Planning a trip away around a concert of your favourite artist? Well it seems there's only one place for it.
With the iconic Taylor Swift Era's tour finally coming to an end and the highly anticipated Oasis reunion tour of 2025 on the horizon, it's fair to say that live music is very much having its moment.
The current trend of 'gig-tripping', planning a short holiday around a concert, has become the ultimate way to experience live performances.
But often your favourite artist is performing all over the country, so how do you decide where to go?
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Well luckily for us, TransPennine Express has done the research for us by finding out which city in the UK is the best gig destination.
The train operator has created an index using fifty of the UK’s biggest towns and cities and scoring them out of 100 on their accessibility, enjoyability, popularity and affordability to help you determine the very best spot for your next gig.
And even luckier for us, taking first place is our very own city of Leeds.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Leeds comes up trumps as the best gig-tripping city, scoring 74.94 out of 100 thanks to its whopping 53 music venues - equating to over one venue for every square mile of the city.
With a whopping 508 events scheduled over the next year, Leeds is really delivering for the music fans and for that, we are very grateful.
Not only that, the three venues with the most events scheduled are highly reviewed by their patrons, with an average Google review score of 4.50.
The 10 best gig-tripping destinations in the UK are:
Leeds – 74.94
Manchester – 74.19
Glasgow – 73.45
Cardiff – 73.20
Liverpool – 71.22
Birmingham – 70.47
Nottingham – 69.48
Bristol – 67.00
Sheffield – 65.76
Newcastle – 65.01
Well, that's a bit of a win isn't it? Time to start grabbing your tickets as once this news gets out Leeds will be flooded with music fans flocking to our brilliant venues. And we absolutely don't blame them.
Veteran Manchester rock and blues band Proud Mary recently announced a limited run of UK reunion shows, including one right here in Leeds.
The seasoned Northern outfit may have seen plenty of lineup changes and a long hiatus of sorts, but now they’re returning for just a small handful of comeback gigs across the country.
Ahead of their seminal debut album turning 25 years old this year, 2026 also seems them steadily creeping up on the best part of three decades as a group in some form or another.
For anyone uninitiated, the native 90s and early noughties name was the first band signed to Noel Gallagher’s Sour Mash Records in 2001.
Their first-ever LP, The Same Old Blues, still remains their most revered work to this day.
Dubbed by the older Burnage brother and legendary Manc musician as “a lesson in songwriting” in an interview with the NME way back when, they started out as long-time friends and turned into fellow studio peers.
As well as supporting the likes of Oasis, Neil Young, The Stereophonics, Paul Weller, Ocean Colour Scene, Ryan Adams, Noel’s High Flying Birds and more on various tours over the years, they also famously headlined Isle of Wight Festival in 2004.
Having collaborated with the likes of another Britpop legend, Gem Archer, as well as The Smiths’ Andy Rourke, not to mention gaining plaudits from so many other contemporaries, they’re likely one of your favourite bands’ old faithful bands.
Moreover, in regional terms, rising local indie rock quintet Rosellas are also joining them on the road for their shows.
Proud Mary will be playing at The Warehouse in Leeds on Friday 8 May and you can grab your tickets HERE.
Featured Images — Proud Mary (press shots supplied via Sonic PR)
Audio
New grassroots music space aiming to make DJing and music more accessible opening in Headingley this month
Clementine Hall
A new grassroots music space is opening in Headingley with a mission to make DJing, vinyl and music culture more accessible.
Meanhood Studios, founded by long-time LS6 residents Jim and Katie Young, will combine a professional DJ rehearsal studio, record shop, performance space and tuition hub all under one roof.
Their aim is simple, "to level the playing field in a scene that has often felt exclusive and gatekept.”
Meanhood started as a guerrilla pop-up record shop in lockdown when Jim started selling records from his personal collection.
Built solely on quality and word-of-mouth reputation, the venture quickly grew into a respected local record spot known for its carefully curated vinyl selection.
Images: Supplied
Jim’s roots trace back to Manchester’s late-90s free party scene, he began DJing at 17 and from Hyde Park house parties to residencies at legendary clubs, he went on to host nights featuring artists who would later become major names in UK dance music.
Katie grew up in rural Cumbria, discovering music through pirate radio, library tapes and out-of-town raves. After moving to Leeds for university, she built a 20-year corporate career while supporting events, fly-posting for club nights and working behind the scenes.
“DJing is so much more than pushing buttons,” says Jim. “You’ve got to love it when no one’s watching. We want to share that knowledge and remove some of the barriers we experienced.”
Meanhood Studios will open on Friday 13 March and will offer access to equipment, rehearsal space, vinyl records and tuition for aspiring DJs and music lovers.
It's more important now than ever to support grassroots music venues, and we can't wait to check out this new space.
Clementine Hall -
4th September 2024 
