Sheffield! Notorious for its iconic music scene. Many bands started their early days playing venues throughout the city. Many revisit once they’ve ‘made it’!
We’ve travelled all over the UK (and Europe) on our sleeper buses, touring bands. We’ve a passion for music and a great knowledge of venues. Sheffield has some great locations for bands on tour, and some one-of-a-kind experiences! Here’s 5 of our favourite venues we’ve visited in Sheffield whilst travelling on our band tour buses…
No, this isn’t straight out of a fairy-tale, but it is a truly unique experience that Sheffield offers. On the Manchester Piccadilly 7:14pm trans-Pennine on every fourth Tuesday of the month you’ll find tons of people crammed into a train carriage listening to a live musician. The atmosphere is magical because everyone are avid music lovers, plus a lot of people ‘get happy’ pre-train at the Sheffield Tap on platform B. A one-of-a-kind experience only offered in Sheffield. Everyone gets off the train at the village of Edale and heads to Rambler Inn to continue the night. Once seated and served the band continues until the departing train at 9:28pm, when everyone heads back to Sheffield. You’ll pull back into Sheffield train station at 10:03pm, but don’t worry. There’s plenty of other venues to explore to continue the night!
2. Leadmill
Another live music venue you might value is Leadmill. This is probably the most well-known, it’s certainly the longest running, club in Sheffield. Originally the building was used as a flour mill in Sheffield City Centre, but then in 1980 reopened as a community arts space. Wholesomely, the renovation was completed by a group of volunteers in the hopes of creating a space that was accessible to everybody as a response to the lack of cultural facilities in the city. Leadmill actually hosted Pulps first EVER gig! Since then bands such as Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys, Kings of Leon and Courteeners have graced the stage. The venue consists of 3 rooms, with main room hosting up to 900 people. A Sheffield must-see for music lovers!
Third up is the Washington, a well-established Sheffield venue. This is a pub based just out of the city centre, with a capacity of 150 people. It’s iconic because Nick Banks actually part owned it for a little while – the drummer of Pulp – who were one of the UK’s biggest bands at the time. Each week they host cutting edge bands, as well as DJs. It’s the only pub in Sheffield City Centre with a garden big enough to host live music. Go give it a try.
Where else have we seen on our legendary sleeper bus travels?…
4. Hope Works
Once a World War One gun barrel factory, now a revolving gallery of art and music. This one is a big part of the UK’s electronic music scene, so if that’s your jam here’s your place! They offer support and opportunities for new talent both locally and internationally, and have been known to offer breakthrough artists as well as big names, with a dancefloor capacity of 500.
Best till last? Yellow Arch is a triple threat for artists, it’s capabilities allow for rehearsing, recording and performing. This has drawn in the likes of Skrillex, Sister Sledgy, Slow Club and many more. Richard Hawley actually had a dressing room here that has now been transformed into one of three bars within the venue. They feature a diverse range of genres including blues, folk, jungle and jazz. It provides a new blend of both musical production and performance, they’ve established themselves as a key venue in the music industry, most famously known as the birthplace of the Arctic Monkeys. One of the only places in Europe where you can get a pint after writing, recording, filming and performing! Legendary-status. Our sleeper buses can take your band straight there.
Want to know more live music venues? We’ve travelled around both the UK and Europe on our luxury sleeper coaches for well over a decade and we’re happy to share! It’s not just Sheffield live music venues we’ve been to, in-fact, check out our Manchester blog. Stay tuned for more updates and more cities…
