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wsmith
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06-Mar-2007 08:38:31
Posted:
68 posts
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It's incredible that, with the Leeds Music Scene as apparently rampant as it is, that the Duchess ever shut down, and that places such as the Vine which have attempted to elevate it also seems to have gone already.
Is the Vine shut down now, or just being refurbushed, does anyone know?
I would love to see some pics of gigs at the Duchess. Does anyone have any?
Call me cynical, but I am not sure if the city is better off with a Hugo Boss instead of the Duchess of York.
Thank God for the Brudenell Social Club!
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LeeRatbag
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16-Apr-2007 23:11:41
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93 posts
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As far as I can tell the Vine has reverted to brewery ownership. They seem to be doing it up, but I doubt that when it reopens live music will be on the agenda.
I went to a gig there a few weeks before it shut down and I was appalled by the state of the place. There were no pumps left on the bars, no optics, there were just cans being sold out of the firdge behind the bar. Plaster was falling off the walls, the doors were hanging off the hinges...terrible to see. I can only conclude that live music wasn't bringing in the punters.
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Ian R P
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Location:
Beeston, Leeds
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19-May-2007 23:02:51
Posted:
57 posts
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Hi,
Ok, so it was a bit tatty, but it was an iconic venue. Who needs a bloody Hugo Boss, you can buy there stuff in House of Fraser.
In the 90's The Dutchess was legendary.
I saw The Charlatans there in 1990, Ride (one of whom is now in Oasis), The Mock Turtles (Steve Coogans brothers band), The Bridewell Taxis (Leeds Band) and loads i've forgot about, oh yeah The wedding present.
The only thing I regret is turning down going to see The Pixies, and on another occasion Nirvana.
Another Iconic Venue is The Warehouse, I saw Blur there in 1991 and Missed Oasis in 1994 as I was going to be on holiday in Crete on the day of the gig.
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LeeRatbag
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16-Apr-2007 23:11:41
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The Duchess Of York was, and remains, my favourite music venue anywhere, and I spent a sizeable chunk of the 90s gigging up and down the country. I saw dozens, hundreds even, of great bands there and played some of the best gigs of my career. I was f*cking furious when the place got shut down to make way for a shop that sells overpriced suits. A pox on Hugo Boss.
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Scandy Bramley
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Location:
Denmark
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20-May-2007 16:44:42
Posted:
267 posts
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| LeeRatbag wrote: |
| The Duchess Of York was, and remains, my favourite music venue anywhere, and I spent a sizeable chunk of the 90s gigging up and down the country. I saw dozens, hundreds even, of great bands there and played some of the best gigs of my career. I was f*cking furious when the place got shut down to make way for a shop that sells overpriced suits. A pox on Hugo Boss. |
What band(s) were you in, Lee?
The Duchess was after my time as I left Leeds for London in 1976, and then to mainland Europe. I was DJ at the Marquee Club in London 1976 - 79. Did you ever play there?
I've gigged a helluvalot, playing guitar and singing in various bands all over Europe and even in the USA. Mostly rock, tho my last tour was in Germany with a Dutch punk outfit, at the age of 48!
I'm now married and have now retired from the "scene" and hardly even pick up my guitars anymore. I miss the gigging a lot, tho 
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Reginal Perrin
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23-Feb-2007 15:22:12
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580 posts
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Fantastic venue. Hugo Boss can go insert things into himself. Saw loads of bands there in late 80's early 90s.. Some stand out...Weddoes, Bad Manners, Inspirals, St Etienne.
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LeeRatbag
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16-Apr-2007 23:11:41
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93 posts
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| Scandy Bramley wrote: |
What band(s) were you in, Lee?
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I was in Sticky Fingers in '91-93 and Assassination Bureau '93-98. Never made much of a career of it, but we got about a bit and had a bloody good laugh with it.
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sulkycat
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Location:
leeds
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01-Sep-2007 17:10:31
Posted:
80 posts
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lee, i might have to take zebs home in a suitcase with me ;-)
and a most excellent list of music influences
i quite like what used to be the mixing tin (cant remember what its called now), reminds me a little of the old days coming through to leeds to go to adam and eves, & being chased to the train station by irate skinheads!
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wiggy
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essex
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26-Jun-2007 14:09:49
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1068 posts
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| Ian R P wrote: |
Hi,
Ok, so it was a bit tatty, but it was an iconic venue. Who needs a bloody Hugo Boss, you can buy there stuff in House of Fraser.
In the 90's The Dutchess was legendary.
I saw The Charlatans there in 1990, Ride (one of whom is now in Oasis), The Mock Turtles (Steve Coogans brothers band), The Bridewell Taxis (Leeds Band) and loads i've forgot about, oh yeah The wedding present.
The only thing I regret is turning down going to see The Pixies, and on another occasion Nirvana.
