Incredible Leeds city centre music and entertainment venue, First Direct Arena, celebrated its 1000th show last Sunday.
First Direct Arena first opened in 2013 and is known for bringing in huge stars of live entertainment from across the globe.
This West Yorkshire venue holds up to 12,000 concertgoers and kicked things off eight years ago with a groundbreaking performance from none other than Elton John.
This arena has seen some A-Listers in its time and this remarkable occasion called for two huge stars as Craig David and Lemar shared the incredible honour of hosting the venue’s 1000th gig.
Leeds’ are true music lovers and this achievement highlights that with names like Kylie, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen and more playing to our wonderful Yorkshire crowds.
Image: Supplied
In 2025, these leading live music greats show no signs of slowing down either as Tom Grennan announced his biggest tour ever which also stops off at this impressive gig hot spot this year.
There’s loads to expect on the concert calendar with the likes of Sugababes, Olly Murs, Simply Red and more set to take to the stage throughout the next 12 months.
Rock and roll royalty have known to grace these four walls too as back in 2014, legendary recording artist Prince made his Leeds debut here.
The venue is a reflection of Leeds’ vibrant culture hosting everything from Slipknot to the Sports Personality of the Year, is there anything this arena can’t do?
First Direct Arena is fit for any occasion and their March line up is no different, because where else can you cry to ‘That’s So True’ with Gracie Abrams and then laugh til you can’t breathe with Bolton’s finest Peter Kay just three days later.
The same can be said for April as Sugababes will be pushing all the right buttons before Michael Ball and Alfie Boe will bring us to our knees with their grand vocals, just two days apart.
Leeds’ leading live music venue, First Direct Arena, has a range of shows available with tickets and a full 2025 line up so far all available HERE.
After closing for the entire second day, The Warehouse stage at Leeds Festival has once again been forced to evacuate.
One of the most anticipated dance acts of the day has been cancelled due to health and safety concerns just moments before the set.
Sheffield DJ Silva Bumpa was due to take to The Warehouse stage today at 1:30pm, but the set was cancelled due to overcrowding.
It's not the first time this has happened at Leeds Festival 2026, as yesterday Omar+'s set was cancelled due to the same issue and the stage was subsequently closed for the rest of the day.
The Warehouse stage is completely new for this year, and supposedly is designed specifically for dance music...which is quite ironic.
Announcing the news to Instagram, Silva Bumpa said: "So so sorry Leeds Fest but due to over crowding my set was cancelled last min I was just behind the stage and got told right before such a massive shame."
Prospa, another prominent DJ who's set was cancelled at Reading on Friday afternoon, spoke up on the situation: "We are disappointed in The Warehouse stage closure at Reading Festival. We were told it wasn't possible to play whilst on the way. This was due to too many people outside the stage.
"We have seen this happen before at larger festivals in the UK. It's time to double the capacity of tents or put dance music on the main stage."
It comes after another dance stage, LS23, was closed mid-set last night due to a health and safety hazard when all the lights suddenly switched off and ravers were forced to evacuate.
If yesterday is anything to go by, we wouldn't be surprised if The Warehouse was closed for the rest of the day which means anticipated sets from Rossi and Mall Grab will also be cancelled.
‘Actually lost for words’ – huge artist speaks out as Leeds Festival set is cancelled due to overcrowding
Clementine Hall
For the second day in a row, a huge set has been cancelled due to overcrowding at Reading and Leeds Festival.
Day two of the festival and there's some pretty disappointed ravers hanging their head as one of the biggest dance music sets of the day is cancelled.
Omar+, a rising British electronic DJ and producer, was due to play on the brand-new Warehouse stage at Reading yesterday and Leeds today.
Yesterday's set was cancelled last minute due to overcrowding, and low and behold the same has happened here in Leeds.
Announcing the sad news to his story, Omar+ said "Actually lost for words. My Leeds set has been cancelled due to overcrowding."
He then went on to show a screenshot of a text message, reading: "I've never seen something like this in my entire life where two shows back to back are cancelled due to overcrowding."
The Warehouse stage is completely new for this year, and supposedly is designed specifically for dance music...which is quite ironic.
Prospa, another prominent DJ who's set was cancelled at Reading yesterday, spoke up on the situation: "We are disappointed in The Warehouse stage closure at Reading Festival. We were told it wasn't possible to play whilst on the way. This was due to too many people outside the stage.
"We have seen this happen before at larger festivals in the UK. It's time to double the capacity of tents or put dance music on the main stage."
It comes after another dance stage, LS23, was closed mid-set last night due to a health and safety hazard when all the lights suddenly switched off and ravers were forced to evacuate.
Thomas Melia -
4th February 2025 
