thinly over a large number of venues. Many of these are members of other bands. So, audiences are brought in by bands.

Promoters can spend large amounts of money and time advertising shows, and still don't sell many tickets. Most don't bother to do this because they know there will be little pay-back. If bands want to play to an audience, they have to bring their own with them. Most lists of fans are held on Myspace or Facebook accounts - there is almost nothing in the way of a general Leicester mailing of fans that is open to all promoters.

The free entry gigs help people with their night-out budgets and The Pavilion and Walkabout offer pints at around £2.20 to £2.50 and can get in some good crowds on their nights. The permanent live music venues cannot afford to do free nights and for them there is always a door charge.

Not all rock music fans bother with the unknown/unsigned scene but will happily fork out between £15 to £20 to see big bands, whose music graces their CD racks and i-Pods. Leicester fans spend large sums to go to Download or Reading festivals and the local venues empty out when these events are on.

From where we sit, it's also possible that there are too many bands and too many gigs and this exacerbates the economic difficulties of pulling in good-sized crowds. Add to this the fact that the Shed and the Charlotte have lacked investment over the past few years and fall far short of the facilities offered by comparable venues in other towns, such as clean toilets and comfortable seating areas, and it begins to look less than good. Venues that struggle to make ends meet can't find the extra cash needed to improve their basic amenities but many fans just don't want to go to places where they feel unable to use the lavatories and have to stand up all night.

Some would retort: "hang on, this is rock and roll" - do you really expect spotless loos and comfy seating? Have you been to a festival recently? ok, fair point but if you're paying an average of £15 to £20 for a night out, fans can feel hard done by faced with dilapidated venues and pricey drinks. Gigs often finish after the last buses and that only adds more cost, given that taxis out to Oadby or Wigston can set you back £6 to £10 or more, depending on the night of the week or weekend.

And what about people's ears? Rock is by nature loud. It's part of the experience. But does loud mean distorted, rough or ear biting? Of all the venues, most people agree that the Musician offers the best quality sound in town. Sumo generally let's you hear a band sound as it should. The Shed is generally too loud for comfort (try walking through the entrance doors into a band playing) and not all fans like loud rather than good. As for the old Charlotte, it's was a topic of conversation amongst band members, some of whom would not play there simply because of the lack of sound quality. Some bands work really hard to get their sound right and are less than happy when they play at a venue that does them no justice.

I don't want to seem over pessimistic about live music in Leicester. I have had some of the best nights of my musical life in the Shed and the other venues and despite the fact that I don't see these venues as offering good value for money, I am a fanatical fan and can't stop going out to see bands I really want to see.

Leicester offers a very broad range of live music - a rich variety of music styles - huge variations in quality of musicianship and performance and bands are frequently arriving here from all over the UK, and indeed the rest of the world, drawn by the city's reputation.

In Leicester we are spoilt for choice but too few people choose live music in preference to that which is canned and played by DJs.

Other pages you might like

Our page discussing the issues facing live music in Leicester - an update covering a similar discussion to that on this page.

See our page promoting Leicester as a major destination for music and the arts