Last updated on 19/12/2024
The Shed: A Brief History.
The History of The Shed. Part 2.
By Trevor Locke.
18th December 2024
In Part 1 of this article, I set out the background to the creation of Leicester’s longest-running live music venue and explained why it was and still is important. In this part, I want to share some recollections of the venue and of the wide variety of bands and music artists who played there. First, here are some recent comments from the punters.
What the Fans Said
This December, I announced on Facebook, that I would be writing these articles and invited people to share their thoughts. Matt Borland commented: “Some great nights in there.” Matt often did the lighting for a band called Skam which often played at the venue. More about that band later. Carlos Stein wanted to know if a poster for his show was still on the wall. I did not know the answer to this but I do recall that some of the walls were plastered with gig posters going back years. Edd Saffell said, “Eddie & The Wolves first gig was at the shed, a solo acoustic set by Eddie with some guests [in] April 2017. Since gone on to tour the UK and play large UK festivals and featured on planet rock and in classic rock mag, and been added to Spotify playlists curated by Joe Bonamassa & slash!” Rob Davies commented, “I had a couple of great gigs at the shed, solo and with my band. I always liked the management team and audiences.” Ricky C said, “Ricky C. Rap promoter and best rapper to touch that stage.” I remembered him and other hip-hop artists who once performed there on a regular basis. Les Estham told me, “I’ve played there a few times, most memorably on 19th October 2018 when award-winning blues artist Elles Bailey and band played the Shed with Dust & Debris as the opening act.” Such comments are typical of the feedback I have had from members of audiences over several years.
Many Gigs
During the time when I was a regular visitor to gigs at The Shed, I kept notes about the bands I saw. The local bands that stand out the most for me include (not in any order of importance), The Heroes, Midnight Wire, The Utopians, Weekend Schemers, The Screening, Casino Empire, Earles, The World Can Wait, 8 Miles High, Scribble Victory, We The Brave, Smokin’ The Profit, Tribal Riot, Traps, Flight 15, Smokestacks, The Brandy Thieves, FourPointOh, Great Imitation, The Furies, Formal Warning, Scribble Victory, Not My Good Arm, Aztec Temples, Autohype, By The Rivers, Roxum, The Authentics, The Jack of Hearts Band, Deep Red Thread, Linear, and many, many more. Not forgetting the touring bands that played there, such as Sonic Boom Six, Cabin Boy Jumps Ship, and others which even I cannot find. Metal bands from the Midlands. Punk bands from all over. Ska. Reggae. I will need to do a lot of digging for the next part of this series to bring together some memorable shows I attended at the venue. There were also a great many local solo acts including the hip-hop artist Jonezy, singer Siobhan Mazzie, Nile McGreggor, Sophie Percival and an array of acts that stopped off at the venue as part of their UK tours. Some of the bands were signed to record labels. The Shed once held matinees especially for young bands; it was from these shows that the careers of many bands took off. Those gigs for young bands were very important to the development of Leicester’s music scene. In their day, these gigs fostered a thriving local music scene.
So Many Bands
So many bands have played at The Shed over the years, it is difficult to know where to start. A great many of our local bands played their first show there. But, not just local groups. Some groups had travelled around the world and included the Shed on their itineraries. Take for example the band called Boy Hits Car. I will describe, in Part 3, the time that this Los Angeles band visited The Shed as part of its UK tour. I said, in the previous article to this series, that it was claimed that Kasabian once played at The Shed. Strictly speaking, this is not true but it did become a legendary belief about the place. In fact, two members of Kasabian (vocalist Tom Meighan and guitarist Sergio Pizzorno) did play at The Shed when they were in a band called Saracuse. Kasabian was formed in 1997 and Saracuse was its forerunner. It was a legend that inspired a great many people. There were rumours that Arctic Monkeys once played there.
The Birthplace of Bands
Leicester’s live music scene was all about bands and the dominant genre was rock – in a variety of flavours including indie, punk, metal of all kinds, poprock and a cocktail of combinations of these. I said earlier that the young band’s matinees were important to the development of our local music scene. Young bands also played in the evenings and proved very popular with the fans. Mostly such groups were aged sixteen to nineteen but some were even younger. Certain local schools had thriving music departments and gave birth to several new bands, including Countesthorpe College, Lancaster Boys and Queen Elizabeth College.
Degrees of Success
There were local rock bands that were very successful; equally, there were many more that were not. What stood for success varied greatly; to some, it was about where they played and how many gigs they clocked up, but to others, it was about the music they composed and the songs that they sang that so delighted their fans. Over the time since it opened, back in 1994, tens of hundreds, if not thousands, of bands have played at The Shed. Not just those from Leicester but from all over the world, some from as far away as Japan.
What Makes a Good Band?
I wrote an article, in 2009, to voice my thoughts about what, in my view, characterised a good band. Having seen so many, I wanted to crystallise my ideas about how good ones could be distinguished from those that were not so good. That article – What Makes a Good Band? – is still available on my website.
Next: The Gigs
In the next part of this series, I will talk about the many gigs, shows and concerts that have taken place at The Shed, over many years. All I can do here is to share a few recollections of the bands I associate with The Shed and the memorable gigs they played there. So, not in any order of importance, some mentions that for me are necessary: The Heroes. When they started out, this group of teenagers had a massive following and came up with some of the most unforgettable songs I have ever heard. I was there when the band played its farewell gig in 2015. That was a night to remember. My review is listed below. The Heroes was a band that impressed me so much I even wrote a book about them (The Heroes … in golden times, the story of a band. By Trevor Locke, 2015, Artsin Publications.)