Another Iconic Venue is The Warehouse, I saw Blur there in 1991 and Missed Oasis in 1994 as I was going to be on holiday in Crete on the day of the gig.
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nirvana,as in kurt cobain....you sure??
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drapesy
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Location:
Burley, Leeds
Joined on:
24-Feb-2007 21:20:32
Posted:
2108 posts
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| wiggy wrote: |
| Ian R P wrote: |
Hi,
Ok, so it was a bit tatty, but it was an iconic venue. Who needs a bloody Hugo Boss, you can buy there stuff in House of Fraser.
In the 90's The Dutchess was legendary.
I saw The Charlatans there in 1990, Ride (one of whom is now in Oasis), The Mock Turtles (Steve Coogans brothers band), The Bridewell Taxis (Leeds Band) and loads i've forgot about, oh yeah The wedding present.
The only thing I regret is turning down going to see The Pixies, and on another occasion Nirvana.
Another Iconic Venue is The Warehouse, I saw Blur there in 1991 and Missed Oasis in 1994 as I was going to be on holiday in Crete on the day of the gig.
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nirvana,as in kurt cobain....you sure?? |
Yes - incredible as it may seem Nirvana, with Kurt Cobain played
at the Duchess - wish I'd been there.
A bit of Google trawling reveals that it was on 27/10/1989 - and videos of it exist on youtube.
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jf
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Location:
Armley Free State
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17-Mar-2007 20:26:14
Posted:
199 posts
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It died off in the late 90's when a lot of younger people got into dance music, and also younger bands coming through got jumped up ideas of their own importance and wouldn't be prepared to spend formative years cramped into transit vans travelling around the country for months on ends.
Promoters also changed the way they did things, I remember John Keenan once saying that they used to give him bands as they started out and once more before they became more famous, so often on the second pass through they would pack the place out and help subsidise the quieter nights. Instead these bands went to the cockpit or Poly once they could fetch in a few hundred.
There were some good bands there, but it wasn't the best in terms of layout, on a crowded night you could be stuck around the corner. As a player I'd also prefer somewhere like the Packhorse or Royal Park, because you'd only have to charge people a quid to get in to cover costs, so more would come down than would to a £3/£4 at the Duchess.
It was 'dead' some time before it left the building, the last few years the roster was packed with tribute bands and crap battle of the bands type events, nothing really to see.
I have a couple of the old calendar style flyers still somewhere, if I ever get my scanner going again I'll have to upload them.
I still remember the sign attached after it had closed 'Oakgate Developments - Breathing Life into the City'. Bit of a lie that, wasn't it?
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Clankylad
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Location:
Guiseley
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12-Jun-2007 08:34:13
Posted:
44 posts
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I agree that by the time it shut it was past its sell-by date. For me, its 'golden years' were around 88-92 (or were they just MY golden years  ). And it wasn't a great venue acoustically - the sound tended to die once it got back to the lower ceiling-ed bit by the bar.
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LeeRatbag
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16-Apr-2007 23:11:41
Posted:
93 posts
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| sulkycat wrote: |
| lee, i might have to take zebs home in a suitcase with me ;-) |
He'd probably fit in one too, bless him. Y'know, it's really strange being in a band with a guitarist half my age...still, I'm sure the laydeez in the audience prefer watching him to gnarled old buggers like me!
| Quote: |
| and a most excellent list of music influences |
Why, thank you kindly! If you're not doing anything on Sunday 21st October, we're playing an afternoon gig at the Duck & Drake supporting an American guitarist called Adam Bomb. It's free in and we're on at about 4pm...
| Quote: |
| i quite like what used to be the mixing tin (cant remember what its called now), reminds me a little of the old days coming through to leeds to go to adam and eves, & being chased to the train station by irate skinheads! |
The Mixing Tin is called Trash now. It's a nice little place, but doesn't quite have the authentically fetid ambience and wonderfully scuzzy clientele that Adam & Eves/Scrumpies had... 
Aye, I remember dodging the roving skinhead gangs, luckily I didn't have to go as far as the train station, just over the road to the Vicar Lane/Markets bus stops.
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sulkycat
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leeds
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01-Sep-2007 17:10:31
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80 posts
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thanks for that mr rattybag, am on half term then so no aching head to take into work on the monday! will most likely be the aging saddo on my ownio!
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Geordi
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Queensbury
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29-Jun-2007 12:57:27
Posted:
31 posts
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Yeah, I have seen some bands in my time at the Duchess. Some good, some crap and some where even the offer of free could not get me to stay.
I was one of the lucky sods who saw Nirvana there.
I don't know about videos of it, but I have an audio recording of the gig, or most of it anyway.
