The city's brand spanking new Academy opened its doors in October with a triumphant homecoming gig by Yorkshire's favourite sons, the Kaiser Chiefs.

The band began an enormous world tour to promote their new, Mark Ronson-produced album Off With Their Heads with a raucous home-crowd set in front of a sell-out 2,300 fans.

Of course, in years gone by, Leeds was far from the forgotten city of big live music that it sometimes feels like today.

As chart-topping acts stop off in Sheffield, Manchester and Birmingham without visiting the heart of West Yorkshire, few probably realise they are missing the opportunity to join a great line of legendary acts who have played in Leeds over the years.

The Duchess of York, in Vicar Lane, was a small, but legendary venue, which hosted some eyeball-popping rock luminaries.

Kurt Cobain's Nirvana may have changed the face of rock music with 1991's seminal Nevermind, which has gone on to sell more than 10 million copies.

But just two years earlier they had been drenching the Duchess in grungy feedback and sludge-punk riffs. They played there on October 25 1989, four months after the release of debut album Bleach.

Oasis also came to the Duchess, on April 12 1994, the day after the release of that first, giddy narcotics-fuelled debut single Supersonic.

Radiohead, arguably the most ground-breaking and innovative guitar band in the world today – as well one of the most popular – also played at the Duchess, on May 15 1992, supporting Irish pop-punk no-marks the Sultans of Ping. Three months later Creep would set them on the road to international stardom.

But the only fan review of the gig on Radiohead fansite greenplastic.com, by 'Dan', suggests that the show was far from a happy occasion for the Oxford quintet – "We'd never heard of them at the time so there was much derision directed towards their token efforts."

The fact that such historic acts all played early gigs in that tiny, cosy space, proves that keeping in touch with grassroots music pays dividends – what would many of us have given to have been there for any of these shows? – and that bands destined for greatness have always been attracted to Leeds.

Sadly, the Duchess was forced to close its doors in 1999, and is now a Hugo Boss clothes store. At the time, the Yorkshire Evening Post was full of letters lamenting its demise.

Rob Rowley, of the band Karma, wrote: "The Duchess has clout with its cult identity. If it's known you've played there, you could be on your way, but how will the crystallisation of Leeds talent take form now?"

Despite the lack of good medium to large venues, a considerable number of Leeds acts have achieved widespread success over the last few years. NME coined the phrase 'New Yorkshire' in 2005 to refer to the raft of bands emerging.

As well as the Kaisers and the Pigeon Detectives, the likes of The Music, The Sunshine Under-ground, ¡Forward Russia!, Hadouken! and iLiKETRAiNS display a depth and range of modern popular music and have given Leeds a reputation as one of the best places in the country to form a band.

But it is the biggest acts that the city craves, hence the strength of support for the YEP's campaign for an arena.

But some of music's all-time greats have played in Leeds over the years.
The Who's 1970 Live At Leeds album was recorded at Leeds University. It ranked number 170 on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest albums of all time, and is included in the book 1001 Albums To Hear Before You Die.

Leeds also has a decent claim of helping launch the punk movement, with the Sex Pistols' 1976 show at Leeds Polytechnic, which fired the passions of young Leeds punk acts like Abrasive Wheels.

Meanwhile, in the south of the city, the Queens Hall offered another venue at the junction of Swinegate and Sovereign Street. It wasn't considered to be of the best quality but up to its closure in 1989 it still drew in the likes of The Beatles, Elton John, Rod Stewart, The Police, Black Sabbath, The Jam, Whitesnake and Duran Duran. It was later demolished and remains a car park/ wasteland.

But it wasn't conventional venues which hosted the big names – more unlikely locations, big and small, drew in the stars.

During the 1960s the now defunct Odeon cinema on The Headrow played host not once but three times to The Beatles – and they weren't exceptions. Among the other acts topping the bill at various times were Gerry and the Pacemakers, Jimi Hendrix and Cat Stevens. The building is now a Primark clothes store.

By the 1980s Roundhay Park had also become a legendary Leeds venue. Robbie Williams was the last major artist to perform there, playing two sold-out, 90,000-capacity shows on September 8 and 9 2006.

Before that, U2 graced Round-hay's leafy surroundings in 1997, and Madonna, Michael Jackson, and the Rolling Stones have also played there.
But Roundhay gigs are irregular because of the huge logistical organisation required and the disruption to nearby residents.

For the Robbie concerts, locals were required to obtain special permits to get to and from their homes, and nearby attraction Tropical World was forced to close on those days – another reason why Leeds needs an arena.