The Utopians was a Leicester band that rose to fame during the great golden age of indie. Most of the band members were students at Leicester University and when they completed their degrees, the band split up and was no more (like many, many others who followed the same journey.) During the height of their time, they were one of the most popular bands in the city and penned some extremely good songs.
Formal Warning was a local band that also enjoyed very well-attended gigs. Local musicians, they had one formidable asset, their lead singer Ash Ingram, whose vocals were of an extraordinarily high standard. The group changed it name several times but comprised mainly the same set of artists with a few alterations.
Skam. I was in Hinckley one night attending a gig with one band I was very fond of (Ictus) when a group came to the stage and blew me away. Now known as Skam, they went through a variety of different names in their time and are now one of the most celebrated bands of the local scene, being one of the longest-surviving groups still to be playing.
The Jack of Hearts Band. Nights at The Shed were hardly complete without an appearance of Boppa and the Jack of Hearts Band. Many well-known musicians have been included in its line-up of artists, including one who went on to have a considerable career as a solo artist – Chris Armson. Curtis Billingham might also have played with them, perhaps also Mike Sole (am trying to remember back a long way.)
Ictus. The band to which I owe my entire career in rock music originated in Anstey. Ictus was one of the bands I went to see play at The Shed back in 2003. That was, perhaps, why I started to go to the venue in the first place. Ictus not only had some very agreeable songs, they also had the stage presence to make them memorable.
Subdude. I suspect not many people will remember this band but I loved them. They had a pleasurable set list and a good lead singer. The one thing I recall about this band was it was always entertaining.
The Screening. Some of our local bands enjoyed considerable success, not least The Screening. A group of well-connected musicians, they were able to do gigs other bands would die for and audiences people could only dream of.
The World Can Wait. Young bands came and went but one has always stood out in my memory simply because of their abundance of talent and the fine music they gave us. They had one very strong asset – Sully Archer – a singer who had a presence. In the related article links below you can read what I said about them in 2014 together with other young bands of the time.
Weekend Schemers. A young band that punched well above its weight, this band made the kids go crazy (and not just the kids) with a stagecraft and songs that caught the moment.
Midnight Wire. When The Heroes split up, their guitarist and vocalist Alex Van Roose formed Midnight Wire, which went on to enjoy considerable success and gave us an album of very good songs.
The Steptoos. Another of my favourite acts, this Hinckley band had some very enjoyable songs, voiced by its lead singer Ollie Charles. They had one song I really liked, about lads going out on a Saturday night.
By The Rivers/M48. M48 went on to become By The Rivers, a phenomenally popular band. Many people will remember these two bands because of their seriously good musicians and vocalists, including Nile Barrow and musician Jordan Birtles. I once said, of this band, “It matters not how many times you see this band, By The Rivers is one act you never tire of and no matter how many times you hear their songs, you are always up for hearing them again – the mark of a great band.”
I could go on … for a very long time. There were just so many bands that I liked, not to mention those who stopped at the venue while they were on a UK tour. Apologies to many bands I loved and wrote about whose names do not appear in the above list; they may be gone but they are not forgotten.
Soloists
And not just the bands – many solo artists performed memorable gigs at the venue, over the years. Both singers, rappers and even a barbershop quartet. Some of the solo artists who launched their careers at the venue went on to achieve considerable acclaim on wider music scenes. Singers like Harri Georgio, Jersey Budd, Calder McLaughlin, Steven Faulkner, Siobhan Mazzie, Grace Petrie, and Charlie Drew … are a few of the names that spring to mind from the many I once saw at the venue and some of them are still around today. I still remember the night that Charlie Drew launched his solo career at The Shed; it was musically a tour-de-force. Not just singers. Rappers and other hip-hop artists stand out for me in my recollections. The rapper Ricky C used to delight audiences with his numbers and also his amazing ability to make up words on the spot. The hip-hop artist Jonezy appeared many times at The Shed with his infectious songs before going on to performances in front of crowds of many thousands and alongside national and international celebrity bands. And then there was music comedian Dan White and a very good young magician called Martin. Some of those who graced the stage at The Shed gave spell-binding performances. One of those was the young local singer Jack Kenworthy whose musical talent was simply incredible. Whether playing with his own bands or performing as a solo artist, Jack was sensational and completely captivated his audiences with his impressive musical abilities and fine voice. Incidentally, I recall, in 2011, I did actually publish a list of all known bands from Leicester. It appeared in Arts in Leicester magazine. In those days, I kept a list of every band from Leicester and Leicestershire and some of those lists might actually still be up there in the attic.
In Part 3 of this series, I will recall some of the most memorable shows that took place at The Shed during the time when I was a regular attendee.
Acknowledgements: thanks to Kevin Holyland, Elisabeth Carley- Leonard (nee Barker-Carley), Tom Carnell, Kevin Gaughan, Ian Bedder and many others.
Other related articles by Trevor Locke include:
The Shed reborn, 2017, (the refurbishment of the venue)
Photos from The Shed, 2015, (Good for nostalgic views.
History of Leicester Music, 2018, (The broader perspective)
Farewell, The Heroes, 2015, (the band’s last-ever gig)
The World Can Wait, 2014, (a young band from Leicester)
The Golden Age of Indie, 2017, (when indie music was at the top)
Photos. I will put in some photos later on when I have collected together the ones I will need. TL.
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