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LeeRatbag
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16-Apr-2007 23:11:41
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| jf wrote: |
As a player I'd also prefer somewhere like the Packhorse or Royal Park, because you'd only have to charge people a quid to get in to cover costs, so more would come down than would to a £3/£4 at the Duchess.
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I disagree totally with that; the advantage the Duchess had was its location. It was much easier to get people to come to the City Centre than trek all the way up to the Packhorse or the Royal Park. Not to say they're not good places to play, but it's more of an expedition to get to them.
I played my first gig at the Royal Park, when the gig room was upstairs rather than in the cellar. Ah, good days.
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nesbit
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super leeds
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14-Oct-2007 04:04:34
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1 posts
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It’s good to know the Duchess lives on here at least, Hugo what have you done. Reading these posts don’t half bring back memories of many gigs, bottles of brown followed by a day or so of tinnitus. Was one of the sweatiest places to see gigs and when full was a struggle to get past the bottle neck and into the main stage area..
Just seen videos of Nirvana in Leeds on you tube, must be the DOY as the stage divers were just walking onto the stage right, no bouncers, joy.
The Nirvana gig was the stuff of legend by the time they let me in to the place. I remember Radiohead were always supporting people for about two years such as The Frank and Walters and if memory serves Sultans of Ping FC, where’s me jumper? They finally headlined and Creep really took off soon after.
I’m sure that when DOY shut the gigs were meant to move to Scrumpies? I thought that the same people owned Scrumpies and were meant to put on bigger and better gigs at the new venue. That reminds me of the broken toilet in Scrumpies, what a place.
I’m sure that someone at Leeds City Council hates the live music scene as places like DOY and the T&C really should still exist in centre of Leeds, am I wrong??
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cnosni
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Leeds
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28-Mar-2007 21:17:06
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2625 posts
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Yeah some guy on Skyscraper reckons that Leeds has the best music scene not only in Yorkshire but the whole country!!!!.
Sorry but even though i am a biased Loiner i can definiteley state that the music scene in Leeds is pants,and before we go to a national comparison we only have to look at Sheffield to see what a good music scene is.
Chuff me they are now getting a Carling academy along with the Leadmill etc and what have we have got? the Roscoe and the Cockpit.
Not good enough.
Live music is real music,not some tosser with headphones in a trendy bar playing a song on vinyl ,that they have not even written or played on, to an audience of easliy pleased vaccuous morons drinking Vodka and Red Bulls.
Thank chuff for the Kaisers,a real live band that are refreshingly new in their old fashioned approach to music. Not only are they excellent musicians but they are also top show men.
By the way Scrumpies was pants for gigs,i should know as i spent most of my teenage years there in the 80s.
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Priestly House
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03-Oct-2007 01:15:52
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8 posts
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Duchess couldn't hold a candle to the Fforde Grene on Roundhay Road - That was the launching pad for SO many bands.
If you were a success with that HEAVY crowd there, you'd be all over the New Musical Express, in the 70's. 5 mins of fame guaranteed!
If you couldn't please the crowd, you'd be bottled offstage and your transit would have its tyres slashed in the carpark!
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Ro-Man
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Location:
Leeds
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27-Feb-2007 16:23:16
Posted:
67 posts
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Ro-Man
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Leeds
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27-Feb-2007 16:23:16
Posted:
67 posts
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munki
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Leeds
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25-Jan-2007 09:46:31
Posted:
866 posts
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Wow, JJ72, Chumbawumba, HMHB, The Fall, all in one month. Oh, & Corinne Bailey Rae hidden in there under the guise of 'Helen' (her band, before she went solo), as well. What a venue!
Where any of our readers out there at the Nirvana gig?
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LeeRatbag
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16-Apr-2007 23:11:41
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93 posts
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| Ro-Man wrote: |
| This one's the flyer for the last month The Duchess was open. A bit of history, plus a coffeee stain for good measure. |
Now there's a bit of history.
The question mark on the 23rd turned out to be Terrorvision, that was the last gig I ever saw at the Duchess. Amazing show, that was - hell, I remember seeing them at the Duchess a few years earlier when they were still called Spoilt Bratz. I was at the Gallon Drunk/Beachbuggy gig too.
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Geordi
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Queensbury
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29-Jun-2007 12:57:27
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Was about to say -Terrorvision was on. They were late comming on as LUFC was playing an away european game, so they were watching that before playing the gig.
Damm good show it was as well!!
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drapesy
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Burley, Leeds
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24-Feb-2007 21:20:32
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| munki wrote: |
Wow, JJ72, Chumbawumba, HMHB, The Fall, all in one month. Oh, & Corinne Bailey Rae hidden in there under the guise of 'Helen' (her band, before she went solo), as well. What a venue!
Where any of our readers out there at the Nirvana gig? |
Not only that .Munki - but half Man half biscuit as well!!! remember 'All I want for christmas is a Dukla prague away shirt'????
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