For three evenings next month the usually serene and restrained interior of the Leeds Town Hall will be reverberating to the sound of the Kaiser Chiefs.
But what has been exercising the minds of many in the city in the past few months is how few other bands make the same pilgrimage, not only to the Town Hall, but to the city itself.
It's true: just take a look at the tour itinerary of any even moderately successful band, and you will find that they do go to Manchester, they do go to Sheffield, they even go to Bridlington, but they do not come to Leeds. And why not? Because there simply isn't a venue big enough to take them. It is incredible that a city that claims to be such a happening place does not have a venue that can hold more than 1,800 people.
You might not think this is important. After all, we are only talking about pop music, and people who want to see the big bands can always go to Sheffield.
Well, I think it's important for the image of the city that we have a venue like that. It's important for the young people we should be hoping to encourage to either come to or stay in the city to keep it dynamic. If every one of their pop heroes passes the city by, they might reasonably conclude that life is elsewhere. Saying they can always go to Sheffield is a bit like expecting the young people of London to find all their entertainment in Brighton.
So I am glad to see that the Cultural Facilities Task Group set up by the Leeds Initiative has now reached an initial conclusion and has published a consultation paper to get people's views. I am glad to see that, having considered all types of venue, they have concluded that a large arena for pop concerts together with an upgrading of Leeds Town Hall for classical music performances would be the most cost-effective option.
But this hardly takes the matter forward. Most right-thinking people would probably have reached a similar conclusion. There is still nothing explicit about where such a venue would be, and what little there is about how it should be paid for does not give me hope. A cultural fund was proposed, with contributions from residents, local businesses and landowners, but this idea was rapidly dismissed because the partnership "did not discover any widespread support for the idea". What, even though the idea itself was highly popular? Well, folks, it has to be paid for somehow.
What the project lacks at the moment is a true champion. Almost every other similarly-sized public/private project in recent years has had one - someone who knows exactly what is needed, has positive ideas for how to achieve it, and, most importantly, is still out there fighting for the project when the setbacks come. Because they will come. I can only hope that someone will emerge in the next three months while consultations are taking place.
The partnership has also been looking at whether or not conference and exhibition facilities should be included in the project. I can see the attractions of this, but I think any such facilities in Leeds would only end up competing with what we already have in Harrogate, to the detriment of both.
What we need instead perhaps is improved railway connections between Harrogate and Leeds, so that Harrogate is actually on a main line. Sadly, given the corporate ninnies we have running our railway service at the moment, that seems even less likely to happen than a significant venue being built in Leeds.
Peter Baber
Editor